Blog – Page 161 – Kentucky Youth Advocates

Eight Months into Medicaid Managed Care

The numbers of children enrolled in Medicaid and the Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program (KCHIP) are on the rise, we learned in yesterday’s post. This data helps us understand how many children live in families who do not earn enough income to afford health insurance. The Medicaid program and KCHIP provide health insurance and access to health care for children in low-income households, in order to strengthen their health and future. One thing those numbers [...]

By Andrea Bennett|2012-06-07T10:51:30-04:00June 7th, 2012|Blog, Health|

A 2011 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book Highlight: Children Enrolled in KCHIP and Medicaid

Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have been instrumental in reducing the number of uninsured children over the last decade, despite a decline in employer-sponsored insurance and two recessions. Statewide from 2000 to 2010, the average monthly number of children enrolled in Medicaid grew by 52 percent (over 136,000 children) and for the Kentucky CHIP (KCHIP) by 45 percent (over 20,000 children). During that same time period, 87.5 percent of Kentucky counties experienced [...]

By Paul Colwell|2012-06-06T11:02:32-04:00June 6th, 2012|Blog, Health|

A Worthy Cause Brings Together Strange Bedfellows

What do these groups have in common? The American Public Health Association and the International Council of Shopping Centers The National Alliance to End Homelessness and the Mortgage Bankers Association The U.S. Conference of Mayors and the League of American Bicyclists The National Urban League and Stand Up for Rural America They, along with Kentucky Youth Advocates and more than 550 other national, state and local organizations, are advocating for the American Community Survey to [...]

By Amy Swann|2012-05-31T13:44:44-04:00May 31st, 2012|Blog|

News from the KY Department of Education: Kindergarten Readiness Screener to be Implemented

Starting in the 2013-14 school year, kindergarten classrooms in Kentucky’s public schools will use a readiness screener to ensure that all children receive the support they need to be successful in school. The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has contracted with Curriculum Associates, LLC and will be using the BRIGANCE® Kindergarten Screen as the common kindergarten readiness screener. The screener will not be used to determine eligibility for kindergarten. State law provides that all children [...]

By admin|2012-05-30T13:47:15-04:00May 30th, 2012|Blog, Education|

The Changing Face of Families in Kentucky

The Changing Face of Families in Kentucky

What comes to mind when you think of kin? Family dinners… birthday parties… camping trips… and vacations to grandma and grandpa’s? For more than 60,000 kids in Kentucky, kin means living with a relative or family friend for safety and security because their parents cannot raise them, according to a new KIDS COUNT® report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Stepping Up for Kids: What Government and Communities Should Do to Support Kinship Families. That’s 6 [...]

By admin|2012-05-24T09:26:16-04:00May 24th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

When Kids are Kids: Reasonable Responses that Promote Public Safety

When Kids are Kids: Reasonable Responses that Promote Public Safety

Earlier this week, Kentucky Youth Advocates released an updated report on Kentucky’s use of incarceration of youth for things like missing school and running away. The trend shows promise of fewer incarcerations for these misbehaviors called status offenses, but the numbers remain too high. Approximately 1 of every 6 youth locked up in 2011 was locked up for a status offense – something that would not even be a crime for an adult. Source: [...]

By Tara Grieshop-Goodwin|2012-05-17T09:32:46-04:00May 17th, 2012|Blog, Youth Justice|

New County-Level Housing Affordability Data Available on the KIDS COUNT Data Center

New housing data has been posted to the KIDS COUNT Data Center, including the percent of renters unable to afford Fair Market Rent for a 2-bedroom unit and the hourly wage a renter would need to earn so that no more than 30 percent of their income goes toward housing costs for a 2-bedroom unit. These new data reflect the growing need for safe and affordable rental housing for families, which has been exacerbated by [...]

By Paul Colwell|2012-05-16T13:50:31-04:00May 16th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health|

The Plight Facing Young Americans Requires a National Call for Action

By: Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus Rarely do the pages of Esquire magazine set off a conversation among child and senior advocates, but Stephen Marche’s article The War Against Youth has done exactly that. In Marche’s column, he highlights enormous challenges facing youth and young adults in this country and concludes by making a call to make youth a national priority. As he writes, “Youth should be the only issue of the 2012 election, [...]

By admin|2012-05-15T13:53:29-04:00May 15th, 2012|Blog, Economic Security, Education, Youth Justice|

Opportunities for Physical Activity Abound with Shared-Use

Two years ago I had the opportunity to visit William Wells Elementary in Lexington, Kentucky to tour their school-based health center. While there, it became very clear that William Wells not only had a school-based health center, but it was a full-scale community school too – it was used during non-school hours for community activities such as adult aerobics classes, financial literacy classes, youth sports activities and more. I was amazed at the various activities [...]

By admin|2012-05-10T11:10:17-04:00May 10th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education|

Guest Post: It’s Not a Fight, It’s a Family

By: Mary Annese Musgrave and Donna Butts Like Katie Carter, many Kentuckians age 50 and older are deeply concerned about sorely inadequate investments in our children. In fact, raising the voices of older people in support of policies that benefit children and youth is the main reason Generations United started Kentucky Seniors4Kids. As children’s book authors Charles and Ann Morse observe, “a child needs a grandparent, anybody’s grandparent, to grow a little more securely in [...]

By admin|2012-05-09T09:26:08-04:00May 9th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security|