By Sarah Ladd

Kentucky Lantern

Kentuckians with ideas to improve outcomes for children placed in foster care because of substance use complications will get the chance to share them during a series of town halls this June, the Administrative Office of the Courts announced Wednesday.

Registration is required for the four virtual town halls, which Citizen Foster Care Review Boards are hosting on June 3, 5, 11 and 14.

“Community input is vital to identifying needs in each area of the state,” AOC said. “Due to confidentiality, specific cases will not be discussed.”

The town halls will seek to answer the following questions, and findings will be reported back to the Citizen Foster Care Review Board.

• Do families and children in your community have equitable and timely access to substance use disorder assessment and treatment services?
• What are the barriers to accessing treatment for substance use disorder?
• What solutions could be identified to remedy barriers to access and treatment and lead to resilience and recovery?

The four town halls are:

June 3, 11 a.m.-noon Central/12-1 p.m. Eastern. Register for this town hall at kcoj.info/June32024 if you live in Allen, Ballard, Barren, Breckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Daviess, Edmonson, Fulton, Graves, Grayson, Hancock, Hardin, Hart, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, LaRue, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, McCracken, McLean, Meade, Metcalfe, Muhlenberg, Nelson, Ohio, Simpson, Todd, Trigg, Union, Warren or Webster Counties.

June 5, 11 a.m. – noon Central/12-1 p.m. Eastern. Register for this town hall at  kcoj.info/June52024 if you live in Adair, Bath, Bell, Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Casey, Clay, Clinton, Cumberland, Elliott, Floyd, Green, Greenup, Harlan, Jackson, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Laurel, Lawrence, Leslie, Letcher, Lewis, Magoffin, Marion, Martin, McCreary, Menifee, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pike, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell, Taylor, Washington, Wayne, Whitley or Wolfe Counties.

June 11, 11 a.m.-noon Central/noon-1 p.m. Eastern. Register for this town hall at kcoj.info/June112024 if you live in Bullitt, Fayette or Jefferson counties.

June 14,11 a.m.-noon Central/noon-1 p.m. Eastern. Register for this town hall at kcoj.info/June142024 if you live in Anderson, Boone, Bourbon, Boyle, Bracken, Campbell, Carroll, Clark, Estill, Fleming, Franklin, Gallatin, Garrard, Grant, Harrison, Henry, Jessamine, Kenton, Lee, Lincoln, Madison, Mason, Mercer, Nicholas, Oldham, Owen, Owsley, Pendleton, Robertson, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Trimble or Woodford counties.