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Efforts to Improve Kentuckians’ Ability to Find Safe, Stable Housing

Kentucky kids and families need a safe, stable home in order to thrive. However, the rising cost and declining supply of housing has made it difficult for 43% of Kentucky renters to find safe, stable housing. For many of these families, a job loss or medical emergency could put them at risk for eviction or homelessness, seriously impacting their long term economic, food, and housing security. This is especially true for families of color, who [...]

By |2023-02-02T16:12:12-05:00February 2nd, 2023|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Race Equity|
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Over Incarceration of Youth is Not the Answer

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 [...]

By |2023-01-25T15:03:14-05:00January 25th, 2023|Blog, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Casey Funds Career Opportunities for Young People With Justice System Experience

This blog was originally posted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion has award­ed three $100,000 grants to help cre­ate paid posi­tions for emerg­ing pro­fes­sion­als with juve­nile jus­tice experience. Three youth jus­tice orga­ni­za­tions will receive one grant each. They are: the Cen­ter for Juve­nile Jus­tice Reform at George­town Uni­ver­si­ty in Wash­ing­ton, D.C.; Impact Jus­tice in Oak­land, Cal­i­for­nia; and Ken­tucky Youth Advo­cates in Louisville, Kentucky. As part of the solic­i­ta­tion and selec­tion process, Casey part­nered with [...]

By |2023-01-23T17:59:52-05:00January 23rd, 2023|Blog, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Statement on Passage of SCR 31 to Establish a Legislative Workgroup on Juvenile Justice

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Way to go, David Givens! As emotions and rhetoric heat up around juvenile justice, Senator Givens has architected a thoughtful and reflective approach to address what is, indeed, a crisis in the Commonwealth. The legislative working group – a step closer to being established with today's Senate vote on Senate Concurrent Resolution 31 – will assess a [...]

By |2023-01-06T12:02:45-05:00January 6th, 2023|News Room, Youth Justice|
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Launching the 2023 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children Policy Agenda

Each year, Kentucky Youth Advocates releases the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children policy agenda featuring the lead priorities for kids and families. For 2023, the Blueprint priorities focus on strengthening systems and policies to advance equity and uplift every Kentucky family. The Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children is a coalition of non-profit, public, and private organizations that stands on three pillars: thriving communities launch strong families, strong families launch successful kids, and successful kids launch a prosperous [...]

By |2023-02-01T16:19:19-05:00January 3rd, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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OP-ED: There is common ground in the juvenile justice continuum of interventions

This post originally appeared as an op-ed by The Herald Leader on December 29, 2022. By Dr. Terry Brooks The country music sensation and Lexington’s own, Chris Stapleton, suggests, “Everybody’s got a story on their beards. I guess it’s just a way of finding common ground.” Maybe Governor Beshear, President Stivers, and Speaker Osborne – and maybe even the Chief Justice – should grow beards so the Commonwealth can find a common ground when it [...]

By |2023-01-03T12:56:23-05:00December 29th, 2022|Blog, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Addressing the Leading Cause of Child Death in the Commonwealth: Firearms

At the final 2022 hearing for the Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity, Rep. Keturah Herron presented on legislation that would develop an Office of Gun Violence Prevention in Kentucky’s Department of Public Health. The office would take the lead in creating gun violence policy recommendations, community-based intervention and prevention ideas, and collecting and disseminating data that shows the geographic region, frequency, and the nature of the violence (e.g., self-inflicted, intimate partner, community, etc.). [...]

By |2022-12-06T13:20:44-05:00December 6th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Health, Race Equity|
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New Report: Analysis of Kentucky’s Residential Foster Care

New Report: Analysis of Kentucky’s Residential Foster Care   Featuring Interviews of Youth with Lived Experience and Recommendations  LOUISVILLE, KY – Residential and institutional facilities are meant for youth experiencing crises, yet these settings are often over-utilized due to lack of family-based foster care rather than a clinical need for the placement. The Residential Foster Care Analysis Report, released today by Kentucky Youth Advocates, examines issues often seen in residential and institutional placements and offers [...]

By |2022-12-07T13:19:01-05:00November 30th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, News Room, Race Equity|
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OP-ED: Kentucky youth say ‘Listen to us!’ — and hear us about decisions made about our futures

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the NKY Tribune on November 23, 2022. By Jordan Joslin, Kori Wheeler, and Kirsten Yancy As the November midterm elections have come to a close, Kentuckians are now looking ahead to the 2023 Kentucky General Assembly and Governor's race. Voters will make their way to the polls next November, and we – Kentucky's youth – are relying on those same voters to keep us top of mind when casting [...]

By |2023-01-24T15:07:53-05:00November 28th, 2022|Blog, Economic Security, Education, Health, Kids Count, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Introducing KY SEAT: Ensuring Parent Voice has a SEAT at the Table

Beginning in June, as one of the Kentucky Thriving Families, Safer Children goals, the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) partnered with Kentucky Youth Advocates to launch a Birth Parent Advisory Council. This council includes a diverse group of parents from across the Commonwealth who gather around Kentucky’s child welfare system.  Unlike typical decision makers for policies and services that affect families, this group has something extra to contribute — personal lived expertise as a [...]

By |2022-12-07T10:36:31-05:00November 21st, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Race Equity|
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