A new report is out measuring how children of different racial groups are meeting developmental milestones and our country shows while Kentucky is making improvements, significant disparities still exist.

The Annie Casey Foundation's Race for Results report looked at four categories of child and youth well-being.

Those categories were early childhood education and early work experiences, family resources, and neighborhood context.

We spoke to Kentucky Youth Advocates about our state's results and what they say needs to be done to help close the gaps.

The Race for Results report is laser focused on looking at parallel data with a lens around racial disparities between kids.

So it really is an effort to figure out what's going on with kids in Kentucky in general, and then more specifically to dig in to see how do kids of color compare to white kids?

What are the differences?

What are the similarities?

What are the areas that we should be focused on for all kids in the Commonwealth?

As you would guess, those results are a mixed bag.

Some areas are improving, some are declining.

In general, Kentucky reflects national trends.

We have that mixed results as well.

I think the real takeaway from both the national report, but it's just amplified in Kentucky is that that neither the color of a kid's skin nor frankly, his zip code should be a determinant in reading or writing or economic well-being or health conditions.

And so what we want to do again, is is use this data to lift up some core areas where we see opportunities for common ground in policy.

In Frankfort to lift all kids up, but perhaps especially kids of color.

Now, what's critical and again, just being a realist politically, we're not going to get an array of equity based policy measures passed in Frankfort.

That's just not going to happen.

So what we try to do is lift up the idea that, for instance, if a state earned income tax credit was passed or a dependent child care tax credit was passed, that's going to help all 200,000 kids who live in poverty, whether they're black, brown, white or purple.

But we know that those kind of measures will have particular resonance in communities of color.

You know, I worry a lot that we are in a political climate, especially in Kentucky, that if we even mention disparities, are disproportionality and alarm bells go off.

And I just want to again reiterate that good policy is good policy for all kids.

And again, if if certain policies disproportionately and positive impact impact rural kids or urban kids or black kids, then we need to celebrate that, not to avoid it, not to minimize the impact.

And that theme of common ground policies for all kids, I believe, is the vehicle in Kentucky to lift those kids of color so that in three or four years, when this annual race for results report comes out, we're going to be talking about gap closing, not gap widening.

On a related note, this is Children's Advocacy Week at the state Capitol sponsored by the Kentucky Youth Advocates.

Governor Bashir, as well as House and Senate leadership, will deliver remarks during a rally at the Capitol on Wednesday, which has been designated as Children's Advocacy Day.