Call to Order and Roll Call
The 7th meeting of the Tobacco Settlement Agreement Fund Oversight Committee was held on Wednesday, September 6, 2017, at 10:00 AM, in Room 129 of the Capitol Annex. Senator C.B. Embry Jr., Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator C.B. Embry Jr., Co-Chair; Representative Myron Dossett, Co-Chair; Senators Stephen Meredith, Dennis Parrett, and Whitney Westerfield; Representatives Kim King, Phillip Pratt, Rick Rand, Brandon Reed, and Dean Schamore.
Guests: Warren Beeler, Executive Director, Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy, Bill McCloskey, Deputy Executive Director, Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy, Linda Hampton, Acting Executive Director, Kentucky Governor’s Office of Early Childhood, Christa Bell, Director, Division of Childcare, Department of Community Based Services, Dr. Tom Lottman, Director, Innovation Lab, Children, Inc., and Paula Goff, Branch Manager, Early Childhood Development, Department for Public Health.
LRC Staff: Tanya Monsanto and Kelly Ludwig, and Rachel Hartley, Committee Assistant.
The July 5, 2017 and August 4, 2017 minutes were approved by unanimous voice vote.
Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy Report
Bill McCloskey described the Agricultural Development Board’s approved projects and future projects under the program. Mr. McCloskey highlighted programs including County Agricultural Investment Program, Deceased Farm Animal Removal Program, and Youth Ag Incentives Program.
The County Agricultural Investment Program Council, Inc. requested an additional $18,000 in Russell County funds.
Governor’s Office of Early Childhood
Linda Hampton stated early childhood investments in brain development, language acquisition, kindergarten readiness, third grade reading, high school graduation, and college readiness last for a lifetime. These are focus areas emphasized by the Early Childhood Advisory Council (ECAC).
Early Childhood received $24,516,000 from the Tobacco Settlement.
Funded projects include:
· STARS for KIDS NOW
· Child Care Subsidy
· HANDS Home Visiting
· Child Care Health Consultants
· Early Childhood Scholarship Program
· Community Early Childhood Councils
Effective February 3, 2017, the name of the Early Childhood Development Authority has been changed to the ECAC.
In 2015, ECAC created the School Readiness Summit to engage superintendents and the Early Care and Education community by providing an opportunity for collaboration and action planning. There were 46 districts represented with 300 participating team members.
The Early Childhood Institute (ECI) was held June 28-30, 2017, with 1,500 in attendance. There were 150 professional development sessions with 14,471 child care training hours. ECI provides an opportunity for teachers, administrators, leaders, and advocates to collaborate and gain skills to lead.
Community Early Childhood Councils (CECC) mobilize local community members to build collaborative partnerships to help Kentucky improve Kindergarten readiness. A total of $1,269,113.64 was awarded to 74 councils during the 2016-2017 grant cycle.
The ECAC Data Subcommittee leads efforts to communicate about early childhood education data to the public, parents, educators, policymakers, and communities.
Dr. Tom Lottman stated social-emotional learning (SEL) contributes to academic success. SEL should be viewed as the acquisition of knowledge and skill sets necessary to succeed in school, work, relationships, and in communities. The state level efforts should be accelerated to develop capacity for implementing SEL best practices through professional learning and training opportunities for early childhood and school district professionals including teachers and administrators.
Christa Bell overviewed programs administered by the cabinet of Health and Family Services including the Scholarship Program which allows childcare staff to obtain a scholarship to increase their qualifications and credentials.
Paula Goff summarized the HANDS Program. Parents can enroll prior to birth of an infant or up to 90 days after birth. The program provides support through pregnancy and after birth. Moving Beyond Depression is a new program under HANDS that will allow new mothers to have in home therapy.
In response to a question from Representative Schamore, Ms. Goff stated HANDS is offered through local health departments. There is no income eligibility, but criteria must be met to determine if family is overburdened.
In response to a question from Senator Meredith, Ms. Hampton stated there are five learning domains including cognitive, language, physical, literacy, and mathematics. The Department of Education controls the screening process and is thoroughly reviewing the process since data has been collected. Dr. Lottman stated the model developed in Northern Kentucky will not be used statewide. Each model should be uniquely created to satisfy the needs of a specific district.
The next meeting of the Tobacco Agreement Oversight Committee will be October 4, 2017. Documents distributed during the meeting are available in the LRC Library.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.