Spring in Kentucky is a time filled with an array of annual rituals. If it’s spring in the Commonwealth, you just know that all of John Calapari’s starters will leave for the NBA and that the Cats will re-load with another bumper crop of recruits. You know that the Cards’ Spring game on the gridiron will kick off hope for the fall (Hey, my Cards are a football school!). And then there is that horse [...]
Kentucky Youth Advocates celebrates the following as wins for Kentucky kids in the 2012 General Assembly. $21 million to reduce social worker caseloads – In response to the high rates of child deaths due to abuse and neglect in Kentucky, Governor Beshear proposed a $21 million increase over the next two years to hire 300 additional state social workers. The final budget passed by the Kentucky General Assembly retained this funding, so new social workers [...]
New economic well-being data has been posted to the KIDS COUNT Data Center, including the average monthly number of children receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (formerly called food stamps), assistance from the Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (KTAP) , and those ages 0 – 5 served by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). These new data reflect the lingering effects of the recession through 2011. The average monthly number [...]
Students who are disciplined through suspensions or expulsion don’t just miss valuable instructional time during their time away from the classroom. It also perpetuates their academic failures and can even lead to withdrawal from school altogether. Research indicates there is a correlation between high suspension rates, increased achievement gaps, drop-out rates and even entrance to the juvenile justice system. So, instead of disciplining our children in school by pulling them from the classroom, let’s turn [...]
Terry Brooks, KYA’s executive director, will be the opening speaker at the upcoming conference, Restorative Justice: Transforming Youth. This free, one-day conference will take place April 18th at the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Office, from 8:30-4:00, and includes breakfast and lunch. You might be wondering “what is restorative justice,” and “how does it transform youth?” Restorative Justice is a common sense approach to juvenile misbehavior that gets to the root of the problem behavior, [...]
When we talk about kids being locked up for status offenses like truancy or running away, this is what it looks like (click to see video): Does seeing those kids in handcuffs because they missed school have the same effect on you as it does me? Frankly, it scares me. It scares me for the kids in the visual to be sure. But it scares me for the very nature of what it means to [...]
You had to work. You couldn’t miss school. You couldn’t swing the gas money. For all of you out there who really wanted to, but just couldn’t attend Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol today in Frankfort, we are here to say, “THAT’S OK!” All right, yes, we missed you, BUT you can still support our collective effort from home or work! In fact, you can amplify the efforts of the 1,000+ child advocates gathered [...]
Today, Kentucky Youth Advocates released a new issue brief, “Ending Corporal Punishment in Kentucky Public Schools.” Kentucky is one of 19 states that still permit the use of corporal punishment in public schools. The issue brief highlights the negative consequences corporal punishment has on students, the disproportionate use with certain student populations, and alternative approaches to school discipine that are more effective and can improve outcomes for all children. In Kentucky, local boards of education [...]
In 2010, Kentucky experienced increasing rates of youth charged with offenses via complaints to the Court Designated Worker program.
Dear Governor Beshear, Congratulations on your re-election on November 8. Your impressive share of the vote brings to mind that axiom from the astute political observer, Charlie Brown, who opined, “A great potential is the heaviest burden to bear.” That is so apropos to your second term. Let’s be honest – history is not kind to chief executives whether their second terms are at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or in the Kentucky’s Governor Mansion. All too [...]