Commentary: Solutions to student debt problem requires more understanding of reasons for default
By Ingrid Schroeder and Erin Currier
Pew Charitable Trusts
No one who has recently attended college, or is a parent of someone who has, needs to be told that student loan debt is a fact of life for many these days. But for some former students — whether at major universities, community colleges, or another type of post-secondary institution — repaying loans can be a life-altering struggle. More...
Pew Trusts: Public Health officials say commonly prescribed drugs could be next drug epidemic
By Christine Vestal
Pew Charitable Trusts
The growing use of anti-anxiety pills reminds some doctors of the early days of the opioid crisis.
Clonazepam (traded as Klonopin), diazepam (Valium) and alprazolam (Xanax) are among the most sold drugs in a class of widely prescribed anti-anxiety medications known as benzodiazepines. Public health officials warn the pills should be used only in the short...
Pew Charitable Trusts: Kentucky at high-risk to see revenues decline if negotiations on NAFTA tank
By Dave Nycaepir
Route Fifty
Implementation of U.S.-China tariffs or withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement would have bigger economic effects on some states compared to the more limited impacts of other recent trade decisions, a new Moody’s Investors Service report found.
U.S. talks with Mexico and Canada to renegotiate NAFTA though it remains unclear exactly when a new deal might...
Pew Trusts: Bookmobiles are still a thing, and Kentucky has more of them than any other state
By Jen Fifield
Special to KyForward
The van comes to a stop just as it reaches the hens. A bleating lamb is the first to greet Sandra Hennessee as she opens the van door and lets in the midday sun.
To get here, on an Amish farm in rural western Kentucky, Hennessee headed west from the small town of Mayfield and drove for miles on a two-lane road, passing churches, farms and open fields. With every...
Pew Trusts: Overdose deaths have declined in 14 states; Kentucky records a 14 percent increase
By Christine Vestal
Special to KyForward
New provisional data released this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that drug overdose deaths declined in 14 states during the 12-month period that ended July 2017, a potentially hopeful sign that policies aimed at curbing the death toll may be working.
In an opioid epidemic that began in the late 1990s, drug deaths have been climbing...
Pew Trusts: Free tuition spreading from cities to states; Work Ready KY targets specific interests
By Marsha Mercer
Pew Charitable Trusts
To churn out more workers with marketable skills, an increasing number of states are offering residents free tuition to community colleges and technical schools.
The move also is a reaction to fast-rising tuition costs — increases that stem, in part, from states reducing their financial support of public colleges and universities.
Morley Winograd, president...
Pew Trusts: Seven 2017 statistics that informed, inspired us to tackle today’s toughest challenges
Pew Charitable Trusts takes on some of today’s toughest issues, by applying a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public police, inform the public and invigorate civic life.
Here are the stats that drove Pew’s work in 2017:
1. Opioids claim 91 American lives daily
That sobering stat stems in part from two others:
• More than 20 million Americans have a substance use disorder (so...
Report shows rise in inmates released without supervision; Kentucky’s reforms highlighted
Nationwide, more than one in five state inmates maxed out their prison terms and were released to their communities without supervision in 2012, undermining efforts to reduce reoffending rates and improve public safety, according to a report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
A wide range of laws and policies adopted in the 1980s and ’90s has resulted in a sharp increase...
New legislation strengthens HANDS program, which helps parents with at-home visits
Gov. Steve Beshear signed legislation May 8 to strengthen Kentucky’s voluntary home visiting program known as HANDS, the Health Access Nurturing Development Services program.
HANDS is offered through local health departments across Kentucky and serves overburdened young families by offering information and support for parents with the goal of helping their children grow to be healthy and safe...
