Kentucky Youth Advocates will host the Step Up For Kids Conference on Monday, Oct. 8, at the Muhammad Ali Center. This year’s them is “Invest in Kids: Grow Our Future.”

The event will include national experts on child welfare issues along with community leaders and child advocates. One of the afternoon sessions will focus on the need for greater transparency in Kentucky’s child-welfare system. An attorney and policy director from the California-based Children’s Advocacy Institute will be on hand to discuss their 2012 report: “State Secrecy and Child Deaths in the U.S.”

The report grades all 50 states and the District of Columbia on their laws and regulations pertaining to public disclosure of child abuse or neglect deaths as well as near deaths. Kentucky earns a “C.”

Other panel discussions will target juvenile justice and health. For more information, click here.