KCHC February Newsletter

Kentucky Coalition For Healthy Children Newsletter

Issue 9 | February 2023

Working collaboratively on policies and practices in and around schools that promote equity and improve the physical, social, and emotional health and well-being of children, youth, and families.

The opinions and viewpoints expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the positions of all coalition partners.

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KCHC Member Highlights

Virtual Forum | Bounce Grand Rounds: Addressing Secondary & Vicarious Trauma - March 16th, 2023, 10:00am - 11:30am EST

Join the Bounce Coalition for a virtual forum designed to foster cross-sector collaboration and build a more resilient, trauma-informed community while generating practical solutions.

View the event flier and click here to register.

Annual Conference | Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling 26th Annual Educational and Awareness Conference – March 9-10, 2023

The Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling Annual Conference in Owensboro (virtual option available) will cover topics including suicide ideation, screening and response, problem gambling in Kentucky, gambling expansion in Kentucky, sports betting, problem gambling 101 and problem gambling prevention strategies.

Event Flier

Registration and program details.

Virtual & In-Person Event | Diabetes Day at the Capitol 2023

The Kentucky Diabetes Network and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky are co-hosting the 2023 Diabetes Day at the Capitol. The virtual event took place on February 7, 2023, with presentations from Dr. Connie White, Deputy Commissioner for the KY Dept. for Public Health, Representative Danny Bentley, Ben Chandler, President/ CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, Martin Richards, Executive Director for Community Farm Alliance, among others. The virtual event included data and updates on policies to address the high diabetes rates and increase diabetes prevention in the Commonwealth.

The in-person event will take place on February 15, Capitol Annex Room 130, 8:30 to 9:30 to pick up information packets, and make appointments with your legislators in advance.

Diabetes Day Virtual Event Recording

Diabetes One Pager

Legislative Priorities | Bloom Kentucky

Bloom Kentucky is an initiative supported by several grantmaking organizations from across the Commonwealth who are focused on statewide policy change that aims to prevent and mitigate the impact of childhood adversity. Both Kentucky Youth Advocates and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky are part of the initiative. The 2023 legislative priorities address issues of maternal mental health, paid family leave, housing, among others.

2023 Bloom Kentucky State Policy Priorities.

Legislative Priorities | Kentucky Voices for Health 2023 Legislative Priorities

Kentucky Voices for Health (KVH) has released their list of 2023 legislative priorities including eliminating the Medicaid benefits cliff, 12 month continuous Medicaid coverage for kids, increased access to care without barriers, instituting an All Payers Claims Database in Kentucky and improving network adequacy and supporting workforce development. On January 31, 2023, KVH held a Kentucky General Assembly 2023 Legislative Forum, where they spoke with some of Kentucky’s top policymakers on issues related to health and wellbeing.

2023 Legislative Priority one-pager.

View the KYGA23 Legislative Forum Recording.

New Initiative | Prichard Committee Receives Grant to Establish “Community Schools”

The Prichard Committee received a $47 million, 5-yeargrant from the U.S. Department of Education to establish effective, evidence-based “community schools”. Community schools provide a range of services to meet the unique needs of students, families, and the broader communities they serve. The

four pillars of community schools are: 1) integrated student supports that address out-of-school barriers to learning through partnerships with social and health service agencies and providers; 2) expanded and

enriched learning time and opportunities; 3) active family and community engagement; and 4)

collaborative leadership and practices (including high-quality teaching).

The first cohort of 8 schools includes schools in Owensboro Independent, Jefferson, Daviess and Rowan Counties.

News Release.

What's New in Children's Health

Report | Racial and Ethnic Differences in COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Among Children and Adolescents Aged 5–17 Years and Parental Intent to Vaccinate Their Children — National Immunization Survey–Child COVID Module, United States, December 2020–September 2022

Data had previously shown that some racial and ethnic groups are at increased risk for COVID-19 associated morbidity and mortality due to systemic inequities and vaccination is effective in preventing sever COVID-19 outcomes. This report shows that children and youth 5-17 with 1 or less COVID-19 vaccination dose coverage was low overall, but highest among Asian, Hispanic or Latino populations. Parental intent to vaccinate their child varied by age, race and ethnicity and parents of unvaccinated children reported low confidence in vaccine safety. In order to increase overall coverage and address disparities in child and youth COVID-19 vaccination coverage, providers and trusted messengers should provide culturally relevant information and vaccine recommendations.

Download the report.

Data Release | New Data Underscores Need to Catch up on Routine Childhood Vaccinations

Updated data on vaccination coverage for kindergarten age children from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been released and shows continued declining rates of routine childhood vaccines. The report linked below shows statewide compliance with the 95% targeted adherence rate. Kentucky does not meet the targeted adherence rate with a 86.5% MMR 2 dose adherence rate.

Brief | Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023: Medicaid and CHIP Provisions Explained

Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families has issued a brief on Medicaid and CHIP Provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act. The brief explains provisions within the Act that unwinds the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement, impacts children’s coverage including requiring all states to implement 12 months continuous eligibility for all children, makes the American Rescue Plan option to provide 12 months of postpartum coverage permanent, and many others.

Download the full brief.

In Your Community

Tackling the issue of youth vaping: a peer-to-peer approach

A team in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky launched the #iCANendthetrend program in 2019 with the goal of providing tobacco-use prevention services to youth, families, and community members across Kentucky. The program does this through a peer-to-peer model. Elementary, middle, and high school students are connected with college student facilitators who support program planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Supported by the Kentucky Tobacco Prevention and Cessation (program), #iCANendthetrend has reached over 15,000 Kentucky youth with school-based presentations and countless others through social media and other outreach initiatives. Program leaders say the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Data from last school year shows more than 85% of students found the program to be empowering and believed the information they learned could help them make a difference.

And the hard work isn’t over.

The Youth Advisory Board (YAB), which consists of 8 high schoolers from across Kentucky, is working on a project to showcase the targeting and access to tobacco products in their communities, as well as hosting two sessions at the upcoming Tobacco Control Conference in April.

Additionally, #iCANendthetrend is expanding its PEERS (Prevention, Education, Empowerment and Resources for Students) program by partnering with other Kentucky universities. PEERS are undergraduate students who are trained to make a difference in their communities through tobacco-use prevention. And there are plans to pilot this model at the high school level. Students interested in joining can apply here. Building community partnerships and empowering community champions is critical in impacting vaping among our youth.

#iCANendthetrend is also looking for schools/organizations to partner with to gather feedback on the “Villainous Vape”, an e-cigarette prevention comic book. You can learn more about the process and comic at CCTS: Adventures in Research Comic Book | UK Center for Clinical and Translation Science (uky.edu) or email melinda.ickes@uky.edu for more info. There are incentives built in for this project's evaluation. Parents are also welcome to give feedback about several new videos to support communicating with their children about vaping and quitting resources. Access to the survey and videos here. (view the videos separately from the survey here)

Keep up with #iCANendthetrend on social media @icanendthetrend or email at icanendthetrend@uky.edu to partner or learn more.

Take Action!

The 2023 Legislative Session is taking place and therefore there are many action items for your consideration and advocacy!

HB 162, the Youth Mental Health Protection Act, sponsored by Representative Lisa Willner (D-35) with primary co-sponsor Representative Killian Timoney (R-45), prohibits all licensed mental health providers from engaging in any practices that purport to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity and prohibits agencies that refers or provides these harmful practices from receiving state funding.

Take Action Now on HB 162

Call or email your Representative and ask him or her to sign on as a co-sponsor of HB 162.

Find your legislator.

Call to leave a message for House Leadership, asking that HB 162 be assigned to a committee for action because it provides important protection for our Kentucky children and youth.

Legislative Message Line: 1-800-372-7282

Learn more in the Kentucky Coalition for Healthy Children’s News Release on HB 162.

The Kentucky Coalition for Healthy Children (KCHC) has developed its 2023 Children’s Mental Health Policy Agenda and has sent it to all members of the Kentucky General Assembly. The policy agenda was developed following a series of presentations from public and private experts in children’s mental health to the KCHC Steering Committee, the work of an ad hoc KCHC’s children’s mental health work group, and discussions by the full KCHC Steering Committee.

Please contact your legislators to highlight the importance of addressing children’s mental health issues this session, , and share the children’s mental health policy agenda with your organizations and networks. Information on legislators, bills, committee schedules and more can be found on the KY General Assembly page.

Children’s Mental Health Policy Agenda

KCHC Chair Letter to the members of the Kentucky General Assembly

Children’s Advocacy Week – week of February 8

Join advocates from across Kentucky for virtual events throughout the week and in-person events at the Capitol on February 8th.

Upcoming Events:

February 9- 1:00 PM ET Advocate networking coffee break via zoom (Join with zoom)

February 10- 12:00 PM ET Celebration of Kentucky Kids posted on KYA social media channels.

Click here to register.

KY Fairness Rally 2023 – February 15

The Fairness Campaign is holding its 2023 Fairness Rally at the Capitol on February 15. The Fairness Campaign is an advocacy organization founded over thirty years ago with the primary goal of comprehensive civil rights legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and to dismantle systemic racism.