Bipartisan mirror legislation has been filed in the Senate and House to establish the Kentucky Diaper Trust Fund to help struggling families across the state access diapers.
Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, and Rep. Vanessa Grossl, R-Lexington, filed bipartisan mirror legislation to establish the Kentucky Diaper Trust Fund to help struggling families.
The bills, filed Friday by Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, and Rep. Vanessa Grossl, R-Lexington, would establish a permanent trust fund that could receive state appropriations, philanthropic contributions, and grant funding. The resources would be distributed to qualified nonprofit organizations and community partners that serve Kentucky families in need of diapers. The fund would support families with infants and toddlers, as well as adults who rely on incontinence products.
Currently, no state or federal safety-net program—including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)—covers the cost of diapers. This leaves families to either purchase diapers entirely out of pocket or turn to nonprofits that often operate with limited resources and overwhelming demand.
One in three families in Kentucky reports struggling to afford enough diapers. Parents may be forced to stretch supplies by reusing disposable diapers or keeping a child home from daycare if they can’t meet minimum diaper requirements.
“We need to stop treating diaper access like a private issue and start treating it like the public policy matter it is,” said Chambers Armstrong. “This trust fund is a meaningful, bipartisan step toward helping families meet one of their most basic needs. No parent in Kentucky should be forced to choose between buying diapers and buying food.”
The idea for the legislation grew out of a bipartisan public roundtable hosted during the 2025 interim by Chambers Armstrong and Grossl. The discussion brought together families, nonprofit leaders, health care professionals, and advocates who shared firsthand accounts of how diaper need affects Kentucky communities. The roundtable helped shape the framework for the trust fund proposal.
“A diaper trust fund represents a compassionate shift toward proactive, responsible governance,” Grossl stated. “We know that diaper instability leads to increased health care costs and even investigations of neglect in some of the worst scenarios. This dedicated, transparent trust fund investment will yield a sizable return on public health and family stability for years to come, setting our youngest Kentuckians up for success from the very beginning. We can’t allow a temporary financial struggle to turn into a permanent family crisis.”
(Photo courtesy of Dreamstime.com)
By Tom Latek, Kentucky Today
