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FREE Upcoming Bullying/Violence Prevention Curriculum Workshop

If you work for a public school in Kentucky you’ve probably already heard, but we want to make sure after-school programs and summer camps are also in the know about a free bullying/violence prevention workshop taking place April 10 at Murray State University. The Kentucky Center for School Safety, Murray State University Center for Environmental Education, MSU College of Education, and MSU Regional Outreach are sponsoring a full-day training by Operation Respect. Operation Respect is a non-profit organization founded [...]

By |2013-02-05T00:00:05-05:00February 5th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education|
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Protect Kids from Cuts

On January 29 the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services announced cuts to some vital programs for children, in response to a projected $86.6 million budget shortfall for the Department of Community Based Services. The planned cuts target the Kinship Care Program and the Child Care Assistance Program both of which affect thousands of families and children across the Commonwealth. Cutting the Kinship Care and Child Care Assistance Programs will cost the state more [...]

By |2013-02-04T16:23:29-05:00February 4th, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education|
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Important Notice Regarding the Chronic Absenteeism Data in 2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book

Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) was just informed by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) that the chronic absenteeism data provided by KDE in the recently released 2012 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book is inaccurate for all school districts. KYA has taken the chronic absenteeism data off of our online KIDS COUNT Data Center until the corrected data is provided by KDE. KYA has also put a hold on fulfilling book request orders until this [...]

By |2013-01-29T15:10:57-05:00January 29th, 2013|Blog, Education|
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Limited Resources, Unlimited Student Opportunities

  Guest Post by Terry Wilson, Service Coordinator at Berea College Although many students don't officially drop out of school until high school, the student's disengagement with their schoolwork can almost always be traced back to an earlier age.  If the problem isn't addressed prior to attending high school, those students will almost surely be overwhelmed once they enter high school and are very likely to give up and drop out. To prevent this we must [...]

By |2013-01-29T12:41:54-05:00January 29th, 2013|Blog, Education|
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“We’ll Need to Equip Our Children for the Future”

    After a national election devoid of much discussion of poverty in America - let alone child poverty - The Children's Leadership Council worked with Spark Action to produce a video highlighting what issues children and young adults care about. The video features the voices of young people, ages 5 to 25, discussing the issues they hope the President and Congress will address in the next four years to ensure all kids can grow up [...]

By |2013-01-21T14:15:00-05:00January 21st, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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Kentucky KIDS COUNT 2012 County Data Book examines education, offers framework for strengthening alternative schools

The 2012 County Data Book released last week paints a picture of the path that Kentucky students follow starting from birth to the transition to adulthood based on educational outcomes at each of those stages. This is the 22nd annual release of the County Data Book, part of the Kentucky KIDS COUNT project. The KIDS COUNT project monitors progress for Kentucky’s one million children on over 100 measures of child well-being, including health, safety, economic well-being, and [...]

By |2013-01-03T11:58:50-05:00January 3rd, 2013|Blog, Education|
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New Year Resolutions for Kentucky Children

Happy New Year! Welcome back to many of you who took time off for holidays and vacations. Beginning a new year often means making (and breaking) resolutions. The 2013 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children outlines nine policy priorities that can serve as resolutions for improving the lives of kids throughout Kentucky. Take a look at the list of priorities – and when making your own resolutions this year, consider how you can make a difference in the lives [...]

By |2013-01-02T11:46:04-05:00January 2nd, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|
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Restraint and Seclusion Policy Change Approved

Child advocates, students, and parents across the state received good news this week when the Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee approved the Kentucky Department of Education’s new restraint and seclusion policy proposal. As we recently discussed, restraints and seclusion can have terrible consequences for Kentucky children. The policy change will enhance  school safety for both students and staff by limiting the use of restraint and seclusion, educating teachers on how to safely conduct restraints when absolutely necessary, and [...]

By |2012-12-20T11:42:59-05:00December 20th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education|
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Don’t pull the net out from children

The following post first appeared in A Better Life, a blog for the Courier-Journal about the aftermath of the recession. Over the weekend, New York Times Columnist Nick Kristof caused a bit of a stir with his column “Profiting From a Child’s Illiteracy.” Kristof argues that some families in poverty – specifically families in Breathitt County in eastern Kentucky – keep their children illiterate to ensure they receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). This is troubling, but [...]

By |2012-12-11T10:30:03-05:00December 11th, 2012|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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Kentucky kids need you: Speak out on use of restraint and seclusion in Kentucky schools

Imagine the scene. It actually happened. The superintendent was walking through the school cafeteria. As he did, he spotted a student rising from his seat with a knife. A former gridiron star, the superintendent claims that he “drank from the fountain of youth” and launched himself like a middle linebacker to take the knife-toting youth to the ground. Imagine another scene. It, too actually, happened. On a Wednesday night in a Yonkers, New York school, [...]

By |2012-12-06T09:31:29-05:00December 6th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education|
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