The Need

• There are currently more than 8,000 children in foster care across the state of Kentucky.

-For these children, approximately 30% of their lives have already been spent in state care.

• Kentucky’s rate of child abuse victims continues to outpace the national average, with one of the highest child abuse victim rates in the country (about twice as high as the U.S. rate). 

-Kentucky’s rate of child abuse victims was 12.3 per 1,000 children as of 2022. That means about a dozen kids out of every 1,000 children in Kentucky experienced some form of maltreatment.

-Most child abuse victims in Kentucky, Indiana and nationally are under the age of one.

-Kentucky was listed #1 in the nation for the highest rate of child abuse and neglect in 2020, and #5 in 2021.

-Kentucky has the 4th highest response time in the country to child abuse reports (the time it takes for officials to make contact with a family or child once a report is made). Since 2018, Kentucky has more than doubled its response time. Currently, the state takes an average of 221 hours to respond, while the national average is 93 hours.

• Kentucky also falls behind in protecting babies who have been subjected to prenatal substance exposure (when a patient uses alcohol or illicit drugs while pregnant). 

-Only 18.4% of substance-exposed babies in Kentucky have plans of safe care for when they leave the hospital after birth, while the national average is 69.5%.

• Kentucky ranks 38th in the country for overall child well-being and 43rd for family and community well-being. 

• Kentucky's child poverty rate continues to exceed the national rate, with 21% of children living in poverty in Kentucky relative to 16% for the nation. 

-11% of Kentucky children live in extreme poverty, compared with 8% in the US.

-47% of Kentucky children under age 9 live in families with incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level, compared with 38% in the US. 

-Kentucky also has a higher rate of youth (children under age 19) transitioning out of foster care who have experienced homelessness in the past two years (27% in Kentucky vs. 21% in US as a whole).

• Only 50% of children in foster care will finish high school.

-Of those, only 2-6% will finish a two-year college degree, and less than 5% will earn a four-year degree.

While the desire is always for children to remain with their biological families, sometimes this is not possible, or in the best short-term or long-term interest of the child.

In a small way, one child at a time, Shiloh Garden is part of the solution.