YouthKentucky’s communities are safest when we invest in what works best for children.  Right now, the stories and the numbers show that there are disparities in how children of color are treated within the Commonwealth’s systems that care for them.  To begin the process of addressing these disparities, Senator Whitney Westerfield has filed Senate Bill 270.

SB 270 ensures that all systems who care for our youth — education, child welfare, and youth justice — will collect and report race, age, and gender specific data across these systems.  Each group will also be required to submit a three year plan to address where disparities are occurring within the given system.  The goal is to ensure data is collected and utilized to create equitable treatment of our youth of color.  Much work has already begun within these youth serving organizations to facilitate awareness of disparate treatment for youth of color.  SB 270 will formalize the process, which can then create a path for continued collaboration between these youth serving systems as they look at internal and cross-sector practices to remove the potential for disparate treatment.