Kentucky’s Thriving Families, Safer Children Efforts

Here’s To Another Year of Promoting a Well-Being System!

On January 5th, 2021, Kentucky submitted a letter of intent to join the national Thriving Families, Safer Children movement to equip and empower individuals and communities to support families. Our overall goal as one of the participating site teams was to establish universal health promotion for children, youth, and caregivers through proactive protective strengthening. Simply put, we want families to readily have what they need to be whole and manage life so they can stay [...]

By |2024-03-04T12:11:03-05:00February 29th, 2024|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Race Equity|

Building the Voices of Lived Experience: Lessons Learned from Navigating the System

Updated March 1, 2024 Life as anyone knows it can change with one knock or phone call.  “I’m from Child Protective Services. There’s an allegation of child abuse or neglect in your household I need to discuss with you. May I enter?” “This is the local child services agency. We have your niece at our office. Can you be here in the next hour; otherwise, we will need to put her in foster care.” [...]

By |2024-03-01T16:10:35-05:00December 27th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

When We All Do Our Part, Families Make It: An End of Year Thriving Families, Safer Children Reflection

Turkey for Thanksgiving is a hassle. There, I said it.  Why are we so bound by tradition for the sake of doing what’s always been done? This year, during my post-meal mindless social media scrolling, I was proud to witness several of my timeline pals boast throwing the classic main dish imperative out the window for less complicated options including roast beef and an even bolder resistance, smoked salmon. Similarly outdated and long overdue for [...]

By |2023-12-05T21:35:06-05:00December 5th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security|

All Hands on Deck for Supported, Thriving Kentucky Families and Communities: What’s Happening Now?

Kentucky is now in its third year as a participating site team of the Thriving Families, Safer Children (TFSC) national commitment to child, youth, and family well-being. The vision of the movement is a world in which all children, youth, and families live in just and equitable communities with the supports, opportunities, and resources they need to thrive and remain free of unnecessary child welfare system involvement.  Read on for an update on some of [...]

By |2023-10-05T11:59:38-04:00October 5th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Race Equity|

Regions Taking Action for Thriving Families, Safer Children Kentucky

All Kentuckians are mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect. But this responsibility may have subliminally conditioned us to have our eyes open when around parents and stay on constant alert for the worst. We as a society may have become too preoccupied waiting for the anticipated other shoe to drop that we forgot to look at ourselves and see what role we play in the health promotion of families around us. While it’s important [...]

By |2023-09-08T11:56:57-04:00September 7th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Race Equity|

KY SEAT Celebrates One Year of Parent Voice

I have a story to tell you.  When I gave birth to my twins, I fully anticipated being greeted outside the labor and delivery door by the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes Patrol to begin my weekly checks for life. I mean, don’t all parents get money to do the hard, often thankless job of raising the next generation?  Data from the U.S. Agriculture Department estimates it costs $17,000 a year to raise a child. To take [...]

By |2023-07-26T12:45:40-04:00July 26th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

The Growing Movement of Thriving Families, Safer Children

“Hope means we all have a role to play in ensuring that all children in America grow up safely in thriving families and supportive communities.” Casey Family Programs aims to inspire hope, and according to their recent 2023 Signature Report overviewing the Thriving Families, Safer Children (TFSC) collaborative, there are reasons to have hope and to act on it. Since 2005, the number of children in care across the nation has decreased by 23%, and [...]

By |2023-07-12T12:53:30-04:00July 12th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Race Equity|

OP-ED: Believe in Parents, Give Families Hope

This post appeared as an op-ed in the Herald Leader on July 6, 2023. By Valerie Frost and Carla Stamper June is National Reunification Month. It is an annual reminder of the true intention of foster care–a temporary measure to keep children stable and safe with the ultimate purpose of reuniting them with their family. This isn't always what happens though, and not for the reasons you may think. Nationally, less than half of children [...]

By |2023-07-06T17:14:39-04:00June 29th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|

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|

Kentucky Continues Making Strides Toward Family Well-being

Though it has only been a couple months since the last Thriving Families, Safer Children (TFSC) Kentucky update, the drive continues to push noted progress. Across the Commonwealth, child, family, and community well-being remain a high priority and collaborative emphasis. Here are a few recent TFSC Kentucky happenings: TFSC Kentucky Team Thriving Families, Safer Children is first a national movement. Beneath the core guiding organizations, it is a collective statewide effort through a group of [...]

By |2023-06-13T10:12:14-04:00May 16th, 2023|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
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