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The Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission Awards Funds for Prevention and Recovery

KYA staff attended the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission announcement on March 27th in Louisville. At the end of March, the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission approved more than $19.8 million in new funding across the Commonwealth – investments that reflect a powerful alignment between values and action in Kentucky’s ongoing response to the opioid epidemic.  This latest cycle included two core funding opportunities: one focused on prevention efforts and the other on [...]

By |2025-04-25T10:09:03-04:00April 21st, 2025|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Health|
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2025 Bloom Kentucky Legislative Recap

By Hannah McCarty & Hannah Edelen  The Bloom Kentucky initiative is focused on statewide policy changes and budget investments that aim to prevent and mitigate the multi-generational impact of childhood adversity so that all kids and families can flourish.  Bloom Kentucky identified several policy priorities for the 2025 state legislative session to prevent ACEs and address the systemic barriers that families face.  Here’s a recap of how our 2025 Bloom policy priorities fared:  Enact Caregiver [...]

By |2025-04-09T13:22:24-04:00April 9th, 2025|Blog, Bloom Kentucky|
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Positive Childhood Experiences: Feeling supported by friends

Did you know that creating positive experiences in childhood can lay the groundwork for lifelong resilience and well-being? These experiences are known as Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs). PCEs highlight the nurturing moments, relationships, and environments that build a child’s inner strength and emotional health. In the Bloom Kentucky blog series, we explore how we can nurture these positive experiences to support children across the Commonwealth.  Today’s spotlight is on the PCE of feeling supported [...]

By |2025-04-02T12:01:15-04:00April 2nd, 2025|Blog, Bloom Kentucky|
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Countdown to the Together We Bloom Summit!

It’s hard to believe that we are just over a month away from the inaugural Together We Bloom Summit hosted by Bloom Kentucky on May 7, 2025 in Shelbyville, Kentucky!  This one-day event will bring together community leaders, policymakers, and advocates from across the Commonwealth to focus on cultivating positive childhood experiences through policy and systems change.  We’re thrilled to welcome an incredible lineup of speakers including:  Dr. Robert Sege, MD, PhD, FAAP, is a [...]

By |2025-03-26T17:18:30-04:00March 26th, 2025|Blog, Bloom Kentucky|
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Youth Voices Leading the Charge: Insights from Substance Use Prevention Focus Groups

Last fall, Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA), through the Bloom Kentucky initiative, conducted six focus groups across the Commonwealth to elevate youth perspectives in shaping the Attorney General’s youth substance use prevention campaign, “Better Without It”. With participation from 70 middle and high school students, we engaged young people from Mayfield, Springfield, Louisville, Hazard, and Covington, while a virtual focus group connected youth from Shelby, Warren, Taylor, and Boyle Counties. These conversations—held both in-person and virtually—provided [...]

By |2025-03-13T16:03:10-04:00March 13th, 2025|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Education, Health|
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Phoenix’s Story: The Impacts of Eviction in Childhood

By Phoenix Berry, member of the 2025 Housing Policy Ambassadors cohort The feeling of loss is something we all experience, whether that's losing an item, ourselves, or another. I first remember losing my housing when I was in elementary school. My family was evicted from our home due to a public nuisance violation after the police were called because my mother was attempting to flee her abusive partner. We lost everything from baby photos to [...]

By |2025-02-27T15:01:43-05:00February 27th, 2025|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity|
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Statement on Passage of HB 291 by the Kentucky House

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – A justice system that promotes accountability, considers primary caregiver status, and reserves incarceration for those who pose a risk to public safety can be a win-win-win for family well-being, community safety, and the state’s bottom line. Representative Nick Wilson’s House Bill 291 seeks to do just that by requiring courts to consider alternative sentencing options when an [...]

By |2025-02-26T18:06:31-05:00February 26th, 2025|Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Health, Justice, News Room|
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Positive Childhood Experiences: Feeling a sense of belonging in high school

Did you know that positive experiences in childhood can shape lifelong resilience and well-being? These moments, known as Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs), create a strong foundation for emotional and social development. While Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) focus on difficulties and trauma, PCEs emphasize the relationships, environments, and opportunities that nurture a child’s growth. In the Bloom Kentucky blog series, we explore how fostering these positive experiences can support children across the Bluegrass. Today, we’re [...]

By |2025-02-26T17:09:57-05:00February 26th, 2025|Blog, Bloom Kentucky|
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Statement on Passage of HB 291 by the House Families & Children Committee

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Kentucky has the third highest rate of parental incarceration in the nation, with over 100,000 children having experienced the disruption and trauma of being separated from a parent. The Family Preservation and Accountability Act, co-championed by Senator Julie Raque Adams and Representative Nick Wilson, seeks to hold parents accountable for their actions while minimizing the negative impact [...]

By |2025-02-20T10:13:33-05:00February 20th, 2025|Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Health, Justice, News Room|
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Weathering the Storm: Adverse Climate Experiences and Resilience in Kentucky

Many moons ago, before I was born, and when my brother was just a little boy – the sky one day turned the color purple and in moments, the wind picked up and my family found themselves huddled under an old pick-up truck praying that the wind would subside. That day a tornado hit my home lane of Hillsboro and turned my family’s single-wide sideways. To this day, whenever the wind picks up, my father’s [...]

By |2025-02-18T15:30:51-05:00February 18th, 2025|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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