The actions of the General Assembly during the 2023 legislative session confounded us at times. While we certainly don’t agree with any legislator 100% of the time, there are still ways we can find common ground and at the very least agree on a process. In the juvenile justice realm – we’ll go into bill details below – members of the House and Senate demonstrated thoughtful and careful consideration. The much debated House Bill 3 [...]
March is National Social Work Month! The theme for 2023 is Social Work Breaks Barriers. Did you know there are over 750,000 social workers in the nation? Social workers have a responsibility to serve others through lenses of compassion, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Social workers implement their core values of service, social justice, the importance of human relationships, dignity and worth of the person, integrity, and competence into their job duties every day. With so [...]
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – There has seldom been such a transformative process around a major policy arena than what we have seen around juvenile justice in the 2023 General Assembly. We have been critical as recently as a year ago about both the process and substance of juvenile justice legislation. Therefore, it is especially important that we commend the process and [...]
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – As the General Assembly wrestles with the complex issue of juvenile justice, Senator Danny Carroll continues to lead. His additions to House Bill 3 with the Senate Committee Substitute underscore the potential to improve public safety, hold youth accountable for mistakes, and focus on getting those young people back on the right track. Those additions include: Delaying [...]
Updated April 5, 2023 The 2023 Kentucky General Assembly has an increased focus on the juvenile justice system in light of recent concerns about safety and workforce capacity within the Department of Juvenile Justice facilities, and broader ongoing concerns about community violence. Three bills have been filed in the House and Senate in an effort to begin addressing some of these issues. In the Senate, two bills that will strengthen oversight and improve workforce development [...]
Statement updated at 3:50PM on February 28, 2023 upon passage of House Bill 3 by the Kentucky House. Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – As House Bill 3 advances through the legislative process, including today’s passage by the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee and then House of Representatives, we are reminded of the critical tipping point in which the Commonwealth stands when it [...]
Elected leaders and advocates step up for Kentucky kids in countless ways every day, especially in Frankfort throughout the legislative session. During Children’s Advocacy Week, Kentucky Youth Advocates and partners in the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children present Champion for Children awards to honor those state leaders, advocates, and young people for their efforts. At this year’s Rally for Kentucky Kids, we honored the following community leaders and young people with Champion for Children awards for their advocacy [...]
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – House Bill 3 undoubtedly is going to move through the House with the speed of a missile. Its impact? Depending on its final form, it carries the ambiguity of that Chinese spy balloon. There is no question that HB 3 is a much-improved approach to juvenile justice than we heard discussed during the 2022 legislative session. And we especially appreciate the listening [...]
Louisville, KY – Hundreds of youth advocates from across Kentucky are convening this week for Children’s Advocacy Week. They are urging elected leaders to support the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children, a unified agenda for child advocates across the Commonwealth. Today, youth, state leaders, and advocates gathered in the Capitol Rotunda for the Rally for Kentucky Kids – the first in-person rally with child advocates since January 2020. “Each year, Children’s Advocacy Week is a time for youth, parents, social workers, [...]
Photo courtesy of The Sentencing Project While historically an area of common ground focused on community safety, accountability, and right-sizing responses for youth who get in trouble, the juvenile justice system has been experiencing an array of issues in the state of Kentucky recently. Despite overwhelming data to show youth offenses - including violent offenses - remain much lower than in years past and, in response to current safety issues in juvenile detention [...]
