Kentucky’s First Lady Glenna Bevin spoke Sunday in a meeting at the H.L. Neblett Community Center as part of a community engagement event. Bevin’s speech focused on empowering local faith-based, community and government groups to support her new foster care and adoption initiative, “Uniting Daviess County: A Community of Care.”
The First Lady visited Owensboro as an advocate for vulnerable children and families across all of Kentucky, but today, focused primarily on those who reside in Daviess County.
“The support of the local community is critical to creating healthy environments for our most vulnerable children and families,” said Bevin. “Matt and I are abundantly grateful for those citizens and organizations in Owensboro and across the Commonwealth who are coming to stand united alongside our foster and adoptive families.”
According to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health & Family Services (CHFS), there are more than 9,550 children in Kentucky’s foster care system, including 137 Daviess County children in out-of-home care. Of those 137, 15 are aging out of foster care, while 28 are available for adoption, 29 are in kinshipship care and a total of 90 are in the goal toward reunification.
Officials from the Governor’s Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives and Orphan Care Alliance spoke at the meeting, supporting the First Lady’s initiative toward adoptive and foster care.
“I think it’s great that the First Lady is gathering government, faith-based and community resources together to care for the children of Kentucky,” said Darren Washausen, Executive Director of Orphan Care Alliance. “No one organization can provide all that is needed, so working together is the way to solve this growing concern in our state.”
Chris Johnson, Special Advisor to the First Lady in the Governor’s Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives, said there are many ways for Daviess County residents to get involved with the initiative.
“We look forward to seeing how this community is going to join with local partners to make a difference in the lives of others,” Johnson said.
Local partners include Daviess County Family Court, who announced they would be partnering with the First Lady’s Community Engagement Initiative to serve as a platform for bringing the community together in support of Kentucky’s vulnerable children and families.
“Our goal in Daviess County Family Court is to problem solve and find ways for families to be healthy and safe together,” said Daviess County Family Court Judge Julie Hawes Gordon.
Washausen added that communities across the state would need to pull their resources and efforts together to make a meaningful impact for Kentucky’s children. He commended the First Lady for her attempts to create an initiative targeting the most-affected areas in the state of Kentucky.
“There are ways for everyone to engage, and it will take all of us,” Washausen said.
For more information, or for those wanting to participate in the First Lady’s “Uniting the Community” initiative, contact [email protected].
