2024 Kentucky KIDS COUNT Data Book: A Look at Child Well-Being Data Trends and Mitigating Adverse Childhood Experiences
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org 2024 Kentucky KIDS COUNT Data Book: A Look at Child Well-Being Data Trends and Mitigating Adverse Childhood Experiences Featuring the latest county-level data for key measures of child health, education, economic security, and family and community Louisville, KY – The 2024 Kentucky KIDS COUNT Data Book, released today by Kentucky Youth Advocates, features the latest data on 16 measures of child well-being, showing whether outcomes for children across the Commonwealth have improved, worsened, or stayed the same. Detailed data are available for every Kentucky county within a new interactive County Data Dashboard at www.kyyouth.org/kentucky-kids-count/. “The Kentucky KIDS COUNT project [...]
Kosair for Kids, Elected Officials, and Community Partners in the Face It Movement Recognize October 4th as TEN-4 Day 2024
Hundreds Attend Child Abuse Recognition and Prevention Trainings and Proclamation Signing Events During Week LOUISVILLE, KY – This October 4th, the Kosair for Kids® Face It® Movement is once again bringing awareness to the critically important TEN-4-FACESp Bruising Rule, the decision tool to recognize concerning bruising on babies and young children, and emphasizing the importance of training adults on recognizing, reporting, and preventing child abuse. “Kosair for Kids is on a mission to ensure that every child grows up healthy, joyful, and able to live life to the fullest. Through the Face It Movement, our nearly 170 community-based partners are [...]
New Report – Kinship Across Kentucky: Recommendations from Caregiver Voices
LOUISVILLE, KY – When a child is separated from their parent, it’s the kinship and fictive kin caregivers who often step up to provide a familiar, stable, and nurturing home – either temporary or permanent – that preserves familial bonds and cultural connections. In Kentucky, approximately 55,000 children are being raised by a relative or trust family friend, which is at a rate twice the national average. During the summer of 2024, Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) and the Kinship Families Coalition of Kentucky (KFCKY) conducted online surveys and in-person listening sessions in all nine Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) [...]
New Report – Fostering Connections: The Housing Landscape for Foster Care Alumni and Recommendations
LOUISVILLE, KY – Everyone needs a safe, stable place to call home. However, a short supply of housing has made this increasingly difficult for Kentucky’s young people. The Fostering Connections: The Housing Landscape for Foster Care Alumni and Recommendations report, released today by Kentucky Youth Advocates, sheds light on the critical housing needs of young adults ages 18-28 in Louisville, Kentucky, particularly young adults who have spent time in foster care as children. Foster care alumni are at higher risk of experiencing homelessness as a young adult and many do not receive the ongoing support so many young people rely [...]
Statement on the Transition of KY’s Office of the Ombudsman
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – During the 2023 legislative session, the General Assembly passed and the Governor signed Senate Bill 48, a comprehensive bill that makes multiple organizational changes to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Within SB 48 a key win for kids and families was included that moved the Office of the Ombudsman from CHFS to the Auditor of Public Accounts. This change will increase transparency, accountability, and an opportunity for families served by CHFS to have a voice in their concerns. Kentucky Youth [...]
Statement on SB 151, Delays in Implementation, and the Impact on Kinship Families
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY –We at Kentucky Youth Advocates were eager to celebrate final passage of Senate Bill 151 with bipartisan support – especially once the Governor signed it into law in April. We proudly supported Senator Julie Raque Adams’ legislation as a win for kids because of the opportunity for more flexibility and access to financial assistance for Kentucky’s kinship and fictive kin families. Fast-forward to June, and we along with the Kinship Families Coalition of Kentucky and thousands of kinship families across the Commonwealth are [...]
OP-ED: We must coalesce around improving Kentucky’s student outcomes
This originally appeared as an op-ed in the Kentucky Lantern on July 5, 2024. By Terry Brooks The annual national KIDS COUNT Data Book includes more data into which to dive than column inches allow. But an overview of the report reminds us that Kentucky is not the best place in America to be young. Or the second-best place. Or the 10th or the 20th or even 30th. Instead, the 2024 report card on the well-being of our nation’s kids plops Kentucky in the bottom rung of states at 38th. More than 200,000 Kentucky kids woke up this morning in [...]
OP-ED: Parent Voice Can and Will Transform the Child Welfare System
This originally appeared as an op-ed in the Herald Leader on June 27, 2024. By Valerie Frost and members of KY SEAT In 2010, the American Bar Association (ABA) Center on Children and the Law and other national partners began recognizing June as National Reunification Month. This month in particular, but also year-round, the mother and father members of KY SEAT – Kentucky’s statewide birth parent advisory council – want people to know that parents and their children belong together, and parental growth and learning is possible, even in the most unlikely circumstances. "The world went silent when I lost [...]
Kentucky Ranks 38th in 2024 KIDS COUNT Data Book Urging Focus on Equipping Kids to Learn
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org 502-895-8167 X122 Chronic Absences, Drop in Test Scores: Kentucky Ranks 38th in 2024 KIDS COUNT Data Book Urging Focus on Equipping Kids to Learn 50-State Data Show Academic Outcomes, Absence are Linked to Poverty, Trauma; Policymakers Must Act to Promote Kids' Future Success, Annie E. Casey Foundation Finds LOUISVILLE, KY — Kentucky ranks 38th in child well-being, according to the 2024 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing how kids are faring in post-pandemic America. With a focus on challenges facing children’s educational outcomes, the data show [...]
Statement on the Justice Department’s Investigation into Kentucky’s Department of Juvenile Justice
Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Call it a system failure. Call it a crisis. Call it a hot mess. Call it what you want but Kentucky’s juvenile justice system is failing kids and community safety every day. Kentucky’s leaders have abrogated their leadership responsibilities in this crucial arena so today’s announcement that the Justice Department is opening a statewide investigation into Kentucky’s Department of Juvenile Justice is welcome news indeed! The Beshear Administration, in response to a spate of tragedies that grabbed media headlines, has begun to [...]