New Report: Analysis of Kentucky’s Residential Foster Care   Featuring Interviews of Youth with Lived Experience and Recommendations  LOUISVILLE, KY – Residential and institutional facilities are meant for youth experiencing crises, yet these settings are often over-utilized due to lack of family-based foster care rather than a clinical need for [...]

"I wish maybe more people would have reached out. We need a lot more people involved to reach out to help kids that are experiencing challenges outside of school." - Louisville Young Adult Educational disengagement is one of the most critical issues affecting the Louisville community. Earlier this year, the [...]

Registration for pandemic relief will close on: September 17th. Visit www.kyvoc.com and click on “pandemic relief” in the top menu to read more about eligibility or to register for pandemic relief. For questions, email: kyfosteryouthpandemicaid@ky.gov

This post originally appeared on Kentucky Youth Advocates on August 9, 2022 Thousands of young adults exit foster care, often without the preparation or support they need to succeed in adulthood. With limited resources and services, their paths can lead to homelessness, more trauma, and [...]

True Up hosted our annual Charrette on July 19th, and we’re delighted to share our highlights from the day!  Hosting the Charrette allows us to share valuable updates from True Up and to create a space for collaboration, where we can hear from dedicated community partners. This year, the [...]

True Up and Kentucky Youth Advocates like to find new ways to advocate. So, we often find ourselves in new projects that all have an end goal of improving the child welfare system. We are currently working on a grant, known as the Journey to Success campaign, that seeks [...]

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Herald Leader on May 27, 2022. By Tia Humphrey, Lynn Rippy, and Nikki Thornton 1 in 3. 1 in 3 young adults with a foster care experience face housing instability in Kentucky. That’s 1 in 3 young people with their livelihood and [...]

True Up is an initiative to empower young people in foster care to gain critical life skills and help them transition from agency care to independent living. It is a caring family of foster care alumni who have faced the challenges of getting jobs, continuing their education, overcoming the [...]

By Tamara Vest This year, the Voices of the Commonwealth (VOC) set policy initiatives for young people in foster care. Those initiatives included amendments to the foster youth bill of rights to promote inclusivity for young people in several ways. They also advocated for changes to Kentucky’s extended foster care [...]

May is National Foster Care Awareness Month, a time to acknowledge the 463,000 children and youth in foster care and the family members, foster parents, volunteers, mentors, child welfare professionals, and policymakers who help them find permanent homes and connections. It is also a time to join forces and renew [...]