Children
Kentucky K9 officer will sniff out evidence in child exploitation cases
Kentucky’s Attorney General’s office is getting a pawfect new officer who will work in the Department of Criminal Investigations sniffing out technology in child exploitation cases.? Charity, a yellow lab K9 officer, is trained to detect cell phones, flash drives, micro-SD cards and other technology that the AG’s office said “could contain child sex abuse […]
Anthem Medicaid makes mental health wellness course available to 17 Kentucky schools
This story mentions suicide. ?If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. LOUISVILLE — Anthem Medicaid announced Wednesday it has launched a free digital mental wellness course, which is available to 1,512 students in 17 Kentucky schools.? The announcement comes during Mental […]
More Kentucky children have kept Medicaid coverage compared with other states
Kentucky is among a handful of states that lost only a small percentage of children from its Medicaid program in 2023 even as the number of kids cut from coverage soared elsewhere under annual renewal requirements that had been suspended during COVID-19. Overall, 4.16 million children were dropped from the government health plan that covers […]
Is IVF protected in Kentucky? Depends on whom you ask.
None of the bills to explicitly protect in vitro fertilization in Kentucky got a hearing this legislative session, making them effectively dead on arrival.? With roughly eight months until the next session, some lawmakers and attorneys disagree on what protections exist for IVF under current Kentucky law.? Republican Sen. Whitney Westerfield — who has children […]
‘We cannot hold on:’ Kentucky child care providers plead for more help from lawmakers?
More than 250 Kentucky child care providers responsible for 150,000 children across the state sent lawmakers a letter Tuesday pleading for more support, saying what’s been proposed in the state budget “is not enough” as their industry is “at risk of collapse.”? The letter asks lawmakers to pass a supplemental lifeline funding bill in the […]
Beshear lets school ‘guardians’ bill become law without his signature
Kentucky school districts will have the option of employing armed “guardians” to fill vacant law enforcement positions on campuses under a bill that became law Tuesday without Gov. Andy Beshear’s signature.? Senate Bill 2 is a Republican-backed measure that built upon a bipartisan school safety law that was passed in 2019 after a shooting at […]
For families that need the most help, child care costs are about to drop
Originally published by The 19th. For more than a decade, Erin Farias has watched the low-income families who send children to the day cares she runs navigate America’s broken child care system. Many of those parents had government assistance for school tuition, but half the time, Farias couldn’t count on them to make their co-payments. […]
Senate approves bill aimed at helping schools avoid hiring teachers with a history of abuse
FRANKFORT — A House bill aimed at helping Kentucky schools avoid hiring sexual abusers gained passage in the Senate Wednesday.? Sponsored by House Education Committee Chairman Rep. James Tipton, House Bill 275 would require those seeking employment in schools to disclose if they were the subject of an allegation, investigation or disciplinary action within the […]
Plan for a mental health juvenile detention facility advances in Kentucky legislature
FRANKFORT — A Kentucky House committee unanimously moved forward a bill that would establish a special mental health juvenile detention facility for housing “high acuity” youth, a move the sponsor called “critical.” Sponsored by Sen. Danny Carroll, a West Kentucky Republican, Senate Bill 252 can now go to the full House for consideration, having already […]
‘A shame:’ $300 million Horizons Act is ‘dead,’ sponsor says
FRANKFORT — The $300 million child care bill called the Horizons Act is “dead,” its sponsor said Wednesday.? The state budget approved by the Senate failed to allocate all the money the Horizons Act called for — and the final budget that will emerge from a House-Senate conference is also unlikely to do so. The […]
Automatic transfer of kids accused of some gun crimes to adult court has cleared both chambers
More Kentucky juveniles would be tried as adults under a bill that has now been approved by both chambers of the legislature.? ‘Victims before perpetrators:’ Senate passes bill to try certain juveniles as adults? The House on Tuesday approved Senate Bill 20 which mandates that juveniles 15 or older would be transferred to circuit court […]
Kentucky House approves freestanding birth centers bill
FRANKFORT — Freestanding birth centers could open in Kentucky under narrow guidelines if a bipartisan bill passed by Kentucky’s House Tuesday becomes law. Time is running short in this session — Tuesday was the 56th day of the 60-day legislative session — and the bill still needs to head to the Senate for committee and […]