Letters

I am writing this letter in support of my good friend Stewart Gritton, Democratic candidate for Commissioner of Agriculture.

May is National Foster Care Month, a time to shine the light on the foster care experience. Let’s start with some figures:
• More than 6,800 Kentucky children and youth are in out-of-home care, with 75 to 80 percent of those in foster care. Most are placed in temporary foster care due to parental neglect or abuse.
• The average age of a child in care: 10.7 years.
• More than 73 percent of the children/youth in care are white; 19.3 percent are black and 4.3 percent are Hispanic.

Childhood is supposed to be an age of innocence, but for too many in the Commonwealth it’s a time of suffering.  In 2009 a report revealed that Kentucky led the nation in the number of children who die as a result of abuse and neglect. Statistics show that every minute in Kentucky, two children are victims of abuse and neglect that can leave emotional and physical scars that last a lifetime.  No doubt there are countless more cases that go unreported.

National Public Safety Telecommunications Week was established by the United States Congress in 1991 to recognize the dedicated professionals who link the public to emergency services.  Kentucky State Police is joining the efforts to celebrate the more than 200,000 telecommunicators throughout the United States.