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The Recession’s Ongoing Impact on Kentucky’s Children

It should not be a surprise to regular readers of KY Kids in Focus that the recession continues to take a heavy toll on Kentucky children and their families. As previous posts have illustrated, participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program remains high, as does unemployment. A new report from First Focus, The Recession’s Ongoing Impact on America’s Children: Indicators of Children’s Economic Well-Being Through 2011, takes a comprehensive look at this and compares three [...]

By |2011-12-20T11:56:26-05:00December 20th, 2011|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security|
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Kentucky Continues to Provide Health Insurance to Children at a Higher Rate than the National Average

Kentucky continues to cover children with health insurance at a rate well above the national average, according to a new report authored by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families and released by Kentucky Youth Advocates, the Kentucky Equal Justice Center, Kentucky Voices for Health, and Covering Kentucky Kids and Families. Kentucky’s rate of uninsured kids was measured at 6.0% in 2010, not statistically different from the measured rate of 6.5% [...]

By |2011-11-30T12:05:34-05:00November 30th, 2011|Blog, Health|
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Kentucky KIDS COUNT 2011 County Data Book Measures Children’s Health

The 2011 County Data Book, released today by Kentucky Youth Advocates finds that Kentucky has made progress in ensuring low-income children receive dental services, yet much work remains to improve children’s oral health in the state. This is the 21st annual release of the County Data Book, part of the Kentucky KIDS COUNT project. The KIDS COUNT project monitors progress for Kentucky’s one million children on over 100 measures of child well-being, including health, safety, [...]

By |2011-11-29T12:07:37-05:00November 29th, 2011|Blog, Health|
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New County-Level Child Welfare Data Posted to the KIDS COUNT Data Center

Data on child abuse and neglect cases in each county and the state as a whole for calendar year 2010 has been posted to the KIDS COUNT Data Center. This new data portrays some discouraging trends for vulnerable children in the Commonwealth, but as Kentuckians we can use our ingenuity to implement innovative solutions to prevent harm to children. Sadly, the number of substantiated child victims of abuse/neglect is on the rise after gradual declines [...]

By |2011-11-23T12:12:04-05:00November 23rd, 2011|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security|
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New Measure of Poverty Shows Benefits of Tax Credits

Last week, the Census Bureau released findings from the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). Unlike the official federal poverty measure, covered in KYA’s earlier releases, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) is designed to act as a more comprehensive gauge of poverty. The official federal poverty measure has been based on an old assumption about a family’s basic needs which no longer holds true in today’s society – that the average family spends one-third of its income [...]

By |2011-11-17T12:15:40-05:00November 17th, 2011|Blog, Economic Security, Health|
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Kentucky Youth Advocates Receives $100,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant to Increase Assets to Promote Healthy Families in Kentucky

Kentucky Youth Advocates has been awarded a  Roadmaps to Health Community  Grantof$100,000 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to improve the long-term health ofpeople in Kentucky by advocating for the implementation and improvement of two state-level tax credits for working families, a state-level Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. Both tax credits will provide working families with additional income support to help them close the gap between what [...]

By |2011-11-15T17:13:47-05:00November 15th, 2011|Blog, Economic Security|
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New County-Level Data on Childhood Deaths Posted to the KIDS COUNT Data Center

New childhood mortality data has been posted to the KIDS COUNT Data Center for infants (less than one year old), children (ages 1-14) and teens (ages 15-19). Kentucky’s infant death rate has remained stable at 7 per 1,000 live births for approximately 15 years now, continuing to closely mirror the national rate. The state child death rate, however, has fallen over the past two decades, from 33 per 100,000 children ages 1-14 during 1990-1992 to [...]

By |2011-11-14T12:19:52-05:00November 14th, 2011|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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A Letter to Governor Steve Beshear on Behalf of Kids in Kentucky

Dear Governor Beshear, Congratulations on your re-election on November 8.  Your impressive share of the vote brings to mind that axiom from the astute political observer, Charlie Brown, who opined, “A great potential is the heaviest burden to bear.”  That is so apropos to your second term. Let’s be honest – history is not kind to chief executives whether their second terms are at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or in the Kentucky’s Governor Mansion.  All too [...]

By |2011-11-10T12:00:38-05:00November 10th, 2011|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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Vote for Kids, Kentucky!

Children can’t vote or contribute to campaigns, but the issues that impact their lives will be decided by the choices we make this coming Tuesday when we head to the polls. Right now, children in Kentucky face a mountain of challenges: Kentucky leads the nation in the number of child deaths from abuse and neglect, places 6th in child poverty, and places 3rd in child obesity. Over the past three weeks we have used this [...]

By |2011-11-03T12:24:26-04:00November 3rd, 2011|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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