Kentucky KIDS COUNT 2012 County Data Book Examines Education, Offers framework for strengthening alternative schools
Jeffersontown, KY – The 2012 County Data Book to be released today by Kentucky Youth Advocates paints a picture of the path that Kentucky students follow starting from birth to the transition to adulthood based on educational outcomes at each of those stages. This is the 22nd annual release of the County Data Book, part of the Kentucky KIDS COUNT project. The KIDS COUNT project monitors progress for Kentucky's one million children on over 100 measures of child well-being, including health, safety, economic well-being, and education. This year's book focuses on key state, county, and district-level measures of education. An [...]
Idle Teens and Young Adults: the Number of Disconnected Youth in Kentucky Jumped 49% Since 2000
Jeffersontown, KY – Nearly 6.5 million teens and young adults in the U.S., including 110,000 in Kentucky, are not enrolled in school and not employed, even part-time. These youth are veering toward a path of chronic underemployment as adults and are failing to gain the skills employers need in the 21st century, according to a new KIDS COUNT report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Many of these young people ages 16-24 face numerous obstacles, according to the report, Youth and Work: Restoring Teen and Young Adult Connections to Opportunity. Often described as disconnected youth, they have difficulty finding employment [...]
Child Poverty in Kentucky Remains High
More than One in Four Children Living in Poverty, and Median Household Income Falling Jeffersontown, KY – More than one in four children in Kentucky are now living in poverty, according to new Census Bureau data from the American Community Survey, released today. Child poverty in Kentucky increased to 27.4 percent in 2011 from 23.5 percent in 2008 just when the recession started, bringing the total number of children who live in families with incomes below $22,350 a year for a family of four to 275,394. Source: US Census Bureau, 2011 American Community Survey These sustained levels of high poverty [...]
Two Upcoming Conferences in Downtown Louisville to Attract Nonprofit and Community Leaders
Nonprofit and community leaders will convene in downtown Louisville for two major conferences next month to learn ways to improve their advocacy and storytelling efforts. Kentucky Youth Advocates will hold the annual Step Up for Kids Conference on October 8 at the Muhammad Ali Center around the theme of “Invest in Kids: Grow our Future.” The following day, on October 9, the Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNPE) will hold their annual leadership conference and awards luncheon at the Galt House.
Kentucky Schools to Celebrate International Walk to School Day
Jeffersontown, KY - Eleven schools across Kentucky will join over 2,500 schools across the nation tocelebrate International Walk to School Day, this week, by teaching safe walking and biking skills, encouraging kids to walk or bike to school and promoting walking and biking throughout the year. Schools in Bowling Green, Fort Knox, Lexington, Louisville, Murray and Southgate will be among those participating. “What was once a typical way for a student to get to school is now, sadly, the exception,” said Andrea Plummer, Kentucky Safe Routes to School Network Organizer. “Inaccessibility to sidewalks or crosswalks and remote school locations make walking [...]
Debate Curriculum Daily Lesson Guide
Jeffersontown, KY – The nation will turn its attention to Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, on October 11, 2012, for this election’s only Vice Presidential debate. Kentucky Youth Advocates, Bellarmine University, Every Child Matters, and Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes are coming together to spotlight the needs of Kentucky children and bring the issues to classrooms across the Commonwealth with the "2012 Election: Debate Curriculum Daily Lesson Guide." "The future prosperity of Kentucky depends on the strength of our next generation. The children we see before us are our up-and-coming innovators, educators, and leaders. Their health, safety, and economic [...]
Reclaiming Futures in Kentucky
Applying a Proven Framework to Respond Effectively to Status Offenses Jeffersontown, KY - As communities across the Commonwealth recognize the need for a new way to respond to youth who have been sent to court for status offenses, Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) releases, Reclaiming Futures in Kentucky: Applying a proven framework for an effective community and judicial response to status offenses and other complex needs of youth in rural and urban settings. KYA and the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities (DBHDID) came together to adapt the national Reclaiming Futures framework, which originally focused on youth with substance [...]
CHIP is turning 15, let’s celebrate and keep improving
On August 5, children’s advocates in Kentucky and across the country will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) which was signed into law on August 5, 1997. SCHIP was designed to provide health insurance to children who fell in the gap between public and private coverage. Before this safety net program was created, an estimated 11 million children in the United States and 162,000 in Kentucky were without health insurance. Kentucky’s CHIP program (KCHIP) has been instrumental in reducing the uninsured rate among children 18 years of age and younger from 15 percent in 1996 [...]
Senator Katie Stine Receives Community Fitness Champion Award
Jeffersontown, KY - The American Heart Association, Kentucky Cancer Consortium, Kentucky Youth Advocates and the YMCA Youth Association presented the 2012 Community Fitness Champion award today to Senator Katie Stine of Northern Kentucky. Her sponsorship and leadership in the passage of Senate Bill 110 during the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly was celebrated by many across the state, and this award recognizes the important role she played in making Kentucky a healthier place to live, work and play. SB 110 encourages schools in Kentucky to share facilities with community members and agencies during non-school hours by extending the same protections from [...]
Kentucky 35th in KIDS COUNT Ranking of Child Well-being
Jeffersontown, KY – Kentucky stands as one of the bottom fifteen states in the nation for overall child well-being with a rank of 35, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book. Kentucky children have experienced setbacks due to financial instability, but have made gains in the education and health areas. The Data Book shows that kids and families in the Commonwealth continue to struggle in the wake of the recession. Between 2005 and 2010, the percent of children living in poverty grew by 18 percent, leaving more than one in four Kentucky children (26 percent) [...]