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A Focus on Black Maternal Health & Outcomes

Since 2002, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health recognizes April as National Minority Health Month, established to support efforts to educate on and eliminate health disparities for ethnic and racial minority groups. This year, the Office is highlighting the importance of providing healthcare services, information, and resources that are linguistically and culturally competent to create better and more equitable health outcomes for everyone.  April is also when Black Maternal [...]

By |2023-04-27T12:40:08-04:00April 27th, 2023|Blog, Health, Race Equity|
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A Look at SB 65 and Its Impact on Adult Medicaid

As we continue to reflect on the 2023 legislative session, Kentucky Youth Advocates is recapping an item of particular interest for families across the Commonwealth  – the adult Medicaid expansion and Senate Bill 65. How did we get here? In October 2022, Governor Beshear announced an expansion of the dental, vision, and hearing benefits available for adults on Medicaid. This change included several new dental services covered for adults. The additions were largely restorative procedures [...]

By |2023-04-13T14:13:57-04:00April 13th, 2023|Blog, Health, Medicaid|
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The Opioid Settlement and Impact for Kentucky Kids

“Hope blooms when the time is ready.” – Debasish Mridha After seeing waves of the opioid epidemic pass through Kentucky since the late 1990s, Kentucky is ready and well-equipped  to turn the tide. Due to actions taken by all three branches of Kentucky’s government, and major efforts by the Attorney General’s office specifically, we are set to see hundreds of millions of dollars come directly to Kentucky from the opioid settlement. With investments and persistence, [...]

By |2024-12-04T17:38:39-05:00April 6th, 2023|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Race Equity|
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KYGA23: Impacts for Kids and Families

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 [...]

By |2023-04-26T15:38:36-04:00April 5th, 2023|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Health, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Guest Blog on Truth Telling Circle: #ThroughMyEyes

By: Glenda Wright, J.D. What does identity mean, and what impact does identity have on us? This question is something I have been exploring over the last year while working on the Truth & Reconciliation project of the Thriving Families, Safer Children Kentucky initiative.   My name is Glenda Wright, and I am a Child Welfare Consultant who was fortunate enough to be extended an invitation to join this project as one of four youth [...]

By |2023-03-31T16:14:47-04:00March 31st, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Race Equity|
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Statement on Final Passage of HB 21

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – On the Kentucky Senate’s consent orders, House Bill 21 received final passage and will soon head to the Governor’s desk for signature. Youth and housing advocates are cheering as HB 21, sponsored by Representative Randy Bridges, updates Kentucky’s homeless ID law to allow unaccompanied youth to get an ID without parental permission. An ID is necessary to [...]

By |2023-03-30T08:49:17-04:00March 30th, 2023|Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, News Room, Race Equity|
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Celebrating Much Needed KTAP Updates

Every parent knows that raising kids is expensive, and access to cash is essential to ensuring families can afford everyday expenses and weather emergencies. This is especially true for families in poverty, whose already tight budgets have been disproportionately impacted by rising inflation.  The Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (KTAP) provides this direct cash support to Kentucky families living in deep poverty and kinship caregivers while also connecting families to workforce education and training programs and [...]

By |2023-03-29T16:32:17-04:00March 29th, 2023|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security|
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Statement on Final Passage of Bills Impacting Juvenile Justice

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 [...]

By |2023-03-17T14:14:18-04:00March 16th, 2023|Blog, News Room, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
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Statement from Kentucky Youth Advocates on Final Passage of Senate Bill 65

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – Senate Bill 65 in its final form took a much needed and long-awaited rate increase for dental providers and left it steeped in ambiguity. It rips newly added access to critical dental services for some 900,000 vulnerable Kentuckians. And it will ensure that the Commonwealth continues to languish as one of the top five worst states for oral health in [...]

By |2023-03-16T16:43:02-04:00March 16th, 2023|Health, Medicaid, News Room|
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Statement on Final Passage of SB 135

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – With passage by the Kentucky House today, Senate Bill 135 has received its final passage before it heads to the Governor’s desk for signature – good news for new parents and their babies. In Kentucky, over 90% of maternal deaths are considered preventable and more than 25% have mental health conditions as a contributing factor. State data [...]

By |2023-03-15T15:14:13-04:00March 15th, 2023|Bloom Kentucky, Health, News Room, Race Equity|
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