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Kentucky Announces Plans to Bolster Child Care with Federal Relief Funds

The latest national KIDS COUNT Data Book co-released by Kentucky Youth Advocates and the Annie E. Casey Foundation data shows that Kentucky is moving in the wrong direction on 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in school, with 60% of this age group not enrolled in school. Of those who are enrolled, we know that many children in Kentucky attend preschool through a licensed child care center, which serves a dual purpose of helping children get the [...]

By |2021-07-01T12:55:54-04:00July 1st, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Education, Race Equity|
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Implementation of 2021 Wins for Kids

Many of you joined us in advocating for the 2021 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children policy and budget priorities through virtual meetings, calling, or emailing your legislators, attended Children’s Advocacy Week, and so much more throughout the 2021 legislative session. Your critical efforts paid off with legislative wins for children and positive investments in the state budget. These new laws went into effect June 29th and the new state budget will take effect July 1st. Blueprint [...]

By |2021-06-30T13:04:48-04:00June 30th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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OP-ED: Congress needs to invest in Kentucky’s kids now to allow us to recover from the pandemic

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in The Courier Journal on June 24, 2021. By Dr. Terry Brooks In his remarkable book, “Shrewd,” author Rick Lawrence recalls the amazing tale of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. After landing on the moon, the spaceship was hurtling back to earth when a failed bearing in a Guam tracking station threatened to create a re-entry disaster. All of the technical solutions failed. But, station director Charles Force saved [...]

By |2021-06-24T10:19:10-04:00June 24th, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Education, Health, Kids Count, Race Equity|
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The Child Tax Credit and Payments to Parents and Caregivers

This post was originally featured on the blog of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Image courtesy of AECF If you are a parent or caregiver who has filed taxes before, you may already be familiar with the child tax credit, which most parents claim on their annual income tax return. For years, it has provided an after-the-fact credit for families with children. What’s new is that beginning in July 2021, for most parents, [...]

By |2021-06-23T13:34:55-04:00June 23rd, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Kids Count, Race Equity|
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Kentucky Progress on Child and Family Well-Being Jeopardized by Pandemic

Kentucky was showing measurable, though slow, progress on family economic well-being and child health coverage immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic but was falling short on curbing youth obesity and having 3- and 4-year-olds in early childhood programs, according to the 2021 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report published today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “Though the Commonwealth made progress on a number of indicators of child well-being between 2010 and 2019, rankings show [...]

By |2021-06-21T17:53:38-04:00June 21st, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Kids Count, Race Equity|
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Kentucky Progress on Child and Family Well-Being Jeopardized by Pandemic

CONTACT: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Kentucky Progress on Child and Family Well-Being Jeopardized by Pandemic Data Across 50 States Show Continued Challenges, But Hopes for Recovery Remain, Annie E. Casey Foundation Finds LOUISVILLE, KY – Kentucky was showing measurable, though slow, progress on family economic well-being and child health coverage immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic but was falling short on curbing youth obesity and having 3- and 4-year-olds in early childhood programs, according to the 2021 KIDS COUNT® [...]

By |2021-06-21T17:43:22-04:00June 21st, 2021|Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Kids Count, News Room, Race Equity|
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Actions to Mitigate Food Insecurity in the United States

By Nikky Patel, Intern at Kentucky Youth Advocates In the past year, many Americans have experienced a lack of access to healthy food and, although food insecurity is not a new issue, we have vividly felt its effect throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the federal government and Congressional leaders have been responsive to this issue and continue to apply lessons learned throughout the pandemic to take action that will address hunger and food insecurity in [...]

By |2021-06-30T14:28:55-04:00June 16th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Race Equity|
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Emergency Broadband Benefit: Let’s Get Families Connected

Let’s get more communities and families digitally connected! May 12, 2021 marks the launch of the temporary, federal Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program. This program, overseen by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is geared toward connecting more households to the internet at a time when we rely on digital connectivity more than ever before. The $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit program, established by Congress last year in response to ongoing economic hardships caused by the [...]

By |2021-05-13T09:49:10-04:00May 13th, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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The Child Tax Credit of 2021: What You Need to Know

Image courtesy of AECF Among the provisions in the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) to provide COVID-19 relief is an expanded version of the Child Tax Credit. Approximately 1.1 million Kentucky children and their families will be eligible for the one-year expanded tax credit. This includes low-income families who have not historically made enough or have no income at all will be eligible. The program will begin starting in July, [...]

By |2021-06-23T13:33:31-04:00May 5th, 2021|Blog, Economic Security|
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Thank You: Wins for Kids in the 2021 General Assembly

The final gavel sounded on the 2021 General Assembly this week! This year, the Governor and the Kentucky General Assembly were tasked with crafting a continuation budget, addressing the systemic injustices that impact our children and families of color, advancing policies to address the COVID-19 pandemic, 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 [...]

By |2021-04-15T16:57:00-04:00March 31st, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Medicaid, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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