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Health Insurance Updates for Kentucky Families

All children, especially those living in low-income and vulnerable families, need access to affordable health care. Having health insurance means children are able to access critical preventive and ongoing care needed to stay healthy. It means that kids can visit the doctor, dentist, eye doctor, and mental health professionals to support their healthy development. A parent’s health—and health insurance status—affects the health and well-being of other family members, especially their children. When parents are insured, they [...]

By |2022-06-01T17:02:04-04:00June 1st, 2022|Blog, Health|
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OP-ED: Wrapping around our foster care alumni experiencing homelessness

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Herald Leader on May 27, 2022. By Tia Humphrey, Lynn Rippy, and Nikki Thornton 1 in 3. 1 in 3 young adults with a foster care experience face housing instability in Kentucky. That’s 1 in 3 young people with their livelihood and potential hanging by a thread, despite resources readily available. How did these young people get to the point of homelessness? In Kentucky, there are [...]

By |2022-05-31T16:59:08-04:00May 31st, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security|
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OP-ED: Let’s create more caring communities when it comes to mental health

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Messenger-Inquirer on May 25, 2022. By Barry Allen and the Bloom Kentucky Advisory Council “What’s wrong with you?” If you have struggled emotionally in public or amongst family or friends, you may have been asked this question. Maybe you’ve snapped at your child after losing your patience in the cereal aisle of the grocery store and a stranger gives you that questioning look. Or perhaps you’ve asked this [...]

By |2022-05-26T09:43:52-04:00May 26th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Race Equity|
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Understanding the Child Care Staffing Crisis

The child care industry has suffered huge financial obstacles during the past two years. The Center for Disease Control asked child care programs to increase their health and safety requirements in a way that required additional staff to serve the same amount of children. COVID-19 outbreaks caused programs to shutdown classrooms, or even the entire program, for weeks at a time causing significant losses in revenue. Despite all these financial obstacles, they are still secondary [...]

By |2022-05-20T11:45:39-04:00May 20th, 2022|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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Call for Photos: Let’s See Your Cute Kids!

Kentucky Youth Advocates is looking for photos of Kentucky kids to include in the 2022 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book and other Kentucky Youth Advocates publications. We know you all proudly share pictures of your kids and grandkids by hanging them on your refrigerator and posting them on social media. Here’s your chance to promote those cute kids through Kentucky Youth Advocates’ materials. We need your photos by August 1st so please start sending them in today! In [...]

By |2022-05-20T11:23:49-04:00May 20th, 2022|Blog, Kids Count|
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Guide to Supporting Children Who Have a Parent Incarcerated

At Kentucky Youth Advocates, our vision is to make Kentucky the best place to be young. However, the traumatic experiences of young people who have a parent incarcerated are all too often overlooked or misunderstood. Whether they live with their other parent at home or with a kinship or fictive kin caregiver, the adults in a young person’s life can play a role in supporting their ability to weather the hardships that come with [...]

By |2022-05-19T15:12:38-04:00May 18th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Justice|
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Updates on K-TAP & the Kentucky WORKS Program

Every parent knows that raising kids can be expensive, and access to cash is essential to help families thrive and weather emergencies. The Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (K-TAP) provides cash support to low-income Kentucky families alongside the training and education necessary to get a better job.   New research shows that children whose parents receive cash support, like the support provided through K-TAP, were more likely to have faster brain activity. Faster brain activity is associated [...]

By |2022-05-18T16:59:49-04:00May 18th, 2022|Blog, Economic Security|
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Bloom Kentucky Called Upon Legislators to Address ACEs – Did They Answer?

As we reflect on the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly, this year’s legislative session was certainly a mixed bag. From debates on local control vs. big government to the infiltration of national lobbying groups, it seems as though we might have been left with more questions than answers. The good news, however, is that Kentucky’s policymakers found common ground when it came to Kentucky kids and families and the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). We [...]

By |2022-05-12T12:32:23-04:00May 12th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice|
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Guest Blog: Updates to the Foster Youth Bill of Rights & Extended Care Policy

By Tamara Vest This year, the Voices of the Commonwealth (VOC) set policy initiatives for young people in foster care. Those initiatives included amendments to the foster youth bill of rights to promote inclusivity for young people in several ways. They also advocated for changes to Kentucky’s extended foster care policy. The initiatives were filed into Senate Bill 8, which was sponsored by Senator Julie Raque Adams and was passed by both bodies of the [...]

By |2022-05-12T09:28:35-04:00May 10th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Update: P-EBT for 2021-22 School Year

View this blog post for an update on 2022-2023 Pandemic-EBT supports for Kentucky students. Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) has been one of the most vital supports for children and families throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, providing grocery money to families who would have usually received free and reduced school meals. We are excited to share that Kentucky has received final federal approval for P-EBT benefits for the 2021-2022 school year. This round of benefits will be [...]

By |2023-07-12T11:49:25-04:00May 3rd, 2022|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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