Ask Congress to Increase Funding for Child Care
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National politics. Most of us are sick of hearing about it. We turn on our televisions, or most likely, scroll through our phones to stare at the day’s headlines. We are fatigued by the infighting, the suspicion, the intrigue, and the outright salaciousness of our national life. It is tempting to flip the channel to something less stress inducing, or to deactivate our social media in hopes of making the intense political world in which [...]
As National Suicide Prevention Month wraps up, we believe it’s important to discuss prevention efforts for children, teens, and young adults throughout the year. One way we’re committed to doing just that is through ongoing advocacy that emphasizes the mental health needs of Kentucky youth. The School Safety and Resiliency Act of 2019 (SB 1), developed in response to the tragic 2018 Marshall County High School shooting, ensures all students are able to learn in a [...]
Photo courtesy of Annie E. Casey Foundation. Results. This season you’ve heard politicians and pundits tout them, your gym advertises them, and your boss demand them. Results make the world go ‘round. Without them, progress is unobtainable and success is unreachable. We live in a country obsessed with results. We post them to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds for all to see. The rush to produce results, and show those results off, [...]
Schools, policymakers, students, parents, and health advocates celebrated a big win for student health in the 2019 Kentucky legislative session with passage of House Bill 11, which established a statewide tobacco-free school campus policy. All are celebrating again at the start of the school year as school districts are acting early to comply with HB 11. When the bill became law, only 72 of the state's 173 school districts, or 42 percent, were tobacco-free [...]
Happy New [School] Year to all of Kentucky’s educators! Here’s your first pop quiz of the year: Do you wish Head Start could serve all eligible children? Would you like smaller class sizes? Have you ever yearned for more school funding? If you answered YES to any of the above questions, you’re going to want to read these 4 things your school needs to know about the 2020 census this school year: 1. Children are [...]
This school year, pending federal Centers of Medicaid and Medicare approval, local school districts will have the opportunity to expand health and behavioral health services already offered to students in schools by leveraging federal Medicaid dollars. By expanding health services to all students and billing services for Medicaid-eligible students, schools can help address immediate health care needs, connect students to quality health providers, and keep students learning. Additionally, this opportunity, called free care, creates a [...]
Last spring, Congress delivered an historic increase in funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) at a critical time for children and families in Kentucky. The Bevin Administration is utilizing the additional $42 million to cover identified gaps in access to high-quality child care, including increase provider payment rates, increase eligibility at re-certification so that parents do not suddenly lose child care assistance when they get a promotion or better paying job, remove [...]
As summer break winds down for many Kentucky students, parents and caregivers are preparing to get school supplies together, health forms filled out, after-school care figured out, and more for the new school year. Whether your little one is off to kindergarten or senior year, below are helpful tips your family can utilize to ensure your child’s health will be in good shape as they head back to school and settle into their school routine. [...]
Kentucky Youth Advocates is excited to announce the Statistics in Schools Sweepstakes, a free and easy way for Kentucky teachers to help their school win $500 by using the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistics in Schools materials during Constitution Week (September 16-20, 2019). Four $500 checks will be given to winning schools – one for a Preschool/Kindergarten program, one for grades 1-5, one for grades 6-8, and one for grades 9-12. PLUS, an additional $500 [...]
Yulie and Jenna presented at a recent Coalition for a Smoke-free Tomorrow press conference announcing the filing of the e-cigarette tax bill. “In the last year and a half, I went to 3 proms, 2 homecomings, graduated high school, got a job, AND I saw the rise of e-cigarette usage in high schools and middle schools across Kentucky and the nation. For a device that's small enough to fit between my thumb and [...]
