Louisville Summit to Address Kentucky's Child Welfare System

A summit to address the problems facing Kentucky’s child welfare system will be held in Louisville Saturday.Kentucky Youth Advocates has been a leader in questioning the state’s child welfare system since criticism of its practices arose last year when an employee for the Department of Health and Family Services was accused of not adequately investigating a case that led to a child’s death.Nearly 250 people have registered for the summit, ranging from lawmakers to community leaders, said KYA Executive Director Terry Brooks. The group will hear from several speakers and vote on legislative changes they can propose to the General Assembly, he said.The group has borrowed equipment from Jefferson County Public Schools to allow individuals to vote on recommendations offered by the group.“And folks will click on their answers and right before their eyes there will be 250 votes. It’s a way to ensure that folks don’t think there were hanging chads," said Brooks.The group hopes to provide three to five legislative recommendations that can be proposed to legislative leaders.“Once those are decided we literally have our laptop and printer there, we’re going to input those into the letter and construct it to go to speaker Stumbo, president Williams and Governor Beshear," said Brooks.Attendees will be asked to sign the letter, which Brooks expects to deliver next week, he said.