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Journey to Success: Policy Solutions to Improve Outcomes for All Youth and Young Adults Who Experience Foster Care

May is National Foster Care Awareness Month, a time to acknowledge the 463,000 children and youth in foster care and the family members, foster parents, volunteers, mentors, child welfare professionals, and policymakers who help them find permanent homes and connections. It is also a time to join forces and renew our commitment to ensuring a bright future for the over 8,800 Kentucky children in Out of Home Care (OOHC).  Along with the Partnership for America’s [...]

By |2022-05-02T16:00:08-04:00May 2nd, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Race Equity|
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Next Steps in Justice Legislation in Kentucky

During the 2022 General Assembly, several bills that were on the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children policy priority agenda made it to the Governor’s desk, as well as a number of innovative bills that prioritize support for children and families. For example, Senator Whitney Westerfield’s SB 90 establishes a pilot program to create behavioral health treatment alternatives to incarceration and will allow criminal charges to be dismissed upon successful completion of the program. As we celebrate [...]

By |2022-04-28T09:58:33-04:00April 28th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Child Care Assistance Program FAQ for Kentucky Families

Child care is essential for Kentucky families to thrive. With annual costs reaching up to $11,000, however, families across Kentucky are struggling to pay for child care. The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) helps eligible families pay for child care, providing vital support to families with young children. Despite how vital the program is, very few eligible families are participating in the program and applying for and participating in the program can be confusing. With [...]

By |2022-09-21T18:36:53-04:00April 27th, 2022|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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OP-ED: Lots of Questions for the 2022 KY General Assembly

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on April 21, 2022. By Dr. Terry Brooks In a press conference before the historic launch of Apollo 11 to the moon, Neil Armstrong was asked about the answers he hoped to discover with his moonwalk. He responded by asserting that he will likely have more questions to ask than answers. That is how I feel as we leave the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly – I have a whole bunch of [...]

By |2024-04-25T12:29:08-04:00April 21st, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, News Room, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Continued Advocacy Needed to Curb Youth Vaping

Throughout the 2022 General Assembly, Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) advocated for policies that are good for Kentuckians’ health, including measures aimed at preventing youth tobacco and e-cigarette use. We know that more than 1 in 4 Kentucky high schoolers use e-cigarettes and the instances of youth using tobacco products has spread into many Kentucky middle schools.  These products pose a number of health risks and ultimately lead to many Kentuckians dying prematurely. New research adds [...]

By |2022-04-20T13:58:27-04:00April 20th, 2022|Blog, Health|
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Wins & Missed Opportunities for Kids in the 2022 General Assembly

The final gavel has fallen for the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly! This year, the Governor and the Kentucky General Assembly were tasked with crafting a two-year state budget, tackle redistricting, advance policies to address the COVID-19 pandemic, tax reform, and other policy priorities that would be good for the communities they represent and the Commonwealth. If we take a second to reflect, that’s a heavy lift in a long 60-day session. There was good news [...]

By |2022-04-20T16:29:28-04:00April 20th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Deep Dive into House Bill 7 + What It Means for Kids and Families

Safety net programs, including Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (K-TAP), play a critical role in making sure families struggling to make ends meet can have food to eat, cover basic family needs, and access critical supports and services needed to be healthy and thrive. This is especially important as new evidence emerges [...]

By |2022-04-19T16:58:54-04:00April 19th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Health|
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Parenting a Second Time Around Series for Kinship Caregivers

Norma Hatfield, president of the Kinship Families Families Coalition, and Dr. David Weisenhorn with the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Offices discuss a series of workshops offered to grandparents or other relatives and fictive kin raising children – known as PASTA, or Parenting A Second Time Around. Check out the details and video playlist below for more information on this resources for kinship families. Connect with your local Extension office to access the PASTA [...]

By |2022-04-13T17:11:07-04:00April 13th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Thriving Families, Safer Children in Kentucky

Thriving Families, Safer Children (TFSC) is a first-of-its-kind effort of the U.S. Children’s Bureau, Casey Family Programs, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Prevent Child Abuse America. The partnership is working in 22 sites, including Kentucky, from coast to coast and a sovereign tribal nation. The Thriving Families effort seeks to demonstrate that intentional, coordinated investment in a full continuum of prevention and robust community-based networks of support will promote overall child and family well-being, [...]

By |2023-03-07T16:16:04-05:00April 12th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Foster Care Alumni Research and Advocacy: A Focus on Institutional Settings

Kentucky Youth Advocates, in partnership with Casey Family Programs and True Up Kentucky, is launching a new project focused on foster care alumni and their experiences in residential care or institutional settings* while in the child welfare system. Our researchers include foster care alumni, helping shape questions and facilitate conversations.  KYA and True Up will advocate and work for those with lived experiences in the child welfare system by lifting up their voices with the [...]

By |2022-06-08T18:27:17-04:00April 6th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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