In this episode, Valerie connects with Ashley Bates, a fellow parent leader in Kentucky and a Lead Family Coordinator. She shares her powerful journey from navigating the challenges of substance use and family separation during the opioid epidemic to becoming an advocate for change in Kentucky’s child welfare system. She reflects on the importance of parent leadership, the value of lived expertise, and how her experiences shaped her commitment to reducing stigma and improving family outcomes.
Ashley offers an inside look at Kentucky’s approach to engaging impacted parents in systems reform efforts. She discusses the evolution of her own advocacy work, from her role as a peer recovery mentor to her current position on Kentucky SEAT (System Experience at the Table), which is a statewide impacted parent advisory council. Throughout the episode, Ashley emphasizes how involving families in systems change conversations and providing parents with leadership development opportunities can reshape the future of child welfare policies. Her story is a powerful example of how investing in parents with lived experience can drive meaningful, long-lasting change.
