Contact: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org For immediate release: February 24, 2022 Louisville, KY — Kentucky Youth Advocates announced today a $140,000 grant from Prevent Child Abuse America® (PCA America) and the Annie E. Casey Foundation through the Thriving Families, Safer Children, Youth, Family and Community Partnership Grants to support our work focused on child and [...]

The Face It Movement was joined by Dr. David Lohr, Medical Director at the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and professor at the University of Louisville; Susan Vickers of the Aetna Better Health of Kentucky SKY Program; and Eltuan Dawson, True Up Peer Network Member, for a discussion on psychotropic medications and [...]

This post originally appeared as an op-ed in the Courier Journal on December 15, 2021 By Cynthia Schepers. My name is Cynthia Schepers and I am one of the “young adults” who helped lead the research on young adult access to behavioral health supports alongside the Coalition Supporting Young Adults, or CSYA for [...]

The 2021 Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book examines data disaggregated by race/ethnicity, the impacts of systemic racial injustice on children and families, and solutions to advance racial equity so that every child can thrive. The 31st edition of this publication also features the latest data on 17 measures of child well-being, [...]

The May 12, 2021 Advocate Virtual Forum hosted by Kentucky Youth Advocates discussed supporting youth aging out of foster care in Kentucky. The panelists included Nikki Thornton, Executive Director of True Up; Paula Garner, President and CEO of Maryhurst; and Cynthia Schepers, a young adult who aged out of [...]

CONTACT: Mara Powell mpowell@kyyouth.org LOUISVILLE, KY – Kentucky Youth Advocates and True Up are pleased to announce a formal partnership between the two organizations. As of April 1, 2021, True Up is officially an affiliated initiative of Kentucky Youth Advocates. True Up Executive Director Nikki Thornton has joined Kentucky Youth Advocates’ team [...]

The May 12, 2020 edition of the Making Kids Count podcast featured Nikki Thornton, Director of Program Operations at True Up, and Tia Humphrey, a member of the Voices of the Commonwealth. They discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting young people in or transitioning out of foster care [...]

Several True Up youth were able to get an up-close look at politics in action and meet with key lawmakers during Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol. Held on February 5, this marked the 11th year for the event, which attracts hundreds of people from across Kentucky to Frankfort [...]

Two leaders with the True Up Youth Advisory Council (YAC) were able to follow in the footsteps of a Kentucky lawmaker to get an up-close look at our government in action. Both walked away with lessons learned and were able to share some experiences and insight of their own. [...]

More than 125 foster youth attended the Youth Empowerment Summit (Y.E.S.) September 28 at the University of Louisville Shelby Campus. True Up and other child advocacy groups sponsored the summit that focused on kids helping kids succeed as adults. The event was planned by young people and all workshop [...]