News Room

An Increased Tobacco Tax of at least $1 Would Prevent Teen Smoking

Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org FRANKFORT, KY – Across the commonwealth, tobacco takes a toll on the health of children, teens, and pregnant women and their babies. Seventeen percent of Kentucky high school students currently smoke—the 2nd highest rate in the nation—and 2,900 Kentucky kids become new daily smokers each year. However, viable solutions do exist to end tobacco use. Increasing Kentucky’s tobacco tax by at least $1 is a proven method to prevent [...]

By Mara Powell|2018-02-07T16:23:57-05:00January 31st, 2018|Health, News Room|

Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks on Congress’ Passage of CHIP Funding Extension

Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks on Congress’ Passage of CHIP Funding Extension

Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates Tonight, many families across Kentucky can rest assured that their children’s health insurance is no longer in jeopardy. With the measure passed today by Congress, the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program received a funding extension of six years. The extension of CHIP funding means that 93,000 Kentucky kids can stay up-to-date on their immunizations and wellness visits and [...]

By Mara Powell|2018-01-22T21:56:52-05:00January 22nd, 2018|Blog, Health, News Room|

Nearly 1,000 Youth and Advocates Join Governor Bevin, President Stivers and Other Elected Leaders for 14th Annual Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol

Nearly 1,000 Youth and Advocates Join Governor Bevin, President Stivers and Other Elected Leaders for 14th Annual Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org (o) 502-895-8167 *122 (c) 859-496-5524 JEFFERSONTOWN, KY – Hundreds of Kentuckians from across the Commonwealth, including over 150 children and youth, are convening in Frankfort today for the 14th annual Children's Advocacy Day at the Capitol. They are urging elected leaders to support the Blueprint for Kentucky's Children, a unified agenda for child advocates across the state. "Today, youth, faith leaders, teachers, social works, pediatricians, elected leaders, and many others unite to ask our [...]

By Mara Powell|2018-01-18T10:54:17-05:00January 18th, 2018|News Room|

Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks on Governor Bevin’s State of the Commonwealth and Budget Address

Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks on Governor Bevin’s State of the Commonwealth and Budget Address

Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates The real takeaway from tonight’s address from Governor Matt Bevin is a question: What kind of commonwealth do we want to be? Is it one in which needed protections for kids are absent and a rising tide of poverty is pervasive? A place where families struggle to stay together and early investments for kids fall to the wayside? Or will [...]

By Mara Powell|2018-01-16T20:47:07-05:00January 16th, 2018|Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, News Room, Youth Justice|

Elected Leaders, Youth, and Advocates to Gather for Children’s Advocacy Day on Thurs, Jan 18

Elected Leaders, Youth, and Advocates to Gather for Children’s Advocacy Day on Thurs, Jan 18

Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org Elected Leaders Join Youth and Advocates for Rally on Behalf of Kentucky Children Thursday, January 18 at 10 am Jeffersontown, KY – Hundreds of youth advocates from across Kentucky will gather in Frankfort on Thursday, January 18, 2018 for Children's Advocacy Day at the Capitol. They will urge legislators and other elected officials to make Kentucky children a priority during the 2018 legislative session and while crafting the state budget by supporting the Blueprint for Kentucky's [...]

By Mara Powell|2018-01-15T22:20:50-05:00January 15th, 2018|News Room|

Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks on CMS Approval of the Bevin Administration’s 1115 Medicaid Waiver

Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks on CMS Approval of the Bevin Administration’s 1115 Medicaid Waiver

Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates Today, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the Bevin Administration’s 1115 Medicaid Waiver to modify Kentucky’s Medicaid Program. The key to this significant policy change’s success or failure lies in its implementation. Kentucky HEALTH’s initial roll-out and on-going administration must be family-centric. When it comes to this – or any policy – our question [...]

By Mara Powell|2018-11-12T16:53:01-05:00January 12th, 2018|Health, Medicaid, News Room|

New Year, New Legislative Session, New Website

New Year, New Legislative Session, New Website

Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org New Year, New Legislative Session, New Website Jeffersontown, KY – Kentucky Youth Advocates is excited to announce the launch of our refreshed website, which will provide a wealth of resources throughout the 2018 legislative session. The new website has been designed to provide advocates with improved navigation and functionality across the site. The refreshed layout offers quick and easy access to a variety of tools and resources that allow advocates to [...]

By Mara Powell|2018-01-10T11:10:38-05:00January 10th, 2018|Kids Count, News Room|

Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks on the KY House Adoption Work Group Recommendation

Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks on the KY House Adoption Work Group Recommendation

Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates Today, the Kentucky House Adoption Work Group presented recommendations after their eight-month study. First, we appreciate the work of Representative Meade, Representative Jenkins and all members of the Work Group on this critical and complex issue. It is a real compliment that this bipartisan group of leaders had the persistence and vision to dig into perhaps the most [...]

By Kentucky Youth Advocates|2017-12-19T13:48:42-05:00December 19th, 2017|Child Welfare & Safety, News Room|

Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks on the Kentucky Justice Reinvestment Work Group Recommendations

Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks on the Kentucky Justice Reinvestment Work Group Recommendations

Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates Only one other state in the country has a higher rate of parental incarceration than Kentucky. At 15%, the Commonwealth has nearly double the national average of children who have experienced a parent incarcerated. That fact alone affirms the Kentucky Justice Reinvestment Work Group’s efforts to redefine the criminal justice system to protect public safety while addressing the [...]

By Kentucky Youth Advocates|2017-12-18T16:32:50-05:00December 18th, 2017|Justice, News Room|

2017 KIDS COUNT County Data Book Introduces County-Level Benchmarks for Child Well-Being

2017 KIDS COUNT County Data Book Introduces County-Level Benchmarks for Child Well-Being

Contact: Mara Powell 502-895-8167 *122 mpowell@kyyouth.org 2017 KIDS COUNT County Data Book Introduces County-Level Benchmarks for Child Well-Being The 2017 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book offers the latest data on 17 measures of child well-being, showing whether outcomes for children have improved, worsened, or stayed the same over a five-year period. It also calculates how many children would be impacted if Kentucky was able to make just a 10 percent improvement for each measure. [...]

By Kentucky Youth Advocates|2017-11-14T09:57:08-05:00November 14th, 2017|Kids Count, News Room, Youth Justice|