The Junior League of Cincinnati’s current community partner, Family Nurturing Center (FNC), is calling on their supporters (that means you!) to help them secure funding for a new building so they can expand services. Kenton County residents are especially helpful but anyone in Northern Kentucky can reach out to their legislator and express support. See below for more details and a simple way for you to get involved. 

FNC recently embarked on a $9 million capital campaign to build or purchase and renovate a new building and expand their services.  They are early in the process, but already have 16% of the funds committed, including a $500,000 grant from Kenton County Fiscal Court. They currently have a request submitted for $1 million for the building to be considered in the Kentucky State Budget, and Senator McDaniel is key to making that happen. While they are talking with him and other legislators about the need and the benefit to the region, they know that hearing directly from constituents is most impactful.

If you live in Kenton County, please consider reaching out to Senator McDaniel and Representative Dietz to show your support.  Not sure if Senator McDaniel and Representative Dietz are your legislators?  You can confirm by visiting Find Your Legislator – Kentucky and typing in your address. If you live outside this district, we still need your voice! Please reach out to your designated representatives to voice your support and encourage them to advocate for this important project.  

FNC has been told that ‘copy and paste’ language isn’t as effective, so we can’t provide a cookie cutter pitch. It’s best for it to come from the heart. You can include some key concepts:

• Identify your name and city, and note that you are a constituent in the legislator’s district. If you voted for them, be sure and tell them
• Share your history with FNC, whether you are a donor, volunteer, past board member or simply someone who cares about kids, and let them know that you are  committed to our mission of ending the cycle of child abuse.
• Share some important facts:
  • FNC provides education, counseling services, holistic and wellness services, parenting services, parenting time and visitation services, and trainings, serving more than 12,000 people annually.  
  • FNC has seen an explosion in demand for the services we offered, mirroring the increase in demand for mental health services across the commonwealth and the population increase in Northern Kentucky.   
  • FNC has outgrown their current space, and needs a larger building to expand services and meet the demand in their community (and the legislator’s community).
  • Note that ALL of FNC’s services are free, providing a vital resource to children and parents in the region.
  • Note that FNC hasn’t received (or asked for) any general fund allocation before, and the building reflects a one-time ask with an impact that will continue for years to come.
  • Note that FNC isn’t asking the legislature to be the only funder. The building campaign is $4.5 million and they have $1 million committed (including an investment from Kenton County Fiscal Court). Funding from the state will help leverage other gifts from private donors, local foundations and business partners. An additional $4.5 million will be raised for service expansion. 
  • Note that child abuse has a direct impact on income, education and health and affects the well-being of our community. Feel free to share some of the statistics below.

Finally, ask them to support the request and encourage Representative Jason Petrie and Senator Chris McDaniel to include it in their budgets for the upcoming session. You can also invite them to tour to learn more about the need and the impact on children and families.  

 Stats to include/select from:

Child abuse is related to negative impacts in income, education and health. The ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) Study shows the lifelong impact of abuse and other chronic or acute negative childhood experiences. Adult victims of abuse have higher healthcare usage, report more health issues and have more chronic but non-life-threatening conditions as well as more serious medical conditions. Individuals with a high ACE score have higher rates of depression, obesity, substance abuse and anxiety. Adults who report 3 or more ACES are more likely to experience periods of unemployment, and less likely to graduate high school which impacts careers and earning potential. An adult who had 4 or more identified adverse childhood experiences is nearly 1,500% more likely to be an IV drug user, and a study by Dube et al., found that almost 2/3 of IV drug use can be attributed to abusive and traumatic childhood events. 

The economic impact of child abuse is staggering – the United States spends more than $220 million dollars per day addressing the impact of child abuse and neglect. Imagine how that figure would multiply if the true number of child abuse cases was included.  Moreover, the CDC estimates that over 200 million lost work days per year are attributed to depression, a correlated impact of child abuse and neglect, costing employers between $17- $44 billion dollars annually.

Child abuse affects us all, regardless of whether we know any of the five children in America who will be reported abused every minute. Estimates based on published literature are, conservatively, that 1 in 10 children will be sexually abused by the time they turn 18, and that 1 in 5 children will be physically, sexually, or emotionally abused or neglected.  Kentucky ranks among the worst in the nation for rates of child abuse and neglect.