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Youth Voices Leading the Charge: Insights from Substance Use Prevention Focus Groups

Last fall, Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA), through the Bloom Kentucky initiative, conducted six focus groups across the Commonwealth to elevate youth perspectives in shaping the Attorney General’s youth substance use prevention campaign, “Better Without It”. With participation from 70 middle and high school students, we engaged young people from Mayfield, Springfield, Louisville, Hazard, and Covington, while a virtual focus group connected youth from Shelby, Warren, Taylor, and Boyle Counties. These conversations—held both in-person and virtually—provided [...]

By |2025-03-13T16:03:10-04:00March 13th, 2025|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Education, Health|
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Statement on Passage of SB 100 by the Kentucky House

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Good news – Senate Bill 100 passes the full Kentucky House with bipartisan support! Kentucky kids need healthy environments to learn, play, and grow, free from the harmful effects of nicotine products like e-cigarettes and vapes. SB 100 will put measures in place to ensure compliance with Tobacco-21 law, so these products never reach the hands of [...]

By |2025-03-12T16:28:44-04:00March 12th, 2025|Education, Health, News Room|
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Statement on Passage of SB 17 by the House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – We’re celebrating as Senate Bill 17 passes the House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee. This commonsense bill will remove barriers to establishing freestanding birth centers in Kentucky – a move that aligns with 40 other states. SB 17, sponsored by Senator Shelley Funke Frommeyer, is the companion bill of Representative Jason Nemes’ House Bill 90, to [...]

By |2025-03-12T10:03:30-04:00March 12th, 2025|Health, News Room, Race Equity|
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Statement on Passage of SB 100 by the House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Alongside the Kentucky youth speaking up to end the vaping crisis among their peers, we are applauding as the House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee passes Senator Jimmy Higdon’s Senate Bill 100. We especially appreciate the committee members for retaining the original licensing provisions within the committee substitute adopted today. SB 100 would enforce the federal [...]

By |2025-03-12T09:53:15-04:00March 12th, 2025|Education, Health, News Room|
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Statement on Passage of HB 90 by the Kentucky House

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – With the leadership of Representative Jason Nemes, House Bill 90 passed the full Kentucky House this afternoon. This legislation, and its companion Senate Bill 17, are critical levers to offering more options for prenatal and delivery care for Kentucky’s pregnant moms. As an alternative to a hospital delivery, freestanding birth centers have a track record of providing [...]

By |2025-03-06T17:08:34-05:00March 6th, 2025|Health, News Room, Race Equity|
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Youth Voice: “Our voices matter today and every day.”

By Zach Crouch, member for the Health Youth Ambassadors Zach shared the following speech as the opening of the 2025 Rally for Kentucky Kids in the Rotunda at the annual Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol.  Welcome to our 2025 Children’s Advocacy Day! My name is Zachary Crouch. Words can not describe how it makes me feel to see this Rotunda packed full of youth advocates and many elected officials joining today. Thank you, Governor [...]

By |2025-03-21T11:10:08-04:00March 6th, 2025|Blog, Education, Health|
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Governor Beshear, House and Senate Leadership Join Hundreds of Youth and Advocates for Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol 2025

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org FRANKFORT, KY – Hundreds of child advocates are convening this week for Children’s Advocacy Week, urging elected leaders to support the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children, a unified policy agenda focused on creating brighter futures for all Kentucky kids and families. Today is Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol, where community organizations, professionals who work with kids and families, and young people from across the Commonwealth gather in Frankfort to meet with their legislators, attend committee [...]

By |2025-03-04T20:33:42-05:00March 5th, 2025|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, News Room, Youth Justice|
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Statement on Passage of HB 90 by the House Licensing & Occupations Committee

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Expanded access to perinatal care options for low-risk pregnant women is a win for families, communities, and the state’s bottom line. House Bill 90, championed by Representative Jason Nemes and passed today by the House Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations Committee, removes barriers to establishing freestanding birth centers – a priority of health advocates and leaders for [...]

By |2025-03-05T10:11:52-05:00March 5th, 2025|Health, News Room, Race Equity|
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Phoenix’s Story: The Impacts of Eviction in Childhood

By Phoenix Berry, member of the 2025 Housing Policy Ambassadors cohort The feeling of loss is something we all experience, whether that's losing an item, ourselves, or another. I first remember losing my housing when I was in elementary school. My family was evicted from our home due to a public nuisance violation after the police were called because my mother was attempting to flee her abusive partner. We lost everything from baby photos to [...]

By |2025-02-27T15:01:43-05:00February 27th, 2025|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity|
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Statement on Passage of HB 291 by the Kentucky House

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – A justice system that promotes accountability, considers primary caregiver status, and reserves incarceration for those who pose a risk to public safety can be a win-win-win for family well-being, community safety, and the state’s bottom line. Representative Nick Wilson’s House Bill 291 seeks to do just that by requiring courts to consider alternative sentencing options when an [...]

By |2025-02-26T18:06:31-05:00February 26th, 2025|Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Health, Justice, News Room|
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