Welcome to Kentucky Family Policy

This blog is dedicated to examining issues facing the Commonwealth of Kentucky and providing a nonpartisan, family perspective on public policy making. We hope to provide a forum for Kentuckians to review and discuss current legislative actions and the issues such actions are attempting to address. The opinions expressed herein belong solely to the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Kentucky, its affiliates, or its representatives.

What the authors of this blog will contribute:
1) Summarize current state, national, and international research related to topics relevant to current legilative actions.
2) Describe Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service programs and activities currently addressing issues related to legilative actions in the various counties.
3) Provide expert commentaries via podcasts and videocasts on issues relevant to current legilative actions.

Please see "Priority Bills" section on the right for a short list of the most current legislative actions relevant to the family focus of this blog

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

East Kentucky Homemakers go the distance for children's home

East Kentucky Homemakers go the distance for children’s home

Contributed by Aimee Nielson

LIBERTY, Ky., (May 27, 2009) – It takes more than 10 dozen eggs each morning to make breakfast at the Galilean Children’s Home, but that statistic fits right in with the home’s theme: “Where normal is the exception.” More than 95 percent of support for the Casey County home comes from private donations of time, food, supplies and money. Some University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Homemakers in eastern Kentucky have embraced the home and gather supplies throughout the year in hopes of making life a little easier for children and special-needs adults residing there.

Leslie County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences Nanette Banks recalled a visit to the Galilean home several years ago. A few homemakers toured the facilities including the Angel House, a haven for babies whose mothers are in prison, and the Blessing House, a place for older children and adults with physical and mental challenges. “It’s a blessing to see some of the things you don’t normally see,” Banks said. “It makes you realize that there are good people, people who will give others a chance at life. None of our homemakers came out of that tour with a dry eye; even the men had tears in their eyes. Since then, we decided to make the home one of our community service projects and bring donated items each year.”

Homemakers collect baby care items and personal hygiene items as well as homemade baby quilts and blankets to add a personal touch. They travel more than two hours at least twice a year to personally deliver the items and catch up with beloved residents. “We wanted to do something for them, so we got busy making quilts,” said Homemaker Virginia Melton. “We just wanted to put things together to bring to them, and it has touched my life. It changes you when you come down here.”

Melton has a special affection toward children at the home since she and other Homemakers have raised children of their own with special needs and physical challenges. “It really makes you appreciate what you have and makes me love my own child even more,” she said. “These kids need our help; they are doing a wonderful thing here.”
Lucille Smith, also a Leslie County Homemaker, said she’s learned a lot by visiting the home and bringing items to make life there easier. “This is a blessing to come and see this,” she said. “It makes me see how blessed I am and that my family is well; we are just so fortunate.”

Jerry Tucker and his late wife Sandy founded the home in 1986. They fought their own battles with infertility and focused their energies on helping children whose parents did not have the ability to care for them. “We were married for 45 years before she died two years ago,” Jerry Tucker said. “We were childless for seven years and then we adopted a baby from a private agency from an unwed mother. We just felt after we adopted him and then our two daughters were born, which were miracle babies, we wanted to spend the rest of our lives working with kids and so forth.” All in all, the Tuckers have adopted more than 30 children, and cared for more than 800 children through the years, rescuing many of them from situations of abuse, neglect and other circumstances.

Banks said the Leslie County Homemakers use the home’s published needs list to focus their collections of supplies toward items the home really needs. The list and more information at the home are available online at http://www.galileanhome.org/

Monday, May 18, 2009

Taste of the Month brings hard-to-find foods to east Kentucky school

Taste of the Month brings hard-to-find foods to east Kentucky school

By Aimee Nielson
BOONEVILLE, Ky., (May 13, 2009) – Boiled shrimp, provolone cheese, fresh mandarin oranges – these items may sound pretty common to folks living in metropolitan areas. But, for those in rural communities, these items are hard to come by.

“Several years ago, I was doing a 4-H lesson on quesadillas, and the kids didn’t have a clue what they were; we didn’t have any Mexican restaurants here,” recalled Natasha Lucas, family consumer sciences University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension agent in Owsley County. “I thought it was really sad that our kids didn’t know about many foods, because they are just not exposed to much beyond the basics. I wanted to do some kind of food exposure program then but didn’t have the funds.”

That all changed about three years ago when funding became available through the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program, so Lucas worked with Owsley County Middle and High School officials to start Taste of the Month. Each month Lucas and Sherry Becknell, Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program assistant in Owsley County, pick a hard-to-find food item and hand out samples during lunch time to seventh through 12th graders.

“Most of the kids will give it a try, and they’ve told me they look forward to seeing what we’re going to try next,” Lucas said. “We try to only offer healthy, fresh foods that aren’t available in our grocery stores. For example, this month we handed out samples of fresh mandarin oranges. In our grocery store, you can’t find that. You can only get the canned variety.”
Owsley County Health Educator Oneida McIntosh said the program has really expanded the students’ palettes.

“Here at Owsley County High School we really strive to educate our children about healthy food choices – in the cafeteria and at home,” McIntosh said. “We want them to see that just because something looks different, they don’t have to snarl their noses; they just need to give new things a chance. This small taste gives them a chance to change their perspective.”

Whitley McIntosh, an OCHS junior, has been active in 4-H since fourth grade. She looks forward to the items Lucas and Becknell bring each month and also looks forward to hearing what’s going on in 4-H. “It’s interesting to get to try new things you haven’t tried before,” she said. “I really liked the different fruits and cheeses.”Another junior at the school, Michael Hensley agreed. “They give us a new variety of food to try,” he said. “Our grocery store doesn’t have choices like that. It’s just a really neat experience being able to try new things every month.”

Oneida McIntosh said she encourages students to seek out the items they try when they go shopping with their parents in larger areas, such as Hazard. “Just like many times I may not have access to a lot of the foods I need for a particular recipe (in Owsley County),” she said. “I have to go somewhere else to get it. They shouldn’t be too discouraged; just add an item to the shopping list to pick up while you’re out.”

Beyond the Taste of the Month event, Lucas also works with Oneida McIntosh in classrooms, where they teach lessons on how to prepare dishes with the foods they sample.

4-H and Youth Leadership Development

Contributed by Nicole Stork-Hestad, UK Graduate Student

Talking with Mr. Mark Mains about his work with extension offices over the past 11 years is like asking a 5 year old to talk about their favorite superhero. His eyes light up and you are hit head-on with the passion he has for the work he is doing. Mark works closely with the 4-H Development program which he described as “informal education” in a formal setting. As an Extension Specialist for 4-H Youth Development, Mark proceeded to enlighten me on the ends in and outs of 4-H as it relates to Legislation, education, and its impact on Kentucky youths.

Just as a refresher, the 4-H program is self-defined as “a community of young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills” for youths between the ages of 9 and 18 (although the Cloverbuds’ program is becoming more popular for ages 5-8). Programs of involvement range from camping to international exchange and the meetings are usually held in more public areas, at schools in particular. Funding for the program comes from a variety of sources including individual donors to the USDA. 4-H relies on paid employees, as well as parents, volunteers, and alumni to keep the program going.

When asked to relate his work to current legislatives acts, Marks eyes widened. “My greatest concern, right now, is our standards,” he said. Apparently the Kentucky Education Reform Act, commonly referred to as KERA, is under heavy revision this session. The 4-H program’s guidelines and standards for their school involvement had previously been measured against the yardstick that KERA had provided. With the phasing out of the old rule book, Mark is concerned with keeping the 4-H programs above reproach. He stressed that 4-H’s goal is to meet the needs of the students involved; the whole point of the program is to positively impact Kentucky’s youth.

The kids involved present their own matters to state government and (with a little help from 4-H workers, like Mark) win their cases. Mark recounted that $2 million was given to the 4-H camping fund just recently because the youth spoke up for their programs. “We need to ‘Wow’ Legislation with impact and involvement,” Mains concluded. Which I don’t believe is going to be a problem since the 2008 data revealed there to be approximately 230,000 youth members alone. 4-H is providing youth who have something to say the opportunities to be proactive with their state government.

Direct Links:
Statistics related to Kentucky 4-H http://www.ca.uky.edu/agcollege/4h/about4h/statistics/pdf/Market%20Share%20Report%20-%202008.pdf
Home web site: http://www.ca.uky.edu/agcollege/4h/about4h/index.htm
News Article on KERA reform: http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/684937.html

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

College Financial Awareness

Contributed by Nicole Stork-Hestad, UK Graduate Student

Ah, college- noted around the nation as the best years of your life. University students from California to Maine are spring break-ing, pulling all-nighters, and cramming every ounce of “knowledge” possible into their four years of freedom to get the most out of college experience. However, something that most students fail to add to their educational outfitting is financial preparedness; knowledge of topics concerning credit card use and debt management could be especially constructive as they areas apply to the majority of persons in postsecondary education.

House Bill 83 (BR388), which is currently in committee, poses to “require public postsecondary institutions to provide new undergraduates with information regarding credit cards and debt management and encourage them [the educational institutions] to conduct informational sessions” pertaining to credit cards and debt management for students to voluntarily attend. Basically, as apart of orientation week, incoming freshman and transfer students would receive some kind of reading material (pamphlet, booklet, brochure, etc…) concerning credit card use and debt management in their welcome packets and maybe have a session or two on financial awareness (particularly concerning credit card use and debt management).

To get some perspective on the effectiveness of the bill, I asked Dr. Hyungsoo Kim what his thoughts about the new bill were and how he speculated it would be of aid to incoming students. Dr. Kim teaches personal and family finance courses at the University of Kentucky through the Family Studies Department. “Obviously young folks need more knowledge and skills to manage their personal resources,” Kim says. There is a definite sense of prevention or catch-‘em-early mentality that this bill offers.

However, he also commented to me that he finds more than half of his undergraduate students do not work to support their lifestyle; most are still financially supported by parents or guardians. “The number one issue” he says is “actually they don’t manage because they don’t have any income… They don’t think they need this kind of thing…[They] don’t feel that it is real.” He believes that money management reading materials will lost on these incoming students because they will have a lack of interest in being budgeters sense the need to be financially responsible is not an urgent one.

A possible solution to this lack of interest would be to offer the same materials and voluntary sessions to outbound students who are looking to graduate. Kim acknowledges that, “as they get older, more exposed, they will need more information.” Nothing wakes up a graduating senior like smell of being financially independent, or in some cases financially cut-off, from his/her parents. A genuine concern for being financially stable after graduation could spark the desire to attend a lecture series by guest financial speakers, similar to how a job fair has more attending second semester juniors and graduating seniors.

Never-the-less, should it pass, HB 83 will have our freshman (and probably soon after our recycling bins) armed with provided reading material on subjects such as “How to Use Your Credit Card Responsibly” and “Pay Those Student Loans In a Timely Fashion.”

Breastfeeding and public policy

Contributed by Nicole Stork-Hestad, UK Graduate Student

I once overheard a conversation at a high school basketball game involving the mother of a newborn and an older gentleman, both of which were “feeding.” The gentleman was enjoying a hot dog and nachos, while the mother had just begun breastfeeding her infant. The gentleman was apparently appalled; so much so that he remarked to the mother, “You shouldn’t do that out here! It’s indecent. Why don’t you go on back to the bathroom and do that.” To which the mother replied, “When you eat your dinner in the bathroom, so will my baby.”

There are a lot of negative opinions about mothers who breastfeed in public, most of which can be summed into one word, “shouldn’t.” One article states that there are several reasons for this the discriminations: (1) Breastfeeding is inherently sexual due to breast exposure, (2) Breastfeeding is a form of exhibitionism/attention-seeking, and (3) Breastfeeding is unnecessary; bottle feeding is just as good and does not expose anything.

However, this article always commends those state legislations that are starting to disagree and admit their recognition of the rights of both mother and child to breastfeed in public. Hence, breastfeeding has become a legal issue. “When breastfeeding women leave their homes and attempt to integrate breastfeeding into their public and professional lives, they face barriers to breastfeeding that require legal protection” (Shelton, 1995-1996, p. 180).

The article states that legislative support is shown through implementation of three underlying laws: (1) Exemptions of breastfeeding as public nudity or indecent exposure, (2) Permission for mothers to breastfeed in any authorized setting, and (3) Protection of rights to breastfeed through civil rights remedies. The bill concerning the reprimand for those who interfere with a mother breastfeeding in authorized public domains shows that Kentucky is behind mothers and their children, supporting both their health and their rights.

The article does give a word of caution. Most of the amendments made to support breastfeeding mothers in public and professional settings have crafty wording, stating the mothers have the right to breast their “infant” or “baby.” State citizens need to be aware of the law wording, and the effects it has on a mother wanting to continue breastfeeding her toddler or preschooler. It also warns that mothers relying only on the federal laws of breastfeeding for protection could encounter problems and limitations from private employers and property owners because the law does not extend to them.

While breastfeeding is less discriminated against and more protected than it was, further action is necessary. The article points out that, while laws are empowering women to breastfeed in public domains, accommodations for breastfeeding, or even breast pumping, are still very limited, especially in the workplace. While legally exempt from prosecution, and even legally allowed to bring suit against any interfering persons, accommodation for breastfeeding (i.e. a clean environment, a private/designated area, and time to do so) are still very much lacking. There is still room for improvement in this matter; a battle has been won, but the war for breastfeeding continues.