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Update on the Kentucky Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity

When the final gavel sounded on the 2021 General Assembly, several pieces of legislation passed that will begin to close gaps in opportunity for children of color. Among these policies that became law was Senate Bill 10, co-sponsored by Senator David Givens, Senator Whitney Westerfield, and Senate President Robert Stivers, which established a Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity. The Commission is tasked with providing studies, research driven policy proposals, and annual reports crossing [...]

By |2021-09-02T16:58:26-04:00September 2nd, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Implementation of 2021 Wins for Kids

Many of you joined us in advocating for the 2021 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children policy and budget priorities through virtual meetings, calling, or emailing your legislators, attended Children’s Advocacy Week, and so much more throughout the 2021 legislative session. Your critical efforts paid off with legislative wins for children and positive investments in the state budget. These new laws went into effect June 29th and the new state budget will take effect July 1st. Blueprint [...]

By |2021-06-30T13:04:48-04:00June 30th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Launching Visitation Project to Support Children with Incarcerated Parents

Parental incarceration has often been referred to as a ‘shared sentence’ because of the impact it has on the community, caregivers, and most importantly, the children. In Kentucky, approximately 12% of children have been separated from a parent due to incarceration, the third highest rate in the nation.   As a state, we have taken critical steps to address some of the factors contributing to the rise in parental incarceration. However, there are still tens of thousands of children being impacted. It’s imperative that we work to identify ways to [...]

By |2021-04-30T14:51:09-04:00April 28th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Justice|
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Thank You: Wins for Kids in the 2021 General Assembly

The final gavel sounded on the 2021 General Assembly this week! This year, the Governor and the Kentucky General Assembly were tasked with crafting a continuation budget, addressing the systemic injustices that impact our children and families of color, advancing policies to address the COVID-19 pandemic, 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 [...]

By |2021-04-15T16:57:00-04:00March 31st, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Medicaid, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Statement on Final Budget Passage by the Kentucky General Assembly

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – From the start, the 2021 state budget process was filled with perplexing complexities. One, because the Governor and Kentucky General Assembly were tasked with crafting a continuation budget due to timing constraints brought on by the pandemic during the 2020 legislative session. Two, leaders were faced with tough decisions as Kentucky embraces the ongoing ripple effects of [...]

By |2021-03-31T15:07:13-04:00March 31st, 2021|Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Medicaid, News Room, Race Equity|
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Statement on the Governor Signing Senate Bill 84 Into Law

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org LOUISVILLE, KY – With passage of Senate Bill 133 of 2018, the Kentucky General Assembly became the first state in the country to pass the “Dignity Bill,” a piece of legislation specifically tailored toward improving conditions for women who are incarcerated. This year, the legislature re-emphasized their commitment to the issue by unanimously supporting passage of Senate Bill 84, known as the “Dignity Bill 2.0,” sponsored by Senator Julie Raque Adams. And [...]

By |2021-03-23T15:00:13-04:00March 23rd, 2021|Justice, News Room, Race Equity|
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2021 Bills to Watch that Seek to Advance Race Equity for Kids

As our commonwealth works to overcome the “dual pandemics” of COVID-19 and systemic racism, Kentucky Youth Advocates and the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children have a common vision of a brighter future for every Kentucky kid and their family. We are counting on legislative leaders to prioritize policies that advance race equity and address systemic racism in the current and future legislative sessions. We previously shared our commitment to ensure all policies within the 2021 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children policy agenda [...]

By |2021-02-18T14:26:41-05:00February 18th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Thank You to Our 2020 Census Champions Awardees

We love giving awards to decision makers who have stepped up for kids. This year during Children's Advocacy Week, in addition to the usual Champions for Children awards given to legislators who prioritized kids during last year’s General Assembly, we also gave 2020 Census Champions awards to those in state government who went above and beyond to promote a fair and complete 2020 Census count of the commonwealth. Going into 2020, I thought the [...]

By |2021-02-16T15:21:05-05:00February 16th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Kids Count, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Gov. Beshear and Leadership from the Kentucky House and Senate Join Hundreds of Youth and Advocates for Virtual Rally for Kentucky Kids

CONTACT: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Louisville, KY – Hundreds of youth advocates from across Kentucky are virtually convening this week for Children’s Advocacy Week. They are urging elected leaders to support the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children, a unified agenda for child advocates across the state. Today, in place of the gathering in the Capitol Rotunda, advocates and state leaders tuned into the first virtual Rally for Kentucky Kids. "Today, youth, social workers, faith leaders, teachers, pediatricians, child care providers, community leaders, [...]

By |2021-02-02T11:01:06-05:00February 2nd, 2021|Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, News Room, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Local Jail Populations in Kentucky on the Rise Again, State Prison Population Declines Level Off, as COVID Spreads Throughout the Prison System

Media Contact: Abby Silverman 978-273-3875 asilverman@sloweymcmanus.com LOCAL JAIL POPULATIONS IN KENTUCKY ON THE RISE AGAIN, STATE PRISON POPULATION DECLINES LEVEL OFF, AS COVID SPREADS THROUGHOUT THE PRISON SYSTEM Vera Institute of Justice “People in Jail and Prison In 2020” Report Documents Efforts to Contain Covid Outbreaks Curtailed by Recent Rebound in Jail Populations Frankfort, KY (January 27, 2021) - Kentucky jail and prison population declined dramatically in 2020, but local jail populations began to rebound [...]

By |2021-01-28T16:41:02-05:00January 28th, 2021|Health, Justice, News Room|
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