This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discuss how we can best support youth who are LGBTQ+, especially as many of them are at risk of facing certain challenges, including homelessness, trafficking, mental health needs, and more. Thank you to our panelists: Rick Wurth, Chief Executive Officer of Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky, and Eltuan Dawson, youth advocate and board member of Sweet Evening Breeze. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Making Kids Count

Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discuss opportunity youth--young people ages 16 to 24 who are neither employed nor in school--including new research, policy recommendations, and program developments across the state. Thank you to our panelists: Kate Arthur, Community and Youth Services Director at Brighton Center; Dawn Carson, Street Outreach Supervisor at the Brighton Center; Roan Head, youth leader; and Darryl Young, Executive Director of the Coalition Supporting Young Adults. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Supporting Opportunity Youth

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discuss updates relating to child nutrition and access to food, including summer EBT, federal investments, and more. Thank you to our panelists: Karena Cash, Advocacy Coordinator with Feeding Kentucky; Leigh Dixon, Community Support Advisor Kentucky Department for Community-Based Services; and Michael Halligan, CEO of God’s Pantry Food Bank and Chair of Feeding America’s Federal Policy Advisory Board. Families can text "food" to 877-877 to identify summer meals in their community. Take action to end hunger in America at www.feedingamerica.org. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Child Nutrition Update

This week on our Advocate Virtual forum, we discuss the 2021 national KIDS COUNT Data Book, which was recently co-released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Kentucky Youth Advocates. We review Kentucky data included in the book and discuss federal and state recommendations to improve child well-being and ensure an equitable and expansive recovery from the pandemic. View the Kentucky State Data Profile Sheet and read our press release at kyyouth.org/national-kids-count/. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

2021 National KIDS COUNT Data Book: Trends and Recommendations

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discuss young children with special needs, including early identification of special needs and how communities, service providers, and policymakers can support these kids and their families. A special thank you to our panelists: Ivy Alexander, Executive Director of CHFS Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs; Judith Bradley, Founder of Jack Be Nimble; and Kristen Williams, Executive Director of Play Cousins Collective. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Supporting Young Children with Special Needs

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discuss how school districts are developing their trauma-informed plans, what needs to be included, and how plans will be implemented. As a result of 2019's Senate Bill 1, the School Safety and Resiliency Act, each local board of education must develop a plan for implementing a trauma-informed approach in its schools by July 1, 2021. A special thank you to our panelists, including Dr. Joe Bargione, Bounce Coalition trainer and Executive Committee member; Michael Ford, Superintendent of Russell County Schools; and Dr. Steven Kniffley, Chief Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Spalding University. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Trauma-Informed Plans for Schools

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discuss teens in foster care and the importance of fostering teens. Thank you to our panelists: Christa Bell, Director of the DCBS Division of Protection and Permanency; Eltuan Dawson, member of True Up and former foster youth; Kelly Pullen, Executive Director of the Aetna Better Health of Kentucky SKY program; and Sarah Stalker, foster parent with experience fostering teens. Learn more about foster care in Kentucky at kyfaces.ky.gov and supporting youth transitioning out of foster care at kyrise.ky.gov. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Fostering Teens

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discuss caring for, and working with, kids and youth who have experienced trauma of any kind, including the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic and racialized trauma. Thank you to our panelists: Samantha Behmke, Head Start Behavior Intervention Specialist with Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative; DeShara Doub, school mental health practitioner and Founder/CEO of Vision of Promise LLC; Jill Gay, Director of Programs and Services at Family Nurturing Center; and Marcie Timmerman, Executive Director of Mental Health America of Kentucky. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Supporting Children Who've Experienced Trauma

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discuss supporting youth aging out of foster care in Kentucky. Thank you to our panelists, including Nikki Thornton, Executive Director of True Up; Paula Garner, President and CEO of Maryhurst; and Cynthia Schepers, a young adult who aged out of foster care. As of April 2021, True Up is officially an affiliated initiative of Kentucky Youth Advocates to expand on the organization's successful track record of engaging, empowering, and connecting young people ages 16 and older who are currently in or have transitioned out of foster care. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Supporting Youth Aging Out of Foster Care

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discuss updates on the state of child care in Kentucky. Topics include how the American Rescue Plan funds will be spent, update on Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) enrollment and outreach efforts, the plan for staffed family child care networks, and a lookahead to the 2022 state legislative session. Thank you to our panelists: Dr. Sarah Vanover, Director of the Kentucky Division of Child Care; Senator Julie Raque Adams; and Representative Josie Raymond. View Dr. Vanover's presentation slides at kyyouth.org. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Update and Lookahead on the State of Child Care

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, Dr. Terry Brooks discusses child abuse prevention efforts and supporting Kentucky kids and their families with Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander. We also hear remarks from Governor Andy Beshear and Keith Inman, president of Kosair Charities, which founded and funds the Face It Movement. Learn more about the Face It Movement and view child maltreatment prevention resources and events at faceitmovement.org. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

A Conversation on Child Abuse Prevention Efforts in Kentucky

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discussed the behavioral health landscape for Kentucky kids and their families, including new Louisville-based qualitative research about barriers to kids receiving high quality care and potential solutions to those barriers. Thank you to our panelists from across the state who shared more about the effects of the past year and how they have navigated serving kids and their families during a pandemic, including state Senator Max Wise; Dewey Rains, Behavioral Health Director with the Cumberland Family Medical Centers; Maria Gurren, Public Protection Coordinator with the Louisville Metro Criminal Justice Commission; and Raine Minichan, Coordinator of Extended School Services, Guidance, and School Mental Health Services at Fayette County Public Schools. Join Kentucky Youth Advocates and Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence for a virtual summit, Closing the Gaps in Behavioral Health Care for Youth in Louisville, on Tuesday, May 11th at 9:30AM - 12:00PM ET. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Closing the Gaps in Behavioral Health Care for Kids

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discuss kids and their families who experience–or are at risk of experiencing–homelessness in Kentucky, including solutions to prevent homelessness. Thank you to our panelists, including Adrienne Bush from the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky; George Eklund from the Coalition for the Homeless; and Darryl Young from the Coalition Supporting Young Adults. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Supporting Kids and Families Experiencing Homelessness

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we discuss federal and state solutions to end child poverty with Bruce Lesley from First Focus on Children, including the anti-poverty measures included in the recent federal American Rescue Plan. Read more about cutting child poverty in half at firstfocus.org. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

The American Rescue Plan & Efforts to End Child Poverty

This week on our Advocate Virtual Forum, we recap the 2021 Kentucky General Assembly with state Senator Reginald Thomas (D-Lexington) and Senator Whitney Westerfield (R-Crofton). View the Bill Tracker to see the final status of 2021 Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children priorities and other bills that are good for kids. Check out our blog for a recap of wins for kids in the 2021 legislative session at kyyouth.org. Thank you to Aetna Better Health of Kentucky for supporting the Making Kids Count podcast. Visit AetnaMedicaidKY.com/choose to learn more about their health care benefits and programs designed with your family’s wellbeing in mind.

Recap of the 2021 KY General Assembly

Welcome to the Making KIDS COUNT podcast brought to you by Kentucky Youth Advocates, where we sit down with policymakers, community leaders, and youth and discuss ideas to make Kentucky the best place to be young.

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Making Kids Count

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