Kentucky
Meeting caregivers where they are: Kentucky Kinship Resource Center expanding
LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 1, 2024) — The Kentucky Kinship Resource Center (KKRC), housed in the College of Social Work (CoSW) at the University of Kentucky, is expanding to better serve caregivers and children across the Commonwealth.
The KKRC now offers resources for all caregivers, including those who have custody, are fostering, or for those caring for a child of a family member or friend.
“The relational dynamics and complexities of kinship care can be difficult for caregivers to navigate, regardless of whether a caregiver has custody or not,” said Sheila Rentfrow, director of KKRC. “Expanding the program will provide opportunities for caregivers to connect with other kinship caregivers and receive vital support — no matter where they are in their kinship journey.”
Nearly 2.7 million young people are being raised by a relative and data suggests kinship rates throughout the Commonwealth are among the highest in the country.
There are immense benefits of kinship arrangements — a form of care that allows children to grow up in a family environment. Studies show these children have healthier behavioral and emotional outcomes. But emerging research also takes a closer look at the struggles relatives often face when caring for young family members.
The CoSW has an established history of supporting kinship caregivers across Kentucky. From conducting research to launching programming, the college is on a mission to connect relatives caring for youth with an array of services designed to meet their unique needs.
In an effort to provide much-needed support for kinship families, in March 2020, the college launched KKRC. Through education and training programs, peer support and mentoring initiatives, and broad-based advocacy, the center provides a continuum of resources for kinship caregivers.
“We conceptualized and launched KKRC for a singular purpose: to meet the needs of kinship caregivers in Kentucky,” said CoSW Dean Jay Miller, Ph.D. “This center was the first of its kind in our state, and we are extremely excited to be able to continue serving kinship caregivers in an innovative way.”
Miller, who spent time in foster and kinship care as a youth, is passionate about providing useful information and valuable resources to caregivers. That’s why KKRC leads efforts to provide and promote evidence-based approaches. This is done through expansive research and evaluation in the field.
With the expansion, KKRC will now offer programming to all relative caregivers in Kentucky, regardless of custodial status, which includes kinship foster caregivers.
“The KKRC is designed to provide a strong social support network easily accessible by participants in times of need,” said Missy Segress, director of centers and labs in the CoSW. “Through our innovative partnership with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, we have implemented a program that reduces the risk of placement instability and improves the quality of care. With this program expansion, we are able to provide these services to even more families across the Commonwealth.”
Families being served by KY-KINS have access to innovative peer support and mentoring initiatives. Additionally, Kinship Peer Supporters, who are caregivers themselves, undergo comprehensive training to provide the best support possible.
KY-KINS is based on the premise that by connecting kinship caregivers to a supportive network of trained professionals, the overall well-being of the entire family will improve, and the placement of children in the home will become safer and more stable.
“Our peer supporters and small group facilitators have been amazing people to work with. They are passionate about using their lived experiences in kinship care to serve and connect kinship families with needed resources and assistance,” Rentfrow said. “With this type of expansion, we’ll be able to offer more support services, utilizing more program leaders with lived kinship experience, including hiring more peer supporters and small group leaders that will allow us to serve more of Kentucky’s kinship families.”
In 2023, the KKRC was nationally recognized and named “Parent Group of the Year” by the North American Council on Adoptable Children. The award is designed to honor parent associations and groups for their excellence in supporting adoptive, foster and kinship families.
KY-KINS was also approved to certify kinship peer supporters, in accordance with Kentucky law. The program is recognized as meeting state certification requirements — allowing KKRC to address critical workforce and behavioral health needs in Kentucky.
“As a kinship caregiver, I wasn’t able to access programs like KKRC,” said Jessica Adkins, a kinship caregiver and certified Kinship Peer Supporter. “For many of our caregivers, it’s such a relief to know they are not alone — to know they are heard and to know there is help. That is what the KKRC is all about.”
To learn more about KKRC, or if you are a kin caregiver in need of support, email kinship@uky.edu.
See Triple Crown winners in Kentucky Derby history
Take a look at the 13 elite thoroughbreds who have claimed the ultimate prize in horse racing: the Triple Crown.
Intrepido is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2026 Kentucky Derby on May 2 at Churchill Downs.
Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September.
The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 25. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 2.
Intrepido will enter the Kentucky Derby off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4. He currently ranks 17th on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 38.
Buy tickets here for Kentucky Derby 152
Color: Bay.
Bred in: Kentucky.
Sire: Maximus Mischief.
Dam: Overly Indulgent, by Pleasantly Perfect.
Price tag: $385,000 at 2025 Ocala Breeders’ Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.
Owners: Dutch Girl Holdings (Michele Arthur); Irving Ventures (Ruben Isla). First Derby for both.
Trainer: Jeff Mullins. He’s 0 for 4 in the Derby, best finish with Buzzards Bay (fifth) in 2005.
Jockey: Hector Berrios. First Derby.
Record: 2-1-0 in six starts.
Career earnings: $342,800.
Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 38 (No. 17).
Last race: Fourth in Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4.
Running style: Has displayed early speed but raced off pace in Santa Anita Derby.
Notes: Intrepido has done all of his racing in California, winning as a 2-year old at Del Mar and Santa Anita. This year, he finished second in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis before heading to the Santa Anita Derby. … Mullins is in the Derby for the first time since 2005 but had the morning-line favorite in 2009 with I Want Revenge. He was scratched the morning of the race because of an ankle injury. … Intrepido is a ridgling, which means he has at least one undescended testicle.
What they’re saying: “I didn’t (expect that),” Mullins said after Intrepido worked a quick 47.4 seconds for four furlongs on April 19 at Santa Anita Park. “But we often get what we don’t expect.”
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
Kentucky
Northern Kentucky Education Council honors NKY educators with 2026 Excellence in Education Awards
Sadiqa Reynolds was removed from the University of Louisville board of trustees last week, as the Kentucky Senate did not confirm her appointment before they adjourned the 2026 legislative session.
Reynolds, the former president of the Louisville Urban League, was appointed to a six-year term on the board last April by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.
Under state law, gubernatorial appointees to boards must be confirmed by the state Senate during the subsequent legislative session in order to stay in that position. While the Republican supermajority filed and passed more than 50 resolutions to confirm appointees, none were filed to confirm Reynolds.
Reynolds told Kentucky Public Radio this week that she was not given any reason for why the Senate failed to confirm her, but suspected Republicans wanted her out due to her open criticism of the attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in education by President Donald Trump and the legislature.
“Attacks on education are attacks on our democracy,” Reynolds said. “There is no honor in following the lead of Kentucky Republicans when they are hellbent on destroying any gains we have made in this country.”
Reynolds added that it was “a badge of honor” to be rejected by Senate Republicans.
“Fascists refused to confirm me,” she said. “One little woman with one voice. I have never felt more powerful.”
Asked why Republican leadership did not confirm Reynolds, a Senate GOP spokesperson replied that “there was no resolution filed by a Democrat or Republican for the Senate to consider.”
Republican senators — who make up 84% of the chamber — filed all of the 50-plus resolutions to confirm Beshear appointees. Only one Senate bill filed by a Democrat was passed into law this session.
Senate Democrats did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the chamber not confirming Reynolds.
Scottie Ellis, the spokesperson for Gov. Beshear, replied in a statement that Reynolds “is an accomplished leader and University of Louisville alumna who cares about the direction of the school and served on its Board of Trustees with pride and integrity. Her removal is the latest politically motivated move by the Republican-led General Assembly, who are ultimately hurting UofL and its students with this baseless action.”
Asked to comment on Reynolds’ removal from the board of trustees, U of L spokesman John Karman said it was “not our decision,” adding that “the university is appreciative of Trustee Reynolds for her service and grateful for her contributions as a member of the Board of Trustees.”
Reynolds was critical not just of the Trump administration’s actions targeting DEI initiatives, but legislation passed into law by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2025 to ban all DEI initiatives at public colleges. She added that she pushed the university not to “overcomply” with such efforts and challenge them legally, or “at least explain the impact of compliance to the legislators and to the public.”
“People are so afraid to ask questions and challenge them, and I was not afraid,” she said. “Republicans have heard what I said and didn’t like it.”
Reynolds was not the only Beshear appointee to not be confirmed by the Senate. Though Republicans filed a resolution to confirm Michael Abell to the Fish and Wildlife Resources Commission, they did not vote on it before the legislature adjourned.
Responding to Abell’s removal last week, Ellis said the Senate GOP “once again refused to confirm a commissioner nominated by the Kentucky sportsmen and appointed by the Governor. This is now the eighth time they have done so. Kentuckians should be very worried about the operations at Fish & Wildlife.”
Reynolds was formerly a judge and top aide to former Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, until she was named CEO of the Louisville Urban League in 2015. She left that position in 2022 to become CEO of the Perception Institute, a New York City think tank that counters bias and discrimination. Reynolds stepped down from that position last fall to focus fully on the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center, a West End sports complex she pushed for while at the Urban League.
The Louisville Urban League president that succeeded Reynolds in 2022 was fired after four months, then filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit alleging she was wrongfully terminated for airing concerns about its finances and allegations of conflicts of interest involving the sports complex. A mistrial was declared in that case, and a new trial was granted last month.
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