KCHC October Newsletter

Kentucky Coalition For Healthy Children Newsletter

Issue 29 | October 2024

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

Advocacy Series | Advocacy for Thriving Communities Roadshow

The ThriveKY Coalition is hosting a session of its regional “Advocacy for Thriving Communities” Series on October 8, 2024, 1:00 – 4:00 in Covington. Speakers will discuss how to advocate for a stronger safety net through public assistance programs designed to support thriving communities. Information and registration here.

Grand Rounds│ The Power of Positive Childhood Experiences

The Bounce Coalition is holding its Fall Grand Rounds on October 16th, 10:00am-11:30am ET. The interactive virtual forum will explore the profound impact of positive childhood experiences on lifelong success and well-being. This workshop is crafted for educators, parents, policymakers, and professionals committed to fostering environments that nurture and support children's development. Information and registration here.

Policy Brief & Summary│ Kentucky Coalition for Healthy Children (KCHC) on Amendment 2

Diverting Public Dollars to Private Schools and the Threat to Children’s Health is the policy brief, and summary, developed by the KCHC. The brief addresses the impact that a change in Kentucky’s Constitution allowing public dollars to go to private schools could have on children’s health.

2-pager│ Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky on Amendment 2

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky has released Amendment 2 is Bad for the Health of Kentucky Kids which summarizes some of the problems that the proposed Constitutional Amendment 2, on the ballot on November 5, would mean for children and their health.

Analysis│ Prichard Committee Statement of Opposition to Amendment 2

The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence released an analysis of Amendment 2, which outlines the potential financial and education outcomes of the amendment. The analysis finds that funding private K12 educational institutions is not an appropriate or effective use of public funds.

Opinion Piece | Buyer beware: KY’s Amendment #2 is not "choice" it may seem for students with disabilities

Dr. Sheila Schuster, Executive Director of the Advocacy Action Network, and Isabella Edghill of the Kentucky Student Voice Team, provide information on how Amendment #2 would create funding shortfalls in public schools with an impact on their ability to meet the needs of all students. Read the opinion piece here.

Webinar | Health for a Change: Taking ACTION to Reduce Cancer Disparities

This webinar being hosted by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky is happening on Friday, November 15^th at noon ET. Participants will be able to recognize the ACTION Program as a cancer education intervention that aims to address the education and cancer disparities in Appalachian Kentucky while hearing from active students in the program. Learn more and register here.

Save the Date | Bloom Kentucky Summit

What's New in Children's Health

Hispanic Heritage Month: How Are the Niños y Niñas?

Congress established Hispanic Heritage Month in 1988, with the month stretching from September 15 to October 15. The Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2023, was 65.2 million, making it the nation’s largest racial or ethnic minority — 19.5% of the total population. In Kentucky there are 207,854 people that are Hispanic / Latino.

Because this is a younger population group, the median age being 31 (as compared to the white media age, which is 44), there are 18.8 million Latino children in the United States, representing 26% of the country’s child population. Latino children live in every region of the country and in some places, like California and New Mexico, more than half of the children are Latino.

Additionally, more than half (51%) of Latino children in the United States live in immigrant families. Due to the hardships faced by immigrant families, as the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s report 2024 Race for Results indicates, “On nearly every measure in the index, Latino children in immigrant families have steep obstacles in connecting to opportunity. While 29% of Latino fourth graders in U.S.-born families read proficiently in 2022, just 8% of those in immigrant families could.”

Kentucky ranks 37^th in the nation in terms of well-being for Latino children (A.E. Casey). The 2023 Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), confirms how poorly some Latino children are doing here, especially girls. Almost 60% of Latino girls in high school felt sad or hopeless almost every day for 2 or more weeks in a row so that they stopped doing some usual activities, during the 12 months before the survey. Of even greater concern, 17.9% of middle school Latino girls had tried to kill themselves, almost double the total for all middle school age children.

Targeted interventions are needed to reverse some of these indicators of concern, and this is a good month to dig deeper into the data and possible solutions for a large and important segment of the US population.

The Kentucky Farm to School Challenge 2024

The Kentucky Farm to School Network is a coalition of agencies, organizations, and advocates that works to cultivate farm to school initiatives that “Create and support opportunities for all Kentucky students to grow, learn about, and choose locally-grown foods, today and in the future; increase participation of Kentucky farms in farm to school activities; and expand the capacity of Kentucky schools to participate in farm to school.”

The KY F2S Network has launched Year 4 of the Kentucky Farm to School Challenge. The Challenge, which will take place October 1 – 31, encourages Kentucky schools and/or classrooms to participate in 3 activities to Taste, Learn and Grow during Farm to School month in October. All Kentucky public and private schools and homeschools are invited to participate and can register a whole school or a classroom.

A challenge kit with suggested activities, printable poster and resources will be emailed to all who register. More information here.

Policies to Address Childhood Obesity

The 2024 The State Obesity Report: Better Policies for a Healthier America, has been released by Trust for America’s Health. The report includes a Special Feature: The Food Environment and Systems. Overall, the long-term trends continue to show increasing rates of obesity across the country. The National Youth Obesity Rate, 2017–2020 is 19.7 percent. Kentucky’s rate for high school students with obesity is 22.1%, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), with students of color having rates as high as 31%. The change in the youth obesity rate from 1999–2000 to 2017–2020 shows a 42 percent increase.

The report offers recommendations for federal, state, and local policies, presented in five areas, with strategies in each area:

Advance health equity by strategically dedicating federal resources to efforts that reduce obesity-related disparities and related conditions.
Decrease food and nutrition insecurity while improving nutritional quality of available foods.
Change the marketing and pricing strategies that lead to health disparities.
Make physical activity and the build environment safer and more accessible for all.
Work with the healthcare system to close disparities and gaps in clinic-to-community settings.

Reducing Intergenerational Poverty

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has released Reducing Intergenerational Poverty, a report that examines the key drivers of long-term, intergenerational poverty, including racial disparities and structural factors.

The relevance of the report is greater than ever given the number of children experiencing poverty. Kentucky has the sixth highest poverty rate in the country and the seventh highest child poverty rate among states. In Kentucky, 36% of Black children, 31% of Latino, and 20% of White children live in poverty.

As the report highlights, experiencing poverty during childhood can “can lead to lasting harmful effects that compromise not only children’s health and welfare but can also hinder future opportunities for economic mobility, which may be passed on to future generations. This cycle of economic disadvantage weighs heavily not only on children and families experiencing poverty but also the nation, reducing overall economic output and placing increased burden on the educational, criminal justice, and health care systems.”

In Your Community

Feeding More Kids During Summer Break

It is no secret that nutrition matters a lot when it comes to kids’ health. Schools are an important tool that can improve students’ access to healthy foods…even when kids are on summer break.

Henry County Schools reached approximately 200-300 more kids each week this summer compared to last year. It’s thanks in part to the entire county now being considered “rural.” That designation allows the district to provide congregate and non-congregate meals, meaning some kids eat their food on-site and others are either delivered the food or take it to-go. Last year, they were only able to provide non-congregate meals to a certain pocket of the community.

But the added flexibility this summer has been a huge success. Program leaders report that, “Everyone is so always so thankful when they are picking up meals. The feedback that has been posted on social media or spread by word of mouth has been nothing but positive.”

The district also partnered with the local library to reach kids. The library was able to offer meals during, before, and/or after their summer programs..

Take Action

Kentucky General Election Day is Tuesday, November 5, 2024

The last Day to register to register for the 2024 General Election is Monday, October 7^th. Registration information at www.GoVote.Ky.Gov .

There are two amendments to the Kentucky Constitution on the ballot on November 5^th. Amendment 2 proposes to modify the modify Kentucky’s Constitution to allow public funds to be used for private schools. Read the analysis and statements by the Kentucky Coalition for Health Children and its partners in the Member Highlights section of this Newsletter!

A Voter Resource Guide with more information has been developed by Kentucky Voices for Health, a KCHC Steering Committee member.