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A Look at Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System and Need for Equity in Diversion Programs

The following reflects Kentucky Youth Advocates’ presentation to the Commission on Race & Access to Opportunity and Juvenile Justice Oversight Council on June 20, 2023 – watch the testimony and view the presentation.  Over the last several years, the Kentucky General Assembly, Administrative Office of the Courts and their Court Designated Workers program, and critical stakeholders have made tremendous progress in reforming the juvenile justice system and the way we respond to kids who get [...]

By |2023-06-28T14:46:39-04:00June 28th, 2023|Blog, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Guest Blog: Keeping Families Connected Is Important: Guide to Jail Visiting in KY Shows How to Take Action

By Judith Jennings Find the Keeping Families Connected: A Guide to Keeping Families Connected at www.LFJA502.org.  High-quality jail visiting programs are urgently needed to reduce harms to children and families and humanize local criminal legal systems. Overcrowding in county jails in Kentucky and across the nation is well known. Yet, as families with incarcerated loved ones know all too well, incarceration negatively impacts parents, children, and communities, and staying connected is often challenging.  Kentucky has [...]

By |2023-06-20T17:51:38-04:00June 20th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Justice, Race Equity|
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Kentucky Ranks 40th in Child Well-Being While Inaccessible, Unaffordable Child Care Deeply Impacts Families and Economy

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org 502-895-8167 X122 Kentucky Ranks 40th in Child Well-Being While Inaccessible, Unaffordable Child Care Deeply Impacts Families and Economy Data Show Child Care Challenges Caused Over 1 in 9 Kentucky Parents to Miss, Quit, or Scale Back Work, the Annie E. Casey Foundation Finds LOUISVILLE, KY — Kentucky ranks 40th in child well-being, according to the 2023 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report of recent household data developed by the Annie [...]

By |2023-06-13T16:52:15-04:00June 14th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, News Room, Race Equity|
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REFORM Louisville: Finding Power in My Voice

By Leondrea Johnson About a year ago, one of the staff people at YouthBuild Louisville told us he had an opportunity for a couple of us to participate in. When we met the first time with Kentucky Youth Advocates, the work they talked about pulled me in. They asked us about what changes we wanted to see in our community and talked about things that some of us had experienced - like school suspensions [...]

By |2024-08-20T16:31:56-04:00June 9th, 2023|Blog, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Kentucky’s Application Open for Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership Program

The entire workforce is struggling to find the high-quality employees that it needs to stabilize business. In the past, employers could offer a competitive salary and a benefit package with health insurance and that would be enough to draw in the employees they needed.  However, that is no longer the case. Eighty-three percent of working families with children under the age of five are struggling to pay for child care. If the adults in the [...]

By |2023-06-02T14:55:06-04:00May 31st, 2023|Blog, Economic Security, Education|
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New Efforts to Boost WIC Participation in Kentucky

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women’s, Infant, and Children (WIC) provides vital support for the food and nutrition security of pregnant women, new moms, babies, and young children by providing food assistance via an EBT card, nutrition education, and breastfeeding support. While this support is critical for new parents and young children, the WIC program is out of date and does not reach everyone who is eligible. Kinship caregivers and Kentucky’s Latinx population face [...]

By |2023-05-25T21:43:43-04:00May 25th, 2023|Blog, Economic Security, Health, Race Equity|
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Guest Blog on Truth Telling Circle: Portraying My Testimony Through Art

By: Tia Humphrey Over the past year or so, I have worked with Kentucky Youth Advocates and other Young Adults on a grant surrounding the disproportionality African American youth face with the foster system. Not only has this given me the opportunity and platform to share my testimony of experience, but it has also allowed me to connect and relate to my peers with different and similar experiences. Not only was I able to share my testimony, [...]

By |2023-05-18T14:32:07-04:00May 18th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Race Equity|
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Sowing Resilience with Bloom Kentucky

What does Bloom Kentucky and Mickey Mouse have in common this summer? They are both ALL EARS. As soon as the gavel fell for the 2023 state legislative session, Bloom Kentucky already had a plan to get advocates excited about 2024. Kentucky Youth Advocates and Bloom Kentucky want to hear from you!   During May and June 2023, we’re hosting regionally-based listening sessions across the Commonwealth to bring local advocates and leaders together to identify strategies [...]

By |2023-06-29T14:05:05-04:00May 10th, 2023|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Too Many Kentucky Young People Exit Foster Care Without Permanent Families and Unprepared to Thrive on Their Own

Too Many Kentucky Young People Exit Foster Care Without Permanent Families and Unprepared to Thrive on Their Own Fostering Youth Transitions 2023 Urges Improvements to Extended Foster Care Transition LOUISVILLE, KY – Permanent families and supportive adult connections, stable housing, and postsecondary education remain beyond the reach of too many young people with foster care experience, according to Fostering Youth Transitions 2023: State and National Data to Drive Foster Care Advocacy, a data brief released [...]

By |2023-05-10T11:49:46-04:00May 10th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, News Room, Race Equity|
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A Look at Power Sharing During Foster Care Month

May is National Foster Care Month.  Did you know that Kentucky has over 8,500 children in out-of-home care? As of April 2, 2023, nearly 30 percent of those children have a permanent goal of adoption, 53 percent have a goal of reunification, and the remaining 17 percent may have other permanency goals, such as emancipation or locating a fictive kin/relative.   Nearly 70 percent of Kentucky’s kids in out-of-home care are placed in foster homes, while [...]

By |2023-05-03T14:22:52-04:00May 3rd, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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