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Poverty Today is the Polio of the 1950s

  Clasp.org discusses the polio epidemic of the 1950s that crippled tens of thousands of people every year – and was eliminated by 1979 due to a massive public health effort. The post also highlights that the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) Task Force on Childhood Poverty recently declared that childhood poverty is on par with polio in the 1950s as the most important problem facing American children today. While the APA Task Force acknowledges that there is no [...]

By |2013-05-21T10:38:10-04:00May 21st, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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A Sure-Fire Bet for Kentucky Kids

When it comes to March Madness, I think I am an expert.  I look at every rating system known to mankind.  I compare offensive and defensive efficiencies of each team.  I analyze the relative strength of every conference.  And the result?  Well, all four granddaughters beat me (and the two youngest are only three years old!) but I did edge out my four year old grandson in our family bracketology contest!  When it comes to [...]

By |2013-05-02T11:55:19-04:00May 2nd, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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Do You Believe in Miracles?

Which of these are more likely to happen: Mitch McConnell donning his best tux for the private screening of Ashley Judd’s new movie; John Calapari sporting his new gear celebrating the Cards’ smashing NCAA championship run; or Senior officials from the Kentucky Department of Education and the Jefferson County Schools agreeing with Kentucky Youth Advocates on alternative programs? Until a couple of weeks ago, I actually thought the first two scenarios were more likely! On [...]

By |2013-04-29T11:16:41-04:00April 29th, 2013|Blog, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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Kids, Families and State Budget Debates

There is a swirl of speculation about the topic.  Is the Governor going to call a special session, and – if so – what will be on “the call?”  Or what are the priorities emerging at this very moment in Cabinet-level planning for the 2014-16 budget? Any talk about budgets offers us both hope and worry.  Will it spotlight the very real need for fundamental and systemic changes in the state’s tax and budget structures [...]

By |2013-04-25T11:04:15-04:00April 25th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education|
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Children Need Love, Support, and Better Federal Policies

Seemingly every week or month, there is new research about how poorly children are faring in the United States. In a New York Times op-ed last week “The Kids Are (Not) All Right,” Charles Blow highlighted a report from Unicef – “Child Well-Being in Rich Countries.” The United States ranks the worst among wealthy nations for child well-being and ranks particularly poorly on child poverty, being overweight, and “life satisfaction.” Meanwhile, President Obama released his [...]

By |2013-04-24T15:17:44-04:00April 24th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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KIDS COUNT Data Center Version 2.0 Coming Soon!

We hope that you have been using the KIDS COUNT Data Center to see how the children in your county and state are faring on hundreds of indicators of child well-being. If you have used the Data Center, then you know that it not only gives you the opportunity to view data for a wide range of indicators of economic security, education, health, safety and risky behaviors, but it also gives you the ability to [...]

By |2013-04-16T11:30:55-04:00April 16th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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Remember the Benefits of the Earned Income Tax Credit on this Tax Day

For the last few months, I've been volunteering as a tax preparer with the Louisville Asset Building Coalition, helping individuals and families who earn less than $50,000 prepare their taxes.  I’ve seen young students filing and single, working moms who are simultaneously raising children and going to school file taxes. I’ve heard stories about individuals falling on hard times in the last few years, and met one person who was working his way out of homelessness. As families across the state and [...]

By |2013-04-15T13:09:25-04:00April 15th, 2013|Blog, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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Unemployment Affects Children Too

A version of the following post first appeared in A Better Life, a blog for the Courier-Journal about the aftermath of the recession. Big news last month was that Kentucky’s unemployment rate was under 8 percent for the first time in four years. It is good news that the unemployment rate has been steadily declining in the last year. However, unemployment remains a problem, not only for parents, but for their children. When a parent loses [...]

By |2013-04-08T09:23:02-04:00April 8th, 2013|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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General Assembly Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children Wrap-Up Part II: The Unleashed Version

To view Part I of this post, click here. My birthday is December 25.  That makes birthday traditions and Christmas customs mingle together a bit.  But one birthday tradition leaps out.  It arrives every December in a large Styrofoam box packed with lots of dry ice.  And at the bottom of that crate sit – like precious jewels – artisan made bratwursts!  When my wife and one of our good friends were on a trip [...]

By |2013-04-04T11:03:06-04:00April 4th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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General Assembly Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children Wrap-Up Part I: The Objective Version

Tomorrow Terry Brooks, our executive director, will talk on our blog about how kids fared in Kentucky’s General Assembly this year. While I assume everyone will want to read that version, I wanted to provide a slightly more boring, but objective version of what happened in 2013 for kids in our legislature. Kentucky Youth Advocates is part of the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children which is a collaborative of multiple child serving partners from across Kentucky [...]

By |2013-04-03T17:13:58-04:00April 3rd, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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