Blog – Page 169 – Kentucky Youth Advocates

U.S. House of Representatives Protects Families by Passing a Short-Term Reauthorization of TANF, Program Flaws Must Be Addressed Before Long-Term Reauthorization

In order to beat their end-of-September-deadline, the House of Representatives passed a short-term extension of TANF – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Kentucky’s own Congressman Geoff Davis led the reauthorization effort as the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources. This good news means that funding provided to states through block grants for programs like income assistance for low-income families with children, welfare-to-work efforts, work supports such as child care, and [...]

By Katie Carter|2011-09-26T09:23:56-04:00September 26th, 2011|Blog, Economic Security|

State Earned Income Tax Credit Now Would Help Alleviate Child Poverty in Kentucky

As we learned today through today’s new Census data, more children in Kentucky are living in poverty than in recent years, and so are all Kentuckians. Child poverty in Kentucky increased to 26.3 percent in 2010 from 20.8 percent in 2000, bringing the total number of children who live in families with incomes below $22,050 a year for a family of four to 262,760. Additionally, total poverty rose from 15.8 percent in 2000 to 19 [...]

By Katie Carter|2011-09-22T09:26:04-04:00September 22nd, 2011|Blog, Economic Security|

New County-Level Education Data Available on the KIDS COUNT Data Center

New education data on the KIDS COUNT Data Center reveals that the number of Kentucky students eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school has steadily risen throughout the recent economic recession. In school year 2007-2008, there were 355,992 students eligible, and in school year 2010-2011, that number rose to 395,486. The percent of eligible students remained greater than 50 percent throughout those years, and school year 2010-2011 was marked by the largest percentage in [...]

By Amy Swann|2011-09-21T09:45:05-04:00September 21st, 2011|Blog, Education|

Roll-Out: Medicaid Managed Care

A big change is about take place for almost a million Kentucky families and health care providers – the expansion of Medicaid managed care, scheduled for an October 1 rollout. What this change means is that the state will no longer be managing the day to day logistics of the Medicaid program – four companies will. This will impact who families call to get their questions answered, who recruits and pays doctors, and how much [...]

By Lacey McNary|2011-09-15T09:30:25-04:00September 15th, 2011|Blog, Health|

Kentucky Safe Routes to School Network Invites You to a Kentucky Specific Webinar – “Creating a Safe Routes to School Plan That Works for Your Community”

In order to create a sustainable Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program, communities should start by creating a SRTS plan. While each SRTS program is unique, there are a few steps every community should take. Join Jackie Jones, the Kentucky SRTS Coordinator, as she discusses how to get started. Register here. Date: Thursday, September, 29 2011 Time: 2:30 to 3:30 Eastern Cost: Free Attend this webinar to: Learn how to create a successful SRTS plan [...]

By Andrea Bennett|2011-09-14T09:47:08-04:00September 14th, 2011|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

Health Coverage for Adults Continues to Decline in Kentucky, But Increases for Children

Over the last decade, the number of uninsured Kentuckians has increased by 3.1 percentage points, which mirrors trends in other states. According to the new Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS), roughly 1 in 6, or 17.5 percent of people in Kentucky had no health coverage in 2009 and 2010. Across the country, 18.3 percent of the population lacked health coverage in 2009-2010. In contrast, government investment in health care through programs like Medicaid and [...]

By admin|2011-09-13T09:48:34-04:00September 13th, 2011|Blog, Economic Security, Health|

Become a Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children Partner

Today, the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children partners introduce the 2012 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children Agenda. The agenda outlines the issues facing Kentucky’s children and families today and describes the policy solutions that have been identified by advocates from across the state to improve child well-being in the Commonwealth. To join the effort to make Kentucky the best place to be kid, sign on to be an official Blueprint Partner today! You can fill out the [...]

By admin|2011-09-08T09:50:35-04:00September 8th, 2011|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|

September is Hunger Action Month

I attended Light Up Hunger: A Call to Action Against Hunger in Kentucky, hosted by the Kentucky Association of Food Banks at the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort yesterday, where passionate people working to end hunger across Kentucky came together to raise awareness of hunger in the Commonwealth. I left lit up – inspired to hear so many amazing stories from food banks that provide meals to families in need. I was also encouraged to hear [...]

By Andrea Bennett|2011-09-07T09:53:31-04:00September 7th, 2011|Blog, Economic Security|

Time to True Up

Until a couple weeks ago, I had never heard of the verb “True Up.” At a recent event in downtown Louisville, a distinguished-looking gentleman named Frank Harshaw defined it as, “to make level; to square; to bring into correct balance.” This soft-spoken guy is a highly successful local business leader, who owns a Trane air conditioning firm. But it was neither air conditioning mechanics nor his business’ bottom line that Frank wanted to “True Up.” [...]

By Terry Brooks|2011-09-01T09:55:15-04:00September 1st, 2011|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

Kentucky Economic Watch: SNAP Participation Continues to Increase

I feel as though I’ve become a bit of a broken record lately – at least when it comes to our monthly Kentucky Economic Watch. The recession has ended, but Kentuckians are still suffering. SNAP is up, unemployment is down, and state revenues are improving. This has been the case since May, and it all continued to play out in July. This time, I’d like to take a closer look at the mechanics of the [...]

By Katie Carter|2011-08-31T09:57:57-04:00August 31st, 2011|Blog, Economic Security, Health|