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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 |2024-04-25T12:29:08-04:00April 21st, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, News Room, 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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OP-ED: A New Year’s resolution for the Kentucky General Assembly

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on January 2, 2022. By Dr. Terry Brooks This time of year, we all waver between setting New Year’s resolutions and simply dismissing the process as an inevitable failure. (Really?  No snacks after 8 p.m.?  I’m going to learn a new hobby?  And, of course, I’ll be at the gym by 6 a.m. at least four mornings a week!) But “Psychology Today” lists several reasons why setting [...]

By |2024-04-25T12:29:29-04:00January 3rd, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Kids Count, News Room, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Announcing the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children 2022 State Policy and Budget Priority Agenda

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Announcing the Blueprint for Kentucky's Children 2022 State Policy and Budget Priorities Agenda Louisville, KY – Today, Kentucky Youth Advocates and partners from across the Commonwealth are launching the Blueprint for Kentucky's Children 2022 state policy and budget priorities agenda. The Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children is a coalition of non-profit, public, and private organizations that stands on three pillars: thriving communities launch strong families, strong families launch successful kids, and successful kids launch a [...]

By |2021-12-08T08:59:19-05:00December 8th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, News Room, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Looking for data by race for your community?

The motto of the KIDS COUNT project is: What gets measured, gets changed. In order to learn more about the current realities for Kentucky kids who are Black and Brown, and to track progress towards equitable outcomes, advocates need data. Kentucky Youth Advocates has compiled into one place – our Race Equity page – the following resources for advocates and policymakers to access child and family wellbeing data broken out by race and ethnicity. Kentucky [...]

By |2021-11-17T14:24:14-05:00November 17th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Kids Count, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Launch of the 2021 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book

Kentucky Youth Advocates has launched the 31st edition of the Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book! The 2021 County Data Book examines data disaggregated by race/ethnicity, the impacts of systemic racial injustice on children and families, and solutions to advance racial equity so that every child can thrive. The publication features the latest data on 17 measures of child well-being, showing whether outcomes for children across the commonwealth have improved, worsened, or stayed the same over a five-year period. [...]

By |2021-11-10T13:49:34-05:00November 10th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Kids Count, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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