About Us
History
KYA history in the area of Child Protection
1978 — Conducted an independent study of foster care in Kentucky.
1978 — Advocated for local foster care review boards.
1980 — Helped litigate the expeditious adoption of children.
1982 — Recommended changes in the state's adoption process in So Much for So Little: A Legislative Guide for Reforming Kentucky's Adoption Programs and Unfinished Commitment: The Remaining Challenges of Special Adoptions. Also produced a "photolisting" of children awaiting adoption.
1983 — Put a "human face" on the dangers of the foster care system by documenting the Eugene D. case, an eight-year-old child who had been in foster care for seven years and weighed only 19 pounds.
1984 — Recommended a "family focused" system of care with two reports, Kentucky's Children: A Critical Moment, and There's No Place Like Home. Legal delays in the adoption process were documented in Waiting and Wondering.
1985 — Alerted the state of how to secure more federal child protective services funds.
1986 — Alerted the public to the shortage of protective services social workers.
1990 — Documented that local and state officials were not responding to child sexual abuse cases.
1991 — Evaluated Kentucky's new family-focused programs with our report, Turning Promise Into Practice.
1992 — Advocated and assisted in developing a comprehensive state plan to address child sexual abuse.
1992 — Recommended ways to hold public officials accountable in child sexual abuse proceedings.
1992 — Documented the research on the credibility of child witnesses in child sexual abuse actions.
1992 — Estimated Kentucky's economic costs of child sexual abuse.
1995 — a statewide hot-line investigation conducted by the Cabinet for Families and Children resulted in the report Where the Rubber Meets the Road.
2001 — Published Warning Signs: A Look at Child Protective Services in Kentucky which resulted in policy changes within the Cabinet for Families and Children.