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Guest Blog: Benefits of Establishing the Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership

By Mandy Simpson Here's what we know: Kentucky families are struggling to afford child care. With annual costs reaching up to $11,000 for one infant, this is the largest expense in too many Kentucky homes. Parents are being forced to choose between their careers and caring for their children—and we know which choice they're making. A lack of access to child care is a primary contributor to Kentucky's labor shortage and chronically low workforce participation [...]

By |2022-03-10T17:16:26-05:00March 1st, 2022|Blog, Economic Security|
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Help Families Claim the 2021 Child Tax Credit!

Over one million Kentucky families can claim the second half of the expanded Child Tax Credit this tax season, which is open until April 18!  The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 made big changes to the Child Tax Credit, expanding eligibility to cover an estimated 93% of Kentucky kids and splitting the credit into two halves. Eligible Kentucky families received the first half of the expanded credit through monthly Child Tax Credit payments that [...]

By |2022-02-03T13:47:03-05:00February 3rd, 2022|Blog, Economic Security, Race Equity|
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Celebrating the 2022 Champions for Children

Elected leaders and advocates step up for Kentucky kids in countless ways every day, especially in Frankfort throughout the legislative session. During Children’s Advocacy Week, Kentucky Youth Advocates and partners in the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children present Champion for Children and Step Up for Kids awards to honor those state leaders and advocates for their efforts. At this year’s Rally for Kentucky Kids, we honored several members of the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly for [...]

By |2022-01-28T11:33:35-05:00January 20th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Statement on the Governor and the House State Budget Proposals

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – In Kentucky, we are used to arguing about dollars and cents in budgets that are restrictive, limited, and far too scarce – and that is tough work. This year, we are learning that arguing about dollars and cents in a budget that has unprecedented one-time federal dollars is also tough work. The needs of Kentucky’s kids simply [...]

By |2022-01-17T10:22:11-05:00January 14th, 2022|Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Medicaid, News Room, Race Equity|
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2022 State Budget Checklist for Kentucky Kids

It’s week two of Kentucky’s 60-day legislative session! The end of week 1 unveiled a budget proposed by the Kentucky House of Representatives, which signals the fast-track nature of the 2022 budget process. This week, the Governor outlined his budget proposals for pre-K-12 education and health care.  As the week continues, we will hear the remaining components of the Governor’s budget proposal during his budget address on Thursday, January 13 at 7:00 PM ET, as [...]

By |2022-01-14T11:35:33-05:00January 10th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Medicaid, Race Equity|
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OP-ED: A New Year’s resolution for the Kentucky General Assembly

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on January 2, 2022. By Dr. Terry Brooks This time of year, we all waver between setting New Year’s resolutions and simply dismissing the process as an inevitable failure. (Really?  No snacks after 8 p.m.?  I’m going to learn a new hobby?  And, of course, I’ll be at the gym by 6 a.m. at least four mornings a week!) But “Psychology Today” lists several reasons why setting [...]

By |2024-04-25T12:29:29-04:00January 3rd, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Kids Count, News Room, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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The Good and Bad News for Child Care in 2022

The recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill) will be used to repair potholes in our nation’s roads and bridges. However, there is a major pothole for kids, families, and local economies that we have yet to address: child care.  Thankfully, the child care sector has gotten some much needed investment via federal COVID relief measures including CRSSA, CARES, and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to help stabilize the sector. As we [...]

By |2021-12-21T13:43:08-05:00December 21st, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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November 2021 Update on the KY Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity

Read about the October meeting of the Commission on Race and Opportunity here.  At the last meeting of 2021 for the Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity, Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) was given the opportunity to testify around the 2021 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book and solutions to advance racial equity in the Commonwealth. We highlighted two policy arenas – Health and Family and Community - that we hope can move legislative and community leaders from simply reading data on a [...]

By |2021-12-09T15:52:21-05:00December 9th, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Health, Medicaid, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Announcing the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children 2022 State Policy and Budget Priority Agenda

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Announcing the Blueprint for Kentucky's Children 2022 State Policy and Budget Priorities Agenda Louisville, KY – Today, Kentucky Youth Advocates and partners from across the Commonwealth are launching the Blueprint for Kentucky's Children 2022 state policy and budget priorities agenda. The Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children is a coalition of non-profit, public, and private organizations that stands on three pillars: thriving communities launch strong families, strong families launch successful kids, and successful kids launch a [...]

By |2021-12-08T08:59:19-05:00December 8th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, News Room, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Looking for data by race for your community?

The motto of the KIDS COUNT project is: What gets measured, gets changed. In order to learn more about the current realities for Kentucky kids who are Black and Brown, and to track progress towards equitable outcomes, advocates need data. Kentucky Youth Advocates has compiled into one place – our Race Equity page – the following resources for advocates and policymakers to access child and family wellbeing data broken out by race and ethnicity. Kentucky [...]

By |2021-11-17T14:24:14-05:00November 17th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Kids Count, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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