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 [...]

Statement on the Kentucky Board of Education’s Corporal Punishment Decision

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Kentucky students need learning environments that are safe and nurturing. Today, youth and advocates across the Commonwealth are feeling hopeful as the Kentucky Board of Education took steps toward that imperative by voting to limit the use of corporal punishment in all public schools. The Kentucky Department of Education had recently approved draft regulations for the state’s [...]

By |2021-12-01T15:11:23-05:00December 1st, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, News Room|

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 [...]

October 2021 Update on the KY Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity

Read about the September meeting of the Commission on Race and Opportunity here.  The Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity held an October meeting featuring presentations from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Prichard Committee. These groups presented on topics ranging from the workforce and economic opportunity to education and discipline.  The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s presentation walked through the Chamber’s racial equity report that was released earlier this year, Achieving Equity to [...]

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. [...]

2021 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book: A Look at Data Trends and Solutions to Advance Racial Equity in the Commonwealth

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org 2021 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book: A Look at Data Trends and Solutions to Advance Racial Equity in the Commonwealth Featuring the latest county-level data for key measures of child well-being Louisville, KY – Kentucky will be strongest when all children have their best chance to thrive. The 2021 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book examines data disaggregated by race/ethnicity, the impacts of systemic racial injustice on children and families, [...]

Mark Your Calendars: Children’s Advocacy Week January 18th-21st

For 15 years advocates for kids gathered in Frankfort for Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol to fill the halls of the Capitol and ask their elected officials to step up for Kentucky kids. The critical mass of advocates in the Capitol building led to many policy wins and raising awareness of issues facing kids and their families.   And then? COVID-19 forced the cancellation of in-person events across the globe, including the 2021 Children’s Advocacy Day. Kentucky kids needed advocates more than ever before, [...]

Statement on the Impact of the 2021 Kentucky General Assembly Special Session on Kids

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Last week’s special session entered our minds and news feeds as quickly as it has now disappeared. Alongside the Beshear Administration and members of the General Assembly, we will continue to assess the results with an eye towards the 2022 legislative session and two-year state budget. As we shared in our initial statement on the special session, [...]

Guest Blog: Helping Foster Children Keep Basic Medical and Mental Health Coverage

By Michelle Sanborn, Children's Alliance The landmark bipartisan Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 was, in my opinion, the most significant reform to federal child welfare policy in decades. Family First includes policy improvements to help keep children safely with their families and avoid the traumatic experience of entering foster care. It helps ensure children are placed in the least restrictive, most family-like setting appropriate to their needs, when foster care is needed. Family [...]

By |2021-09-15T18:21:36-04:00September 15th, 2021|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Health|

Updates on Bills Impacting Kids in the Special Session

This week, the Kentucky General Assembly has convened for a special session related to the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping Kentuckians safe, and looking ahead to recovery for all Kentucky kids and their families. At this moment, House Joint Resolution 1 passed both chambers and was signed by the Governor, which extends or expires certain emergency orders through January 15, 2022.  Also, House and Senate companion bills have been filed and are moving through the legislative process [...]

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