Category: Newsletter

Tammy Stanley, Head Start Program Director

Our Family Advocates are busy recruiting for the upcoming school year, as they continue to assist families in setting and meeting family goals. Bardstown Family Advocate, Antonia Young is a great example of how Head Start can assist in meeting goals set by families.  Antonia first met Brooke Wheatley in the fall of 2019 to complete registration paperwork for her son Brayden to start the new school year. She was working as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) for Colonial Nursing Home. 

Antonia and Brooke discussed the family partnership agreement (FPA), which entails setting goal(s) with a family to work towards. Brooke decided that she would set a short-term goal for Brayden to get along and play with other children. As they talked, she mentioned that she would love to own her own home but felt that it would be a long shot because she is a single mom. Antonia encouraged her to continue to do what’s best for her family and to never give up on her dream of owning a home. While Brayden attended Head Start, Brooke was busy working on their future. Brooke’s determination paid off! They moved into their new house the first week of December!

Bardstown Head Start will miss both Brooke and Brayden, as he will be going to kindergarten next year. Brooke has set an example for so many others and will be remembered as someone who has set high standards for herself and her family.

Hal Goode, Executive Director
MARCH 2022

Watch D.O.G.S. 101, Spicing it up.

Central Kentucky Community Action Council (CKCAC) wants to thank Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) Coordinator Jessica McFarlane and the employees at R.L. Schreiber Spice Company in Lebanon.  On the week of the terrible tornados in Marion County I received a call from Brooklyn Leep with the Marion County Industrial Foundation & Michael Piekarski, Director of Operations at R.L. Schreiber Spice Company. They had collected gifts for families in the area and wanted CKCAC to help distribute them. I spoke with Jessica & Tammy Stanley our Director with Head Start, and they had a perfect idea. Help families going through the tornado damage with our Watch D.O.G.S. 101 program to get the fathers involved. What and who are Watch Dogs 101????

In our schools today, the rates of fatherless and ‘unfathered’ children range from 35-75% of the student population. That means 35-75% of them are missing an important ingredient in their life. WATCH D.O.G.S., Dads of Great Students facilitates family and community engagement in our Head Start centers. The program utilizes the positive influence of fathers and father-figures as male role models for the students by demonstrating with their presence that education is important, especially early education. WATCH D.O.G.S. provide support to the centers by monitoring school property, working in small groups, reading, using flashcards, greeting students in the morning and assisting with dismissal.

Lebanon Center and West Main Head Start Centers hosted, “Watch D.O.G.S 101” at the Lebanon Center. The R.L. Schreiber Spice Company provided many nice gifts to those in attendance which they collected over the holiday. Head Start have some pictures of the fathers and kids during the event in the Head Start portion of this month’s newsletter. Special thanks to the R.L. Schreiber Spice Company in Lebanon for their generosity to the Watch D.O.G.S. and families of Marion County!! These dads are men to watch as “Dads of Great Students” they make a difference in Head Start and the community in which they live. More to come………much more………

Tammy Stanley, Head Start Program Director

Central KY. Head Start hosted WATCH D.O.G.S. 101 as a part of Parent University recently. Interested fathers and father-figures were introduced to the program and provided suggestions on ways to assist in their centers.  One WATCH D.O.G. shared, with others in attendance, his experience with the program. Eric Bell, a Top D.O.G. from West Main shared that the program made him “feel motivated.” He described how the kids loved seeing him in their center. He stated that the program was proactive in assisting children earlier in their educational journey.

Another WATCH D.O.G. from the Radcliff center encouraged fathers and father-figures to get involved in the program. Khiry Thompson, dad at the Radcliff center, volunteered last year as a Watch D.O.G. and is now an Instructional Assistant at the Radcliff center. Below are pictures from the event. Special thanks to the R.L. Schreiber Spice Company in Lebanon, KY. for their sponsorship of the event.           

Jane Claire Hupman, FCCH/UNC Director

The Child and Adult Care Food Program is currently working with two Family Child-Care Homes and one Unaffiliated Center to get them enrolled in the program. The Family Child Care Homes are in Fayette County and the Unaffiliated Center is in Mercer County. This isn’t new territory for the program, but we are very excited to continue to grow. This brings the total for Family Child Care Homes to 24 and the total for Unaffiliated Centers to 25.

The program is still conducting monitoring via facetime, zoom and text. This requirement has been extended through the end of April. We are coming up on two years for which we have not been allowed to enter the centers. As a new sponsor for the program, this has made it very difficult for me to build relationships with my providers. We are working with the Kentucky Department of Education to figure out a way to have that personal interaction with the providers that is safe for both parties. I think I can speak for both parties when I say that we are more than ready to resume monitors in person and go back to normal.

If you are a Family Child Care Home or Unaffiliated Center that would like to participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program please call the Director Jane Claire Hupman at 270-402-1977.  

Ronda Bertrand, CCC Program Director

Community Collaboration for Children is excited to share the news of the Parent Engagement Meeting Program has started in Marion County Elementary schools. This diversion program acts as a preventative intervention to reduce referrals to CPS for educational neglect. This service would be ideal for children who are considered chronically truant and will be working with school staff to help these families.

Ashley Abell from Marion County is the new in-home worker that arrived in January. She graduated from Lindsey Wilson College with a bachelor’s degree in Human Services and Counseling. She has personal experience with physical and emotional abuse. She also did her practicum at the Robert Alexander Center in Mt. Washington. So, she has some knowledge on addiction. She has hit the ground running and enjoys her job.

April is Child Abuse Awareness month Trail of Hope has a free training on April 20^th at 10 am. If you would like pinwheels please let us know. April 1^st please wear blue!! If you would like to be a part of the Trail of Hope Network please send Ronda Bertrand an email at ronda.bertrand@ckcac.org. 

Courtney Campbell, Senior Companion Program Director

The SCP Program recruits volunteers that are aged 55 or older to provide in-home services to the frail elderly that helps them remain living independently in their own homes. SCP volunteers provide companionship, light housecleaning, light meal preparation, short distance transportation, and respite care. All services are delivered at no cost to the client or recipient. We currently serve six counties: Breckinridge, Grayson, Hardin, Marion, Nelson, and Washington.

All SCP volunteers have been receiving a temporary allowance, which allows them to still receive their monthly stipend, while they are currently unable to serve, due to no fault of their own. Volunteers are still carrying out the companionship piece that SCP provides via telephone, by practicing social distancing and safe volunteering during these challenging times. Many of the volunteers have been provided services by doing front porch visits to still connect face to face without being in the client’s home. Others have been writing letters and sending pictures via mail. The Senior Companion Program volunteers have been receiving the allowance since the pandemic hit. During this time, I have been preparing to implement return-to-volunteer service plans that promote both volunteer safety as well as the individuals we serve.

The Senior Companion Program has felt the affects of the COVID-19 pandemic as we are dealing with one of the most fragile populations in our program. Recruitment plans have already been initiated and I am excited to start bringing aboard some new volunteers as we start entering homes once again after almost two years.

Melissa Bland, Retired Seniors Volunteer Program Director

 In case you didn’t know, RSVP stands for Retired & Senior Volunteer Program.

The only requirements to join RSVP are that you must be 55 and older and be willing to volunteer in Hardin or Nelson County. (You do not have to live in Hardin or Nelson County.) 

RSVP volunteers can request monthly mileage reimbursement to and from their work station and any miles they put on their private vehicle for the work station. The current mileage rate is 40 cents per mile with a maximum of $50 per month.

Joining RSVP is a great way to get of the house, help others, make new friends, do good and feel good!

Reach out to RSVP Director, Melissa Bland at 270-737-1059 or RSVP.Director@ckcac.org if you have any questions or want more information.  

Kerri Taylor, Central Kentucky Community Action Transportation Services Program Director

Despite the rise in COVID and Omicron cases, CKCATS has been fortunate enough to remain busy. In the month of January 2022, CKCATS trip capacity was up over 90%. After discussion with Lincoln Trail ADD, we decided to increase our Senior trips in hopes to fill all our units and better help meet the needs of those senior citizens needing transportation.

CKCATS will host a Coordination Meeting on March 10, 2022, by Zoom. This meeting is held every year to prepare the 5310, 5311, and 5339 grants. The meetings are aimed at providing for better utilization of existing services as well as identifying opportunities for planning and coordination to address transportation needs in our service area. The grants are due on April 1, 2022, at the Office of Transportation Delivery and we will meet the deadline.

CKCATS received the three Dodge Durango SUVs that they were waiting for in late December. Two of those vehicles were placed in Marion County and one was placed in Nelson County.

The Central Office welcomes three new Verification Clerks, Myranda Gray, Crystal Livers and Danielle Hayden! Marion County has hired several new part time drivers and we are always looking for more. If you or anyone you know is interested in driving for CATS either full-time or part-time, please go to careers@ckcac.org to apply.

Tancy Morris, Congregate Meals Program Director

I don’t know about you all, but the Congregate Meal seniors and staff are done with winter and ready for spring! The winter weather has been relentless on our area the past few months. Our senior centers have had to be closed several times due to the inclement weather. We are hopeful the snow/ice storms are over and warm weather will return soon.

On Wednesday February 2^nd our service area was under an ice storm warning.  We didn’t know how bad it would be and we wanted our participants to have food in case it got very bad.  We distributed 268 shelf stable emergency meal food boxes to our participants.  The boxes contain 5 shelf stable meals.  They were very grateful to receive the boxes and even more grateful the ice storm wasn’t as bad as predicted.

All senior centers have opened back up to in person dining. However, we are still providing meals via drive thru to those not comfortable coming inside.  I am not sure how long DAIL will allow us to provide both services, but we will continue to do both as long as we can.

July 1, 2021 – January 31, 2022 we have served 32,219 meals to 590 unduplicated clients.

We have mailed 1304 meal vouchers to 166 Meade County voucher program participants for the month of February.  This program continues to grow every day!

Hal Goode, Executive Director
FEBRUARY 2022

You may have read information from the Kentucky Senate on Senate Bill 60 that recently passed the Senate and is making its way to the House for deliberation.  For the last 58 years, Kentucky Community Action Head Start agencies have directly and independently operated Head Start. Collectively, our statewide Head Start directors are the experts for Head Start in 96 of Kentucky’s 120 counties. Just like every school district has a superintendent, every Head Start program has a Head Start Director.

Kentucky’s Community Action Head Start for which Central Kentucky Community Action Council is a member, have asked for an amendment to Bill 60 and work with Head Starts to develop language for a statute that will strengthen the relationships that exist between local school districts and local Head Start programs.

The issue at hand is something called the “full utilization” of Head Start federal funding, and more broadly, who can make decisions for Head Start enrollment in Kentucky.

So why does this matter? Full utilization safeguards every dollar our state has access to for early childhood education—both Head Start federal funding and state taxpayer funding used for public preschool education. Full utilization ensures federal resources are used first in all counties while maximizing the number of children enrolled in Head Start and preschool programs, or both.

So, what is our Head Start asking of our Legislature?   Head Start and school districts should come to the early childhood table as equals. However, the proposed language in SB 60, related to handling disputes when they arise, will erode our current collaboration, and eliminate a fair and equitable process for the Head Start community. Therefore, we ask that the chief state school officer be removed from the language and replaced with an independent, third-party arbitrator that will hold no biases when hearing disputes.

No question, it would be a fair addition to help improve the working relationships and collaborations between local school districts and local Head Start directors, which is our goal with this legislation and the goal of the Kentucky Senate.

Kentucky Community Action Head Start comprises 14 Community Action Agencies directly operating Head Start in 96 counties in Kentucky, which includes Central Kentucky Community Action Head Start.

More to come……………much more.