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Statement on Governor Beshear’s 2023 State of the Commonwealth Address

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – In his far-ranging State of the Commonwealth Address, the Governor raised some key issues related to the well-being of Kentucky’s kids – from health to education to community safety to workforce. As well as the ongoing impacts of crises that Kentucky's kids have lived through across the Commonwealth – from natural disasters to a global pandemic. First, [...]

By |2023-01-04T20:40:21-05:00January 4th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, News Room, Youth Justice|
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Updates on Children’s Advocacy Week 2023

New year, new information about Children’s Advocacy Week 2023! With the General Assembly reconvening and the robust Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children policy agenda in need of advocacy, we wanted to share the schedule and a few reminders to help you lift your voice on behalf of kids during Children’s Advocacy Week coming up February 6-10. Advocates, find a schedule of the week’s events – both virtual and in-person – below. Please note that event times are subject [...]

By |2023-02-03T09:10:32-05:00January 3rd, 2023|Blog|
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Wins for Kids in the New Federal Omnibus Budget

While kids across Kentucky were waiting for Santa to deliver gifts, Congress delivered a major win for kids and families through the omnibus federal budget for fiscal year 2023. From addressing summer hunger and child care affordability to expanding access to programs such as home visiting, this budget makes some major investments in Kentucky kids and families: Addresses summer hunger by creating a permanent Summer EBT program and loosens the congregate feeding requirements for meals [...]

By |2023-01-03T12:45:34-05:00January 3rd, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Medicaid, Youth Justice|
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Launching the 2023 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children Policy Agenda

Each year, Kentucky Youth Advocates releases the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children policy agenda featuring the lead priorities for kids and families. For 2023, the Blueprint priorities focus on strengthening systems and policies to advance equity and uplift every Kentucky family. The Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children is a coalition of non-profit, public, and private organizations that stands on three pillars: thriving communities launch strong families, strong families launch successful kids, and successful kids launch a prosperous [...]

By |2023-02-01T16:19:19-05:00January 3rd, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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OP-ED: There is common ground in the juvenile justice continuum of interventions

This post originally appeared as an op-ed by The Herald Leader on December 29, 2022. By Dr. Terry Brooks The country music sensation and Lexington’s own, Chris Stapleton, suggests, “Everybody’s got a story on their beards. I guess it’s just a way of finding common ground.” Maybe Governor Beshear, President Stivers, and Speaker Osborne – and maybe even the Chief Justice – should grow beards so the Commonwealth can find a common ground when it [...]

By |2024-04-25T12:28:56-04:00December 29th, 2022|Blog, News Room, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Benefits Cliff Task Force 2022 Findings & Recommendations

For most families, getting a raise or new job is a reason to celebrate. For families on public benefits, however, an increase in income is often met with anxiety around how their benefits will be impacted by the benefits cliff.  The benefits cliff refers to a sudden decrease in public benefits as a result of an increase in earnings. This loss in benefits often leaves families worse off financially, even though they are making more [...]

By |2022-12-16T13:30:19-05:00December 16th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security|
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Early Childhood Education Task Force 2022 Findings & Recommendations

Kentucky’s Early Childhood Education Task Force has been meeting diligently since June to obtain a greater understanding of Kentucky’s child care resources and how the state can better support that infrastructure to assist families and local businesses. On November 21st, the committee formally presented its findings and recommendations for the rest of Kentucky’s General Assembly.   Among its findings, the committee identified that Kentucky does not have enough child care available for all working families and [...]

By |2022-12-15T16:13:29-05:00December 15th, 2022|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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Bloom Community Spotlight: Early Childhood Education and Understanding ACEs

To help prevent and mitigate childhood adversity, many on-the-ground community partners are hard at work providing needed resources and support to Kentucky kids and families. The Bloom Community Spotlight blog series highlights the important work being done by Bloom Kentucky community partners throughout the Commonwealth. This month, Bloom Kentucky reached out to child advocate, Phoenix Peeler, to share their insight of years working with youth. Phoenix Peeler, Care and Education Coach For over 25 years, [...]

By |2022-12-07T17:06:23-05:00December 7th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Education|
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Addressing the Leading Cause of Child Death in the Commonwealth: Firearms

At the final 2022 hearing for the Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity, Rep. Keturah Herron presented on legislation that would develop an Office of Gun Violence Prevention in Kentucky’s Department of Public Health. The office would take the lead in creating gun violence policy recommendations, community-based intervention and prevention ideas, and collecting and disseminating data that shows the geographic region, frequency, and the nature of the violence (e.g., self-inflicted, intimate partner, community, etc.). [...]

By |2022-12-06T13:20:44-05:00December 6th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Health, Race Equity|
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New Report: Analysis of Kentucky’s Residential Foster Care

New Report: Analysis of Kentucky’s Residential Foster Care   Featuring Interviews of Youth with Lived Experience and Recommendations  LOUISVILLE, KY – Residential and institutional facilities are meant for youth experiencing crises, yet these settings are often over-utilized due to lack of family-based foster care rather than a clinical need for the placement. The Residential Foster Care Analysis Report, released today by Kentucky Youth Advocates, examines issues often seen in residential and institutional placements and offers [...]

By |2022-12-07T13:19:01-05:00November 30th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, News Room, Race Equity|
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