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Get Your Community Ready for 2030

Every child deserves the opportunity to grow up in a community with the resources needed to thrive. The 2030 Census will determine how federal funding is distributed for critical programs that support children, families, and communities – including the National School Lunch Program, Child Care Assistance Program, and road and community development funding.  Next year, local governments have an important opportunity to make sure communities are ready for the 2030 Census: the Local [...]

By |2026-09-15T16:10:45-04:00September 15th, 2026|Blog, Economic Security|
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How States are Using Children’s Cabinets for Positive Child Outcomes

Effective and responsive government programs shape whether families can easily find and access the services their children need – and Kentucky lawmakers are exploring examples of streamlining programming and improving stewardship of funding dedicated to children through the development of a Children’s Cabinet.  Example: Ohio During the August meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Families and Children, the legislative members listened to a presentation from Ohio on reorganizing [...]

By |2026-09-10T16:10:41-04:00September 10th, 2026|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Health|
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Protect Online, Invest Offline: Social Media Settlement & Kids

By Sarah Kidder, Executive Director of Kentucky Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs On August 26th, Kentucky Attorney General Coleman led the charge in reaching a landmark multi-state $17.1 billion settlement with Meta holding them accountable for the harms caused to young people by the social media company. This historic settlement comes at a pivotal moment to address young people’s mental health, well-being, and safety. It will bring unprecedented child-safety protections to current [...]

By |2026-10-09T08:56:00-04:00September 10th, 2026|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Op-Ed: Use KY’s Meta settlement to invest in ‘real life’ for kids

This was originally published in the Kentucky Lantern. Have you ever picked up your phone to text, only to find yourself mindlessly scrolling social media? You’re not alone. Social media companies design products to trigger addictive behavior—putting kids’ sleep, mental health, and self-image at serious risk. But there’s good news: Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman is doing something about it. Last week, General Coleman and his team landed a decisive [...]

By |2026-10-09T08:56:28-04:00September 10th, 2026|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, News Room|
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Are Kentucky’s Young Children Healthy and Ready to Learn?

It takes more than knowing letters and numbers for a child to be ready for kindergarten. Kids also need to have practical skills that allow them to thrive in a classroom, like the ability to self-regulate their emotions, as well as be physically healthy enough to learn.  To help advocates, early childhood stakeholders, and families better understand how Kentucky’s youngest kids are faring, Child Trends released a new Healthy and Ready to Learn [...]

By |2026-09-02T11:58:24-04:00September 2nd, 2026|Blog, Education, Health|
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The Countdown to Census 2030: Redefining My Role in Civic Advocacy

By Jennifer Nguyen, Intern at Kentucky Youth Advocates When I first ventured into my internship at Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA), my understanding of the U.S. Census was fairly basic: it was a broad survey that happened every ten years, something the “adults” in my household handled, and a process that felt completely distant from my everyday life. During my first week, sitting down with my supervisor to dive into our [...]

By |2026-09-02T11:56:42-04:00September 2nd, 2026|Blog|
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Federal Update on Head Start and How to Take Action

The Head Start program began in 1965 as a way to combat the growing number of families with young children living in poverty. It was created to be a half-day preschool program for children between the ages of 3-5 to help them be prepared for kindergarten. By 1977, the program had reserved slots for children with disabilities and a bilingual and bicultural component, and in 1995, Early Head Start was created to serve [...]

By |2026-09-16T15:54:39-04:00September 2nd, 2026|Blog, Education|
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Dollars and Census: How Kentucky’s Census Count Impacts Federal Funding

As the KIDS COUNT grantee for Kentucky for nearly 40 years, Kentucky Youth Advocates knows the importance of counting kids! Each year, we report on child well-being in each of the 120 counties of our Commonwealth. Many key data points included in the annual report come from the Census, including measures like children living in poverty, children with health insurance coverage, and population data that allows us to calculate rates to make the [...]

By |2026-08-26T16:17:41-04:00August 26th, 2026|Blog|
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Statement on the Settlement with Meta and the Impact on Kids

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org LOUISVILLE, KY – Kentucky kids won big today with the multistate settlement with Meta. Kentucky will receive $358 million in one of the largest state consumer protection settlements in the country’s history.  Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has been at the forefront of ensuring that social media platforms are held accountable for their role in the youth mental health crisis and deliberate addictive platform design. In the agreement, settlements are to [...]

By |2026-10-09T08:57:06-04:00August 26th, 2026|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Education, Health, News Room|
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Federal Update on Special Education

As kids head back to school this August, federal changes to the education system are taking shape – with potential implications for Kentucky students.  Although most of the public education system is planned and implemented at the state level, the special education system is regulated and funded by the federal government. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was established in 1990 to make sure that students with disabilities in the public school [...]

By |2026-08-19T15:22:54-04:00August 19th, 2026|Blog, Education|
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