FacebookInstagramXYouTubeEmail

Help Families Claim the 2021 Child Tax Credit!

Over one million Kentucky families can claim the second half of the expanded Child Tax Credit this tax season, which is open until April 18!  The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 made big changes to the Child Tax Credit, expanding eligibility to cover an estimated 93% of Kentucky kids and splitting the credit into two halves. Eligible Kentucky families received the first half of the expanded credit through monthly Child Tax Credit payments that [...]

By |2022-02-03T13:47:03-05:00February 3rd, 2022|Blog, Economic Security, Race Equity|
Read More

Community Input: Jail Practices to Support Children Visiting Incarcerated Parents

Kids rely on their parents to provide a safe home where all of their emotional, physical, and financial needs can be met. Unfortunately, in Kentucky more than one in 10 children have had a parent separated from them due to incarceration—the 6th highest rate in the nation.  Parental incarceration is an Adverse Childhood Experience that has been referred to as a “shared sentence” due to the short and long-term effects it has on a child’s [...]

By |2022-01-27T17:14:13-05:00January 27th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Justice, Race Equity|
Read More

Celebrating the 2022 Champions for Children

Elected leaders and advocates step up for Kentucky kids in countless ways every day, especially in Frankfort throughout the legislative session. During Children’s Advocacy Week, Kentucky Youth Advocates and partners in the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children present Champion for Children and Step Up for Kids awards to honor those state leaders and advocates for their efforts. At this year’s Rally for Kentucky Kids, we honored several members of the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly for [...]

By |2022-01-28T11:33:35-05:00January 20th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
Read More

“We owe our youth more… Now, let’s get to work!”

These remarks were part of the Rally for Kentucky Kids during 2022 Children's Advocacy Week. Watch a recording of the virtual rally via Facebook or YouTube.  By Tyler Hunter, Child Welfare Leader First, let me thank each and every one of you all for attending today’s rally for Children’s Advocacy Week. My name is Tyler Hunter. I am from one of the best places on earth… Bowling Green, Ky (Warren Co). Outside of being a [...]

By |2022-02-02T13:10:13-05:00January 19th, 2022|Blog|
Read More

Hundreds of Advocates Rally on Behalf of KY Kids, featuring Gov. Beshear and legislative leaders

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Governor Beshear, House Speaker Osborne, and Senator Westerfield Join Hundreds of Youth and Advocates for Virtual Rally for Kentucky Kids Louisville, KY – Hundreds of youth advocates from across Kentucky are virtually convening this week for Children’s Advocacy Week. They are urging elected leaders to support the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children, a unified agenda for child advocates across the state. Today, in place of the gathering in the Capitol Rotunda, advocates and state leaders tuned into [...]

By |2022-01-20T13:35:39-05:00January 19th, 2022|Blog, News Room|
Read More

Bloom Kentucky Announces 2022 State Policy and Budget Priorities

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org LOUISVILLE, KY – Over one in five Kentucky children have experienced at least two Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), such as experiencing or witnessing violence, being separated from a parent due to incarceration, or having substance use present in the household. Bloom Kentucky is a collaborative initiative of grantmaking organizations from across the Commonwealth focused on statewide policy changes and budget investments that aim to prevent and mitigate the multi-generational impacts of childhood adversity so [...]

By |2022-01-18T12:00:43-05:00January 18th, 2022|Bloom Kentucky, News Room|
Read More

Statement on the Governor and the House State Budget Proposals

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – In Kentucky, we are used to arguing about dollars and cents in budgets that are restrictive, limited, and far too scarce – and that is tough work. This year, we are learning that arguing about dollars and cents in a budget that has unprecedented one-time federal dollars is also tough work. The needs of Kentucky’s kids simply [...]

By |2022-01-17T10:22:11-05:00January 14th, 2022|Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Medicaid, News Room, Race Equity|
Read More

2022 State Budget Checklist for Kentucky Kids

It’s week two of Kentucky’s 60-day legislative session! The end of week 1 unveiled a budget proposed by the Kentucky House of Representatives, which signals the fast-track nature of the 2022 budget process. This week, the Governor outlined his budget proposals for pre-K-12 education and health care.  As the week continues, we will hear the remaining components of the Governor’s budget proposal during his budget address on Thursday, January 13 at 7:00 PM ET, as [...]

By |2022-01-14T11:35:33-05:00January 10th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Medicaid, Race Equity|
Read More

OP-ED: A New Year’s resolution for the Kentucky General Assembly

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on January 2, 2022. By Dr. Terry Brooks This time of year, we all waver between setting New Year’s resolutions and simply dismissing the process as an inevitable failure. (Really?  No snacks after 8 p.m.?  I’m going to learn a new hobby?  And, of course, I’ll be at the gym by 6 a.m. at least four mornings a week!) But “Psychology Today” lists several reasons why setting [...]

By |2024-04-25T12:29:29-04:00January 3rd, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Kids Count, News Room, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
Read More

November 2021 Update on the KY Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity

Read about the October meeting of the Commission on Race and Opportunity here.  At the last meeting of 2021 for the Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity, Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) was given the opportunity to testify around the 2021 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book and solutions to advance racial equity in the Commonwealth. We highlighted two policy arenas – Health and Family and Community - that we hope can move legislative and community leaders from simply reading data on a [...]

By |2021-12-09T15:52:21-05:00December 9th, 2021|Blog, Economic Security, Health, Medicaid, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
Read More
Go to Top