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Updates on SB 8 Implementation from the Child Welfare Oversight & Advisory Committee

The Child Welfare Oversight and Advisory Committee met last week and heard testimony from the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Community Based Services about the implementation of Senate Bill 8, a policy priority of the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children and the Kosair Charities Face It Movement. SB 8 was sponsored by Senator Julie Raque Adams and reformed pieces of the child welfare system. More importantly, SB 8 expanded access and opportunities [...]

By |2022-07-28T15:28:53-04:00July 28th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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A Look at the New Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the cost of prescription opioid misuse in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including health care, lost productivity, addiction treatment and criminal justice. In 2017, approximately 2.2 million children were directly affected by parental opioid use or their own use, and we know that Kentucky children have been particularly hard hit. There is a clear connection of adult and adolescent opioid use to childhood [...]

By |2022-09-09T12:08:56-04:00July 27th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Health, Justice|
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Implementation of 2022 Wins for Kids and Families

Many of you advocated for the 2022 Blueprint for Kentucky's Children policy and budget priorities through legislative meetings, social media posts, attended Children’s Advocacy Week, called or emailed your legislators, and so much more throughout the 2022 legislative session. Your critical efforts paid off with legislative wins for children and positive investments in the state budget. Many new state laws go into effect 90 days after the last day of legislative session unless the bill [...]

By |2022-07-14T16:28:58-04:00July 14th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Race Equity|
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Thriving Families, Safer Children: Community-Focused Child Abuse Prevention

The Thriving Families, Safer Children work in Kentucky continues in many different ways among the partner organizations. One of the ways that the partnership is working towards ensuring kids are safe and families are thriving is by engaging in locally-focused conversations around primary and secondary child abuse prevention.  The Department for Community Based Services, Administrative Office of the Courts, and Kentucky Youth Advocates facilitated 9 regional community conversations called Visioning Sessions to engage each region [...]

By |2023-03-07T16:15:09-05:00July 7th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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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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Join us in Recognizing and Celebrating Reunification Month

Parenting can be tough under normal circumstances but adding in extra obstacles that come with getting a family back together after child removal can be even more challenging. While foster care may be a necessary option when there are safety and well-being concerns, the ideal goal is to return children to their own families and back in their homes whenever safely possible.   During the month of June, Kentucky joined other states to recognize National [...]

By |2022-06-30T11:50:06-04:00June 29th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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Recognizing Federal Protections for the LGBTQ+ Community

By Jordan Ojile, Intern at Kentucky Youth Advocates June is recognized nationally as Pride Month, a time to celebrate strides made and remaining work in LGBTQ+ health and wellbeing. There have been several unsuccessful drives in recent years to protect Kentucky’s vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth. Since 2017, Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky has been at the forefront of education, advocacy, and lobbying efforts across the Commonwealth. During the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly, the Youth Mental Health Protection [...]

By |2022-06-23T12:40:58-04:00June 23rd, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Health|
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Celebrating the Ceremonial Signing of New Legislation to Address Child Abuse in Kentucky

For immediate release: June 8, 2022 Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Celebrating the Ceremonial Signing of New Legislation to Address Child Abuse in Kentucky Governor Beshear and State Lawmakers Join Kentucky Youth Advocates and Kosair Charities Face It Movement Partners for Ceremonial Signing of SB 8 and HB 263 LOUISVILLE, KY – Today, Kentucky Youth Advocates and partners in the Kosair Charities Face It Movement joined Governor Andy Beshear and state leaders for the ceremonial bill [...]

By |2022-06-08T16:35:34-04:00June 8th, 2022|Child Welfare & Safety, News Room|
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OP-ED: Wrapping around our foster care alumni experiencing homelessness

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Herald Leader on May 27, 2022. By Tia Humphrey, Lynn Rippy, and Nikki Thornton 1 in 3. 1 in 3 young adults with a foster care experience face housing instability in Kentucky. That’s 1 in 3 young people with their livelihood and potential hanging by a thread, despite resources readily available. How did these young people get to the point of homelessness? In Kentucky, there are [...]

By |2022-05-31T16:59:08-04:00May 31st, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security|
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OP-ED: Let’s create more caring communities when it comes to mental health

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Messenger-Inquirer on May 25, 2022. By Barry Allen and the Bloom Kentucky Advisory Council “What’s wrong with you?” If you have struggled emotionally in public or amongst family or friends, you may have been asked this question. Maybe you’ve snapped at your child after losing your patience in the cereal aisle of the grocery store and a stranger gives you that questioning look. Or perhaps you’ve asked this [...]

By |2022-05-26T09:43:52-04:00May 26th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Race Equity|
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