All Kentuckians are mandated reporters. If you believe a child is being abused or neglected, call the Child Protection Hotline.
For contact information in other states, please visit our Report It page.
Child help: National Abuse Hotline:
1-800-4-CHILD
or 1-800-422-4453
By Cortney Downs, Kentucky Youth Advocates For the third year in a row, Kentucky has the highest rate of child maltreatment in the nation. Kentucky also has much higher rates of domestic violence and caregiver substance use in cases of child abuse than the national average. With more than 20,000 cases...
This was originally posted as an op-ed by The Courier Journal on January 29, 2021. By Keith Inman Last March I wrote in The Courier Journal of the urgent need to come together as we socially distanced, especially for our families experiencing extraordinary levels of stress and isolation. Throughout the course of the COVID-19...
By Cortney Downs, Policy and Advocacy Director, Kentucky Youth Advocates In 2020, Dr. Melissa Currie, Medical Director and Chief of the Kosair Charities Division of Pediatric Forensic Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, said that “strong state policies and sufficient budget investments can...
Has anyone else felt themselves climbing a series of steep learning curves over the past few months? How a novel coronavirus is transmitted to humans. How to homeschool a child. How deep and destructive systemic racism is. Our brains have been challenged to take in, process, and take action on...
By Ginny Sprang, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Executive Director, University of Kentucky Center on Trauma and Children On January 7, 2020, Governor Andy Beshear proclaimed January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month in Kentucky. In 2011, President Barack Obama found a way to focus our efforts toward eliminating modern day slavery by...
[caption id="attachment_5073" align="alignleft" width="386"] Image provided by Kentucky Youth Advocates[/caption] By Carli Mosby, originally posted by Kentucky Youth Advocates Parenting is tough. Caring for a child is one of the most important jobs an adult can have, and this includes keeping children safe from harm. While parents and caregivers do their best...
MEDIA CONTACT Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org 502-895-8167 EXT 122 Kosair Charities Face It Movement Release Priorities for 2020 Kentucky General Assembly LOUISVILLE, KY (December 18, 2019) – The Kosair Charities® Face It® Movement focuses on a three-pronged approach to addressing Kentucky’s high rate of child abuse and neglect: promote best practices in prevention and intervention, build...
This was originally posted as an op-ed by the Courier Journal on August 19, 2019. By Keith Inman and Terry Brooks Kentucky’s kids owe a debt of gratitude to the Courier Journal’s editor, Rick Green, for making a considerable commitment of resources to focus on abuse and neglect in Kentucky. That gratitude extends...
By Cortney Downs In the 2018 legislative session House Bill 1, a Face It policy priority, was signed into law, creating several changes to the Kentucky child welfare system. This bipartisan and comprehensive plan proposes significant changes to the adoption and foster care system to significantly strengthen how Kentucky supports kids...
(Louisville, KY, May 31, 2018) – Children deserve to grow and thrive free from abuse and neglect. House Bill 1, passed by the Kentucky General Assembly this Spring and ceremonially signed into law today by Governor Matt Bevin, sets forth a comprehensive plan to strengthen how Kentucky supports children impacted by abuse...
