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Reflections from the 2022 KY Commission on Race & Access to Opportunity

Read about the November 2021 meeting of the Commission on Race and Opportunity here.  Following the 2021 General Assembly, SB 10, co-sponsored by Senator Givens, Senator Whitney Westerfield, and Senate President Robert Stivers, became law and established the Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity. The group is tasked with studying and researching issues where disparities may exist across various sectors to determine areas of improvement and to provide services and opportunities for communities of [...]

By |2022-06-30T12:08:31-04:00June 30th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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New Resource for Supporting Children Who Have a Parent Incarcerated

For immediate release: May 19, 2022 Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org New Resource for Supporting Children Who Have a Parent Incarcerated Guide offers tips, resources, and conversation starters for parents, caregivers, and community members Louisville, KY — Today, Kentucky Youth Advocates and the Kentucky Social Welfare Foundation released a new guide that offers tips, resources, and conversation starters for parents, caregivers, and caring community members to consider for supporting children who have a parent incarcerated. Through [...]

By |2022-05-19T18:21:50-04:00May 19th, 2022|Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Justice, News Room|
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Guide to Supporting Children Who Have a Parent Incarcerated

At Kentucky Youth Advocates, our vision is to make Kentucky the best place to be young. However, the traumatic experiences of young people who have a parent incarcerated are all too often overlooked or misunderstood. Whether they live with their other parent at home or with a kinship or fictive kin caregiver, the adults in a young person’s life can play a role in supporting their ability to weather the hardships that come with [...]

By |2022-05-19T15:12:38-04:00May 18th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Justice|
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Bloom Kentucky Called Upon Legislators to Address ACEs – Did They Answer?

As we reflect on the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly, this year’s legislative session was certainly a mixed bag. From debates on local control vs. big government to the infiltration of national lobbying groups, it seems as though we might have been left with more questions than answers. The good news, however, is that Kentucky’s policymakers found common ground when it came to Kentucky kids and families and the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). We [...]

By |2022-05-12T12:32:23-04:00May 12th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice|
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Next Steps in Justice Legislation in Kentucky

During the 2022 General Assembly, several bills that were on the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children policy priority agenda made it to the Governor’s desk, as well as a number of innovative bills that prioritize support for children and families. For example, Senator Whitney Westerfield’s SB 90 establishes a pilot program to create behavioral health treatment alternatives to incarceration and will allow criminal charges to be dismissed upon successful completion of the program. As we celebrate [...]

By |2022-04-28T09:58:33-04:00April 28th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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OP-ED: Lots of Questions for the 2022 KY General Assembly

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on April 21, 2022. By Dr. Terry Brooks In a press conference before the historic launch of Apollo 11 to the moon, Neil Armstrong was asked about the answers he hoped to discover with his moonwalk. He responded by asserting that he will likely have more questions to ask than answers. That is how I feel as we leave the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly – I have a whole bunch of [...]

By |2022-04-21T10:44:40-04:00April 21st, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Wins & Missed Opportunities for Kids in the 2022 General Assembly

The final gavel has fallen for the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly! This year, the Governor and the Kentucky General Assembly were tasked with crafting a two-year state budget, tackle redistricting, advance policies to address the COVID-19 pandemic, tax reform, and other policy priorities that would be good for the communities they represent and the Commonwealth. If we take a second to reflect, that’s a heavy lift in a long 60-day session. There was good news [...]

By |2022-04-20T16:29:28-04:00April 20th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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The Primary Caregiver Law & Minimizing the Impact of Parental Incarceration

Having a loved one who is incarcerated impacts everyone, especially children. Kentucky has the 6th highest rate of parental incarceration with more than one in ten children having a parent who is incarcerated and more than half of all incarcerated adults – 64% of women and 55% of men – being parents. Parental incarceration is an Adverse Childhood Experience, or ACE, because it can negatively affect a child’s short and long-term behavioral, educational, and health [...]

By |2022-03-22T18:30:41-04:00March 22nd, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Justice|
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Community Input: Jail Practices to Support Children Visiting Incarcerated Parents

Kids rely on their parents to provide a safe home where all of their emotional, physical, and financial needs can be met. Unfortunately, in Kentucky more than one in 10 children have had a parent separated from them due to incarceration—the 6th highest rate in the nation.  Parental incarceration is an Adverse Childhood Experience that has been referred to as a “shared sentence” due to the short and long-term effects it has on a child’s [...]

By |2022-01-27T17:14:13-05:00January 27th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Justice, Race Equity|
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Celebrating the 2022 Champions for Children

Elected leaders and advocates step up for Kentucky kids in countless ways every day, especially in Frankfort throughout the legislative session. During Children’s Advocacy Week, Kentucky Youth Advocates and partners in the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children present Champion for Children and Step Up for Kids awards to honor those state leaders and advocates for their efforts. At this year’s Rally for Kentucky Kids, we honored several members of the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly for [...]

By |2022-01-28T11:33:35-05:00January 20th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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