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Huge Win! 97% of Kentucky School Districts Go Tobacco-Free

By the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky Of Kentucky's 172 school districts, 164 now have adopted policies to prohibit the use of any tobacco products by all persons at all times on campus and in school vehicles. That's 95 percent, and two more school districts are planning to adopt the pro-health policy this month, which means 97 percent of Kentucky schools will be tobacco-free by the end of 2019. Prior to passage of the tobacco-free [...]

By |2019-12-19T13:53:02-05:00December 19th, 2019|Blog, Health|
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How Can We Better Serve Kids in Our Community? Start with the Data.

Our mantra at Kentucky Youth Advocates is “what gets measured gets changed.” That’s why we have collected data on the well-being of children through our KIDS COUNT Project for 30 years. We know that the first step to making positive change for kids is having a shared understanding, grounded in data of what the challenges are. When community leaders come together, these data serve as a powerful catalyst for action. Throughout 2018 and 2019, with [...]

By |2019-12-12T14:11:13-05:00December 12th, 2019|Blog, Kids Count|
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Launching the 2020 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children

Kentucky Youth Advocates and partners from across the commonwealth are launching the Blueprint for Kentucky's Children's 2020 policy and state budget priorities! The Blueprint for Kentucky's Children is a coalition of non-profit, public, and private organizations that speaks with a common voice to create brighter futures for Kentucky kids. The Blueprint stands on three pillars: thriving communities launch strong families, strong families launch successful kids, and successful kids launch a prosperous future for Kentucky. [...]

By |2019-12-03T10:36:47-05:00December 3rd, 2019|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Medicaid, Youth Justice|
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What’s Next? Looking Ahead to 2020 for Kentucky Kids

This post was originally posted as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on November 26, 2019. Check out additional op-eds featured in the Courier Journal highlighting KIDS COUNT data from a youth formerly in foster care Christopher Hagans, school nurse Eva Stone, education leaders Dr. David Johnson and Dr. Leon Mooneyhan, and child care center director Kristie Dover. “So now what happens?” That’s the question posed by one of my twin 9-year-old granddaughters the day after the Nov. 5 election. [...]

By |2019-12-02T17:46:34-05:00December 2nd, 2019|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Youth Justice|
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3 Opportunities to Get Ready for the Kentucky General Assembly

Calling all advocates for kids! Is your mind already drifting to holiday feasts and party? Did you just realize how close we are to the Kentucky General Assembly starting? Are you feeling unprepared but interested in taking action on behalf of Kentucky kids? Fear not! Kentucky Youth Advocates, along with other Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children partner organizations, have developed a policy agenda listing the 2020 priorities for kids. That agenda will be officially launched on [...]

By |2019-12-03T14:36:09-05:00November 25th, 2019|Blog|
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2019 KIDS COUNT County Data Book: Latest County-Level Trends in Child Well-Being

The 2019 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book offers the latest data on 17 measures of child well-being, showing whether outcomes for children across the commonwealth have improved, worsened, or stayed the same over a five-year period. Detailed data is available for every Kentucky county at www.kyyouth.org/kentucky-kids-count/. “More than 1 million children in Kentucky are relying on all of us—from the statehouse to your house—to put them and their futures first. Kids’ issues are the common ground [...]

By |2019-11-21T16:55:13-05:00November 21st, 2019|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Kids Count, Medicaid, Youth Justice|
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2020 Open Enrollment and Former Foster Youth

The 2020 open enrollment period for health insurance begins November 4, 2019 and goes through December 13th. Let’s make sure everyone who is eligible signs up for the health insurance they need to stay healthy. While November is National Adoption Month, we must remember those children who were not connected to a family and instead transitioned out of foster care into adulthood. Compared to youth in families, youth who age out of foster care have disproportionately [...]

By |2019-11-04T15:57:58-05:00November 4th, 2019|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Health|
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Adoptive Mom and Biological Mom Team Up so Their Children can Thrive

By Stacey Burton As a child I dreamed of being a mother to a house full of children. That dream did not change throughout the years, but the plan of how the dream would be fulfilled and what that family would look like changed drastically. I remember watching documentaries on adoption and foster care as a teenager and knew that would somehow fit into my story. Now, many years later, not only did foster care [...]

By |2019-11-04T15:43:23-05:00November 4th, 2019|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Launch of the Family First Act Communications & Advocacy Toolkit

Children and teens involved in the child welfare system do best in families, where there is a safe and stable environment that supports their growth and well-being. Passage of the bipartisan federal Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 (Family First) took important steps to realign federal funding to ensure children in foster care are placed with families and to prioritize critical supports, such as mental health and substance abuse treatment, in-home parent skill-based programs, and [...]

By |2019-10-24T12:49:03-04:00October 24th, 2019|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Children With Incarcerated Parents Too Often Overlooked

By Judi Jennings, Ph.D. Louisville Family Justice Advocates Special Project art activity by Layfierre Mitchell October is national SEE US SUPPORT US Month led by the New York-based Osborne Foundation to raise public awareness about the impact of parental incarceration on children. Parental incarceration is more than a temporary separation of child and parent because incarceration affects children differently than other forms of parental loss. Having an incarcerated parent carries strong social stigma [...]

By |2019-10-23T08:53:19-04:00October 23rd, 2019|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Justice|
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