Child Welfare & Safety

New Year Resolutions for Kentucky Children

Happy New Year! Welcome back to many of you who took time off for holidays and vacations. Beginning a new year often means making (and breaking) resolutions. The 2013 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children outlines nine policy priorities that can serve as resolutions for improving the lives of kids throughout Kentucky. Take a look at the list of priorities – and when making your own resolutions this year, consider how you can make a difference in the lives [...]

By Katie Carter|2013-01-02T11:46:04-05:00January 2nd, 2013|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|

Restraint and Seclusion Policy Change Approved

Child advocates, students, and parents across the state received good news this week when the Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee approved the Kentucky Department of Education’s new restraint and seclusion policy proposal. As we recently discussed, restraints and seclusion can have terrible consequences for Kentucky children. The policy change will enhance school safety for both students and staff by limiting the use of restraint and seclusion, educating teachers on how to safely conduct restraints when absolutely necessary, and [...]

By Tara Grieshop-Goodwin|2012-12-20T11:42:59-05:00December 20th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education|

trans-par-ent [trans-pair-uh nt, -par-], adjective

trans·par·ent [trans-pair-uh nt, -par-] , adjective Having the property of transmitting rays of light through its substance so that bodies situated beyond or behind can be distinctly seen. Admitting the passage of light through interstices. So sheer as to permit light to pass through; diaphanous. “Transparency” is the word of the year in the world of child welfare in Kentucky. The word gets tossed around so easily among advocates and others interested in improving the “system”, especially [...]

By Lacey McNary|2012-12-20T11:39:36-05:00December 20th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

Kentucky kids need you: Speak out on use of restraint and seclusion in Kentucky schools

Imagine the scene. It actually happened. The superintendent was walking through the school cafeteria. As he did, he spotted a student rising from his seat with a knife. A former gridiron star, the superintendent claims that he “drank from the fountain of youth” and launched himself like a middle linebacker to take the knife-toting youth to the ground. Imagine another scene. It, too actually, happened. On a Wednesday night in a Yonkers, New York school, [...]

By Terry Brooks|2012-12-06T09:31:29-05:00December 6th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education|

Good, bad news on child fatalities

The following letter was printed in the Courier-Journal. You could not open The Courier-Journal last winter without recoiling at the latest tragedy and cover-up around child fatalities due to abuse and neglect. A turning point for me came on a snowy February Saturday morning when 300 Kentucky citizens from 80 counties came together around a summit, sponsored by Kentucky Youth Advocates, about this issue. That morning, there was genuine outrage as the Cabinet for Health and [...]

By admin|2012-11-19T11:40:30-05:00November 19th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

The 2012 Election is Over – What’s Next for Kids?

It’s over! The election is over. No matter how you voted or how you feel about the results, we can all breathe a sigh of relief, at least for the short while between now and the next election. In his acceptance speech, President Obama illustrated his vision for our future: “Despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America’s future. We want our kids to grow up in a country where they [...]

By Katie Carter|2012-11-08T10:35:53-05:00November 8th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Education, Health, Youth Justice|

November is National Adoption month

All children deserves to grow up in a safe, loving and permanent home. Every child who has been placed in foster care should be promised a family who can provide that for them. Sadly, every year there are more than 100,000 children in public foster care waiting to be adopted because they do not have the option of returning to their parents or other relatives. In Kentucky, more than 1,900 children are hoping to be [...]

By Amy Swann|2012-11-07T10:59:10-05:00November 7th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

You Can Make a Difference During Child Abuse Prevention Month

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month – a time to pause and remember the effects that child abuse has on our most precious citizens, to recognize the impact it has on all of us, and to commit to doing our part to eliminate it. According to state child protective services, more than 17,000 Kentucky children were victims of abuse or neglect in 2011. But, we know that that number is actually higher. Not all [...]

By Amy Swann|2012-11-06T11:21:55-05:00November 6th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

Vote for Somebody on November 6

Kids don’t vote. Kids don’t write campaign checks. Kids certainly don’t have super PACs. That is why I hope you will take just a couple minutes and watch this video. Democracy Prep’s amazing fourth grade citizen-scholars want you to VOTE this November 6th! And so does EVERY kid in Kentucky! Kids have a lot riding on this Tuesday – in the Presidential race; in Kentucky’s Congressional contests; in school board votes; in the judicial match-ups; [...]

By Terry Brooks|2012-11-01T11:17:09-04:00November 1st, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Youth Justice|

New County-level Data on Child Welfare Available

This week Kentucky Youth Advocates added four new child welfare indicators to the KIDS COUNT Data Center. These four new indicators span the continuum of child welfare decision-making points and, coupled with the other indicators already on the Data Center, provide Kentuckians a wealth of information on vulnerable children and families in our state. One new indicator shows the prevalence of certain risk factors in cases where child abuse or neglect was found to have [...]

By Amy Swann|2012-10-25T11:29:58-04:00October 25th, 2012|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health|