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The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences Doesn’t End in Childhood

What happens when the kids we label as ‘at-risk’ for maltreatment grow up? They become at-risk adults and the research on these adults paints an unfortunate picture of what happens when you grow up in an environment exposed to those risks. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the negative impact of child maltreatment doesn’t end in childhood. An infographic was released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Veto Violence initiative this past year. The [...]

By |2013-03-21T11:14:37-04:00March 21st, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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Another Positive Step for Kentucky Alternative Programs

It was some eight years ago when Kentucky Youth Advocates’ point person on our case advocacy program brought me information indicating that “something troubling” was happening in alternative programs in Kentucky. The more we probed the “state of the state’s alternative programs,” the more I became convinced we just couldn’t be getting an accurate picture. Were alternative programs really as far behind as they appeared in meeting students’ needs? It turned out we weren’t exactly [...]

By |2013-03-21T10:50:28-04:00March 21st, 2013|Blog, Education|
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Annual Rankings Show Where Kentucky Counties do well and Opportunities for Improvement

Health does not exist in a vacuum. Health is impacted by more than having health insurance and going to the doctor. The County Health Rankings and Roadmaps project, a partnership between the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, understands this. They work to understand what’s making people sick or healthy and then figure out what communities can do to impact that. According to the newest annual rankings released today, Oldham County has [...]

By |2013-03-20T11:04:36-04:00March 20th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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Early-childhood Reports Show the Good, Bad and Ironic

This post originally appeared as an op-ed on March 14 in the Herald Leader. Find it online here. The Governor's Office of Early Childhood released for the first time early childhood profiles on a county-by-county basis. It was a report filled with good news, bad news and irony. First of all, this is a tool that can help communities and schools assess progress and make plans to help youngsters entering kindergarten. We were happy to [...]

By |2013-03-18T13:07:17-04:00March 18th, 2013|Blog, Education, Health|
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Sequestration’s Effects on Kentucky Children and Families

Well it happened. After months of warning and endless debate on Capitol Hill, it happened. Across the board cuts, known as sequestration, went into effect over the weekend. While it is still too soon to tell exactly how the cuts will impact children, families and the agencies who serve them throughout the state – it is clear there will be an impact, possibly with devastating effects. Here are just a few examples of how Kentucky [...]

By |2013-03-07T10:04:51-05:00March 7th, 2013|Blog, Economic Security, Education, Health|
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“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss

The third annual Kentucky Literacy Celebration week is next week, March 4-8. The result of collaboration among several literacy/education institutions and Kentucky’s First Lady Jane Beshear, Kentucky Literacy Celebration is intended to highlight the issue of literacy in Kentucky, celebrate accomplishments made, and focus on the challenges we still face as a state. Kentucky Youth Advocates is spreading the word because we know how vital reading proficiency is – to overall school achievement, to the [...]

By |2021-04-05T16:21:56-04:00February 26th, 2013|Blog, Education|
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Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Seeks Your Input

Since 2009, I've spent many hours working with state and local officials and advocates on changing the way roads are designed and built to accommodate people of all ages and abilities. This concept, known as complete streets, means thinking strategically about how to make streets friendlier and safer for all users of the road including motorists, pedestrians, cyclists, public transportation users, etc. Many of the decisions made by our state on accommodating all users are contingent [...]

By |2013-02-20T14:16:44-05:00February 20th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education|
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Tough Times are the Most Important Times to Protect Kids

Two weeks ago, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services announced that it will dramatically cut child care assistance to low income families and will pay no new subsidies to relatives caring for children who have been abused or neglected. This announcement spells trouble for a whole host of reasons, as many voices around the state have passionately and eloquently described. In addition to eliminating critical supports that help children, families and our economy thrive, [...]

By |2013-02-14T13:14:49-05:00February 14th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education|
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Is the Tide Turning for Kids in Public Discourse?

The following post first appeared in A Better Life, a blog for the Courier-Journal about the aftermath of the recession. http://youtu.be/WIndJDVCPAY In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, child and poverty advocates across the country had their wishes granted – to hear the President discuss poverty issues, and children’s issues. (Gun control advocates and climate change advocates got their wish too – as did many other advocates). While in reality, the SOTU is little more than “political [...]

By |2013-02-13T17:17:48-05:00February 13th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education|
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Children’s Advocacy Day 2013: When it comes to kids, do we have courage?

The weatherman cooperated.  Citizens from throughout the Commonwealth – hundreds of them – showed up.  The atmospherics were great – the Blue Apple Players performing a scene from “Lincoln”; a high school dance team jazzing up the scene; and, young people talking about public policy issues like human trafficking and a smoke-free environment  that count in their lives.  And the 9th Children’s Advocacy Day kicked off. The sun may have been shining bright on our [...]

By |2013-02-07T14:37:36-05:00February 7th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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