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Helpful Back to School Tool for Kinship Caregivers

As kids across the Commonwealth head back to school this month, we must remember the 53,000 children being raised by grandparents and other relatives and the unique challenges they face. Kinship caregivers often have informal arrangements and do not have legal custody or guardianship of the children in their care. The informality of care can make it difficult for kin to enroll children in school or access educational or healthcare services. In 2014, the Kentucky [...]

By |2016-08-16T12:20:54-04:00August 16th, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Health|
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Guest Post: Every Child Deserves a Healthy Hometown

By Paula Little What do you want your child to be when he or she grows up? For concerned parents and community leaders in Clinton County, the overwhelming answer to that question has nothing to do with a career choice or monetary success. They say, “We want our children to be healthy.” You see, Clinton County has extremely high rates of obesity -- along with the chronic diseases, poor quality of life, and early mortality [...]

By |2016-07-25T14:49:46-04:00July 25th, 2016|Blog, Education, Health|
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Kentucky Kids Need Your “WHYs?” and “WHAT IFs?”

This week, the New York Times featured an article from Warren Berger, the author of the wonderful book "A More Beautiful Question." Berger reminded organizations of the power of asking, “Why?” and “What If?” Two weeks ago you read about the data side of the recently released 2016 National Kids Count Data Book. This week I’d like to apply Berger’s interrogatives to that data. WHY does child poverty get ignored in the political chatter in Frankfort? And [...]

By |2016-07-05T18:04:00-04:00July 5th, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Kids Count|
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The 2016 National KIDS COUNT Data Book: Is Kentucky Top Dog or Rock-bottom?

This week, we co-released with the Annie E. Casey Foundation the national 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book. We get pretty excited about this release because the Data Book provides the best assessment of how Kentucky’s children and youth are faring in comparison to those across the nation. Let’s face it, we live in a very competitive state – think basketball and horse racing – so we eagerly await the Data Book to see if Kentucky [...]

By |2016-06-21T16:58:16-04:00June 21st, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Kids Count|
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Congratulations, You Are Not College or Career Ready!

It has been a few weeks now since my youngest sister’s high school graduation ceremony, giving me time to reflect on the event and its repercussions. The evening started off pleasant, catching up with former teachers and running into former classmates there to celebrate their younger siblings. The night got interesting, however, after the ceremony began and students lined up to walk across the stage to receive their diploma. My last name is mid-alphabet so [...]

By |2016-06-20T15:36:37-04:00June 20th, 2016|Blog, Education|
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All Youth Deserve Opportunities to Thrive

Last week marked a seminal moment for Kentucky at the System of Care conference. Kentucky leaders tackled head on a challenge that has been facing Kentucky for years – disparities by race in outcomes for children. We’ve known for some time that racial disparities exist for kids in Kentucky. While the issue cannot be solved in one conference, beginning a broader dialogue about the issue represents a milestone along the path to ending disparate outcomes [...]

By |2016-06-15T17:14:19-04:00June 15th, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Youth Justice|
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A Checklist for a Healthy and Safe Summer Break

There’s a piece of me that continues to be jealous of my teenagers’ summer break. We have embarked upon our third week of summer, and the idealistic images I had of what their summers days would include while I’m at work have already dissipated. My rough survey of a few teens in my children’s “circle” led me to these top three “activities” on their daily to-do list: They want to sleep – a LOT. Apparently [...]

By |2016-06-13T09:20:51-04:00June 13th, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Health|
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Not All Students Love Summer Vacation

For many children, the end of the school year is eagerly anticipated and a time of celebration. Parents, students, and teachers look forward to several weeks of unstructured time, vacations, and relaxation. However, for almost 30,000 of Kentucky’s schoolchildren who are experiencing homelessness, summer break means increased stress. These children lose a large sense of stability, routine, socialization with peers, and regular meals they gain through school attendance. The causes of homelessness are complex; for [...]

By |2016-06-08T10:31:15-04:00June 8th, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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We Play to Win for Kids

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W42iiCcFbxE I JUST LOVE THAT VIDEO. It is usually among those selected when pundits choose the “greatest sports quotes of all time.” And, of course, Herm Edwards – a coach with a losing record – is now one of the experts on ESPN. I believe – at my core – that we “play to win the game FOR KIDS.” Nice tries. Pyrrhic victories. Rationalizations at failure. Those phrases leave me cold. It does kids [...]

By |2016-05-11T15:41:07-04:00May 11th, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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The Story of 1 of 135,000 Kentucky Kids

Ashley* shares her story as part of the release of a new KIDS COUNT® policy report, A Shared Sentence: The Devastating Toll of Parental Incarceration on Kids, Families and Communities. She is one of 135,000 Kentucky children who has had a parent incarcerated, according to data collected in 2011/2012. By Ashley When I was 12, I discovered that my mom was addicted to drugs. It was hard for us from then on. As her drug addiction worsened, my [...]

By |2016-04-27T17:00:23-04:00April 27th, 2016|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Kids Count|
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