The latest national KIDS COUNT Data Book reveals that more than 1 in 4 children in Kentucky live in poverty. Some families in which these children live may be scraping by, but others may not know where their next meal is coming from or where they will sleep next week. Living in poverty permeates every aspect of a child’s life—including their health, educational attainment, and future success—and by addressing poverty we can immediately begin to [...]
Contact: Mara Powell 859-496-5524 mpowell@kyyouth.org 2017 KIDS COUNT® Data Book Reveals Gains in Health and Continued Challenges in Economic Well-being Kentucky Ranks 34th in Child Well-being in the U.S. JEFFERSONTOWN, KY June 13, 2017 – Kentucky ranks 34th in the nation in overall child well-being, according to the 2017 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The 2017 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book, which includes county-level data, will be [...]
Every year, the KIDS COUNT® Data Book offers us a clear choice. Do we accept mediocrity for the Commonwealth’s children? Are we content with being a bottom half state? Or do citizens and elected leaders look at the data, craft solutions, and invent a better future for our children and youth? This year is no different. Kentucky ranks 34th in the nation in overall child well-being, according to the 2017 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, released [...]
Next Tuesday, June 13th, Kentucky Youth Advocates co-releases the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Book. The Data Book includes data on all 50 states, and you can see how Kentucky is faring on 16 key indicators of child well-being. You can find the book on our website next week, and you can be the first to know about the book by signing up for email alerts and following us on Facebook and Twitter. Once [...]
Kentucky Youth Advocates is looking for photos of Kentucky kids to include in the 2017 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book and other Kentucky Youth Advocates publications. We know you all proudly share pictures of your kids and grandkids by carrying them in your wallet and posting them on Instagram and Facebook. Here’s a great chance to promote those great kids through Kentucky Youth Advocates’ materials. We need your photos by August 31st so please start sending them in. In order to [...]
Our annual County Data Book has quite a bit of county level data on how kids are faring across Kentucky’s counties, yet it represents a small fraction of the approximately 100 indicators we have posted to the KIDS COUNT Data Center. If you’re not using the KIDS COUNT Data Center, you’re missing out on important information about the children and families in your community. The KIDS COUNT Data Center puts the power of data at [...]
This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on December 9, 2016. When I became a superintendent, my favorite day of the year was the first day of school. I would visit every elementary, middle and high school in the district, observing sparkly-eyed first-year students, who were full of excitement and anticipation about what the coming year would be like. It drove me to wonder, what can we do to maintain that sparkle? How [...]
This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on December 9, 2016. “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.” -- James Baldwin I grew up in the Park Hill housing projects, the second of seven siblings in a single parent household. I didn’t realize we were poor back then because life felt abundant. We had a strong and vibrant family. My aunt sewed our [...]
This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on December 9, 2016. Join us at the Morning Meeting - a kindergarten ritual across classrooms in this state and country. At the start of each day, little ones are sitting on a colorful rug “criss-cross applesauce” style around their teacher sharing the calendar, reciting the days of the week, and discussing the weather. Children are then asked to volunteer their own personal good news for [...]
This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on December 9, 2016. I live in Lexington, but like most all native Eastern Kentuckians, the answer to the question, “Where are you from?” is that I was born and raised in a place called Stinking Creek in Knox County. That used to be embarrassing, but now I am proud of it. A few years ago, my father was told that his death was imminent [...]
