Kinship care

KYGA26: Budget Breakdown on Kids

KYGA26: Budget Breakdown on Kids

Every two years, our state lawmakers convene to shape the Commonwealth’s biennial budget – taking into consideration the needs across Kentucky, the limitations or opportunities of the revenue, and, especially of late, sustaining a healthy rainy day fund. Kentucky’s last few budgets were bolstered by federal COVID dollars. This time around, our lawmakers not only had to navigate less federal support, but also the budget realities that federal HR1 has brought to our [...]

By Shannon Moody|2026-04-23T16:48:55-04:00April 23rd, 2026|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health|

Navigating the Community of Care: Kinship at the GAP Conference

Navigating the Community of Care: Kinship at the GAP Conference

At least 6% - twice the national average - of Kentucky kids are known to be in the care of relative or fictive kin caregivers, collectively known as kinship caregivers. Kinship caregivers are diverse, and each situation is different, but most of us came into it without enough preparation or support. The Kinship Families Coalition of Kentucky exists to address this issue through education and policy recommendations. This month, as part of the Coalition’s efforts [...]

By Linda Stettenbenz|2026-04-01T15:00:32-04:00April 1st, 2026|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

Statement on Auditor’s Report on Nontraditional Placements for Kentucky’s Foster Youth

Statement on Auditor’s Report on Nontraditional Placements for Kentucky’s Foster Youth

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – State Auditor Allison Ball and Ombudsman Jonathan Grate once again exemplify how the Office of the Ombudsman can serve as a catalyst for change for some of Kentucky’s most vulnerable kids. In a report released today, decisionmakers and advocates can look deeper at the reality facing foster children in Nontraditional Placements (NTP) across the Commonwealth, such as [...]

By Kentucky Youth Advocates|2026-03-09T12:50:31-04:00March 9th, 2026|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, News Room|

Kinship Care Month and Showing Up for Caregivers in the Regional Collaboratives

Kinship Care Month and Showing Up for Caregivers in the Regional Collaboratives

Across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, grandparents, relatives and close friends of families step up to raise children when their parents are unable. We call them ‘kinship families’ and they are important members of communities who add to the strengths of our Commonwealth. September is Kinship Care Awareness Month – a time to recognize and celebrate kinship caregivers and all that they do to support and care for the children in their care. Kentucky utilizes kinship [...]

By Shontelle Davis|2025-09-30T10:13:43-04:00September 30th, 2025|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

Statement on Recent Beshear Administration Update on KTAP

Statement on Recent Beshear Administration Update on KTAP

Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org Statement from Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates LOUISVILLE, KY – The Governor recently proclaimed September as Kinship Care Awareness Month. Typically, that would mean a time to honor those grandparents, relatives, and close family friends stepping up to care for children. Instead, Kinship Month is wrapping up on a distressing note. We can only hope that it's a case of unintended consequences and this harmful course can be reversed. Just days ago the Governor emphasized [...]

By Kentucky Youth Advocates|2025-09-26T15:23:25-04:00September 26th, 2025|Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, News Room|

Why Kinship Education Matters: Strengthening Families Through Support and Connection

Why Kinship Education Matters: Strengthening Families Through Support and Connection

In recent years, there has been a growing movement to ensure that when children cannot remain safely in their parents’ care, they are placed with relatives (kin) or trusted family friends (fictive kin). These types of placements are preferred over entering the traditional foster care system since research shows that children in kinship care often experience more stability, maintain stronger connections to their family and culture, and have better long-term outcomes. To support this shift, [...]

By Shontelle Davis|2025-09-25T13:46:36-04:00September 25th, 2025|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

Being a Kinship Care Provider is Layered in Zeal – Love in Action

Being a Kinship Care Provider is Layered in Zeal – Love in Action

"Being a kinship care provider is layered in Zeal - Love in Action. Keeping my nieces together while providing a stable home was most important to me. While there have been many challenges (lack of resources, no emotional/financial support, navigating new family roles), along the way, seeing them now flourishing, happy and together makes it all worth it." – Angel L. Todd Kinship care has increasingly become a preferred solution when parents face challenges that [...]

By Shontelle Davis|2025-08-22T11:56:14-04:00August 22nd, 2025|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

Services in Short Supply for Rural Kinship Caregivers: How Can Organizations Reach These Families?

Services in Short Supply for Rural Kinship Caregivers: How Can Organizations Reach These Families?

By Kathleen Baldwin, Intern at Kentucky Youth Advocates When children cannot remain safely with their parents, oftentimes grandparents, other relatives, and close family friends step up to help raise them. In Kentucky and other rural states, many of the kinship caregivers are not physically near support services. This can lead to difficulties for the family. The Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network acknowledged these difficulties and provided a tip sheet on ways to reach kinship families in [...]

By Kentucky Youth Advocates|2024-10-02T16:36:20-04:00October 2nd, 2024|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

New Report – Kinship Across Kentucky: Recommendations from Caregiver Voices

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 [...]

By Kentucky Youth Advocates|2024-10-03T08:55:17-04:00September 24th, 2024|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, News Room, Race Equity|

KYGA24: Major Updates for Kinship Families

KYGA24: Major Updates for Kinship Families

Co-authored by Kathleen Baldwin, Intern at Kentucky Youth Advocates During the 2024 legislative session we saw some MAJOR wins for kinship families in Kentucky, which will be going into effect over the coming months. Research shows that placement with family members or a safe adult known to the child, rather than traditional foster care, can have lifelong benefits for a child and their family. Children placed in kinship settings have more placement stability, are less [...]

By Shannon Moody|2024-07-03T15:10:37-04:00July 3rd, 2024|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security|