Join the Face It ® Movement, Family & Children’s Place, Kentucky Youth Advocates, and many other local child-serving organizations at Louisville's Big Four Bridge on March 30th to kick off Child Abuse Prevention Month. In 2014, nearly 23,000 children were confirmed as victims of physical or sexual abuse or neglect in Kentucky. In Jefferson County, that number totaled more than 3,000 children. One child is one too many, and abuse can have a lifelong impact in emotional and physical health, [...]

Next month is Child Abuse Prevention month and we know that every kid, especially those who’ve experienced abuse or neglect, needs a safe and loving family and place to call home. Foster families play an important role in the continuum of care of children involved in the child welfare system. Foster parents can help keep children safe and provide a family type environment for kids who are unable to stay with their own families. There are several types of [...]

Preventing and ending child abuse is everyone’s responsibility. And, raising awareness about child abuse and ways to prevent it is crucial to that end goal. Kentucky Youth Advocates is proud to partner with the Kosair Charities Face It® Movement on the release of a new child abuse prevention tool that helps us all be the face that ends child abuse. The new tool highlights strategies for preventing child physical and sexual abuse, recognizing the signs of [...]

By Adrienne Bush All children, regardless of circumstance, deserve a safe place to live. My organization, Community Ministries, rents apartments to families with children who are experiencing homelessness. In addition, we work as a liaison with other private landlords to provide upfront move-in costs in order to move more families from homelessness to stable housing. Because we use federal housing dollars, we are subject to a higher standard than most other housing providers in Kentucky, [...]

By Caroline Ruschell “Mom, did you know that yesterday, I saw a snake, a rabbit, and a fox up in the gymnasium.”  I looked with confusion at my 5-year old and then laughed to myself when I realized that the Silly Safari program came to her school a few weeks ago and indeed my daughter did see and pet these animals in the gymnasium, however, it did not happen yesterday. It can be funny to [...]

All children need safe and nurturing caregivers to thrive, but some parents struggle to effectively care for their children. For families at risk of child abuse and neglect, family preservation and diversion services are offered to work with caregivers to alleviate issues in a home and promote a safe environment for the child. Diversion programs are utilized when adolescents are at risk of removal in order to stabilize the family system with the goal of [...]

Human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery. It is the exploitation of men, women, and children through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of forced labor or services or commercial sex.  When children are involved in commercial sex, which includes stripping, pornography or prostitution, they are victims of human trafficking; there is no need to show force, fraud or coercion. In Kentucky, 59 percent of victims of human trafficking are children.  Victims of [...]

House Bill 40, filed by Representative Darryl Owens, passed the House on January 15th and is awaiting a hearing in a Senate committee.  This bill would expand record expungement to include the lowest class of non-violent felonies for those who have served their court-ordered requirements and moved forward on the right path without further offenses or violations.  A person who makes a bad decision that results in a criminal record, particularly a felony record, can [...]