(this article originally appeared in the Community Recorder on January 5, 2012)

You may have seen recent news stories about an Inspector General report outlining safety violations in Head Start centers throughout the country. While the news reported the violations as “widespread,” in reality violations were found in 24 programs identified among more than 1,600 grantees as being most at risk for noncompliance of health and safety standards.

Given the seriousness with which we take health and safety regulations at our Head Start program, I was not surprised that 21 of the 24 grantees acted swiftly, and corrected their deficiencies. Nor was I surprised that the remaining three grantees lost their funding. If anything, the Inspector General investigation proves that there are systems in place to ensure that Head Start grantees comply with stringent health and safety standards.

In case you are concerned about Northern Kentucky’s Head Start program, proudly operated by Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission since 1965, here are some facts. At NKCAC, child safety is our number one concern. Period. Beyond safety of the child, we make sure that the children in our program are prepared for success in kindergarten. They learn numeracy and literacy skills, receive comprehensive medical and dental screenings, and have any special needs addressed.

We have seven Head Start centers serving 444 three and four year olds in four Northern Kentucky counties. Nearly all of the families are low or very low income. About 10% are Hispanic; and 34% are African-American or bi-racial. Eleven percent has a disability. Each center provides a healthy breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack along with nutrition counseling for parents. Children with disabilities receive individualized services that address their specific needs. Parent involvement is emphasized because we are trying to foster a lifetime commitment to education.

Head Start, with about 75% of our funding from federal grants, is governed by a complicated set of regulations – some 2,000 in all – set out by the Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, we undergo health, fire, childcare licensing, financial, and USDA reviews every year. Every three years, the Office of Head Start conducts an intensive review of the program.

All the research points to the critical window of opportunity from birth through age five as THE key to a child’s success in life. As early childhood expert, W. S. Barnett, concluded in his 2008 study, “Well-designed preschool education programs produce long-term improvements in school success, including higher achievement test scores, lower rates of grade repetition and special education, and higher educational attainment. Some preschool programs are also associated with reduced delinquency and crime in childhood and adulthood. The strongest evidence suggests that economically disadvantaged children reap long-term benefits from preschool.”

Sadly, many low-income children do not have the opportunity for a quality preschool experience. But when these children walk through the doors of Northern Kentucky’s Head Start program, they are entering a safe learning environment designed to give them a range of educational, health, and family support services that will place them on a pathway to success.

At NKCAC we are proud of our Head Start program, the safety of our centers, the quality of the services we provide, and the outcomes our children achieve. Our teachers and support staff will accept no less, because these children deserve – and the region needs –the strong start that Head Start provides.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

NKCAC Head Start’s program description (from our website)

NKCAC Head Start’s Facebook Page

National Head Start Association

ReKindle’s first business, Eden Perk, is expected to open this spring in Ft. Thomas, Kentucky’s midway district. It will be owned and operated by ReKindle Graduate, Eden McDermott.  Click on the link below for the January 1, 2012 Kentucky Enquirer article on Eden Perk.

http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/C2/20111229/NEWS/312290038/Coffee-shop-works-Midway-District

And if you are interested in starting your own business, perhaps ReKindle would be right for you, too.  To find out, you can attend one of our upcoming Pre-Business Orientation Workshops on:

6:30 PM Thursday, January 12, Newport Branch: Campbell County Library, 901 E. Sixth Street, Newport, Kentucky.

10:00 AM Saturday, January 14 Grant County Library, 201 Barnes Road Williamstown, Kentucky.

To register for the Pre-Business Orientation Workshop most convenient for you call 859-655-2946 or e-mail rekindle@nkcac.org.  You can also register on-line at www.rekindlenky.com or at www.smallbiznku.com.

By clicking on the image above, you can donate to Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission

We’ve got a new tool to help measure energy savings: What is Your Green Umbrella? It is a fun, interactive website to make pledges for what we can do at home to save on utility costs AND save carbon emissions at the same time. Log in, create an account, join our group, save some green and help save the planet.

Many Kentucky families find themselves short of cash, or face an unexpected bill with no savings to cover the expense. Finding access to short-term credit is hard, and many families are forced turn to payday lenders.
Payday loans promise to cover someone until their next pay-day, usually in two weeks. The lender will cash a post-dated check for a fee. The problem is when families can’t afford to pay back the loan in two weeks. The lender will “churn” the loan for another two weeks, and add another fee. If calculated the like credit card interest, the annual percentage rate for a payday loan in Kentucky is almost 400%.

Supporters of responsible lending in the Kentucky General Assembly are trying to cap interest rates on payday loans at 36%. The same rate that Congress passed for payday loans to our military families. Research on payday loans in Kentucky shows that most families stay in debt to a payday lender for six months — often longer. A $300 payday loan can easily cost a Kentucky family $1,200 in interest and fees!

If you, a family member, friend, co-worker, client or customer at your organization have had experience with a payday loan, we want to hear the story. We are collecting responses to a payday loan survey on behalf of the Kentucky Coalition for Responsible Lending. Please, help us address the burden of these predatory interest rates on Kentucky’s families by completing this survey.  (Enter: NKCAC as Name of Administering Agency to start the survey.)

If you have questions or would like more information about supporting a reasonable cap on payday loans, contact me atjbelisle@nkcac.org. For more information about the Kentucky Coalition for Responsible Lending visit their web site: kyresponsiblelending.wordpress.com.

Thank you,

Jenifer Belisle
Deputy Director
Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission
jbelisle@nkcac.org

Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission helps low income individuals and families develop the knowledge, opportunities, and resources they need to achieve self reliance.

For more information on Northern Kentucky Community Action visit our web site: http://www.nkcac.org

At current federal funding levels, Kentucky will receive about $27 million for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) this winter. That is about $31 million less than the allocation during each of the last two heating seasons.

LIHEAP funding had been increased for the last two years in order to provide additional assistance during the economic downturn. This year’s reduction reduces funding to pre-recession levels.

Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission provides LIHEAP assistance in the eight Northern Kentucky counties, while the state’s other 22 Community Action Agencies serve the remaining counties in Kentucky.

The LIHEAP program operates in two phases. In the subsidy phase, all qualifying applicants – as determined by income and other criteria – receive a predetermined dollar amount that is credited to their utility bills. Users of bulk fuels such as wood, coal, propane or heating oil receive a voucher to purchase fuel.

Registration for the subsidy phase this year begins Nov. 7 and ends Dec. 16. The subsidy amount varies with need, based on household income and fuel cost. Pre-registration for families on a fixed income is going on now through November 4.

At the end of the subsidy phase, remaining funds – if any – are allocated to the crisis phase, which begins in January. The crisis phase aids residential customers whose electric or gas service is threatened with disconnection because their bill has not been paid in full.  Users of bulk fuels can receive a voucher when they are down to a four-day supply.

In past years, about 100,000 Kentucky households statewide have received subsidy assistance and 125,000 households received crisis aid. The LIHEAP reductions mean that residential customers need to focus even more on reducing energy consumption and thus the need for heating assistance.

If you have the means and want to help others who may be struggling this winter, consider making a contribution to WinterCare on your utility bill.  100% of the donation goes directly to the community action agency serving your county to provide energy assistance for families in need.  Many utilities, including Duke Energy,  Owen Electric, and Kentucky Utilities even match customer contributions, up to a certain dollar cap.

What can you do now to help avoid a crisis in the winter months when funding may not be available?  Start conserving energy to reduce your energy bills now. NKCAC has produced a variety of energy conservation tips that can provide practical advice on conserving energy throughout the house, and even in the car.

For more information on the LIHEAP program contact the NKCAC neighborhood center closest to you.

We are thrilled to provide our Report to the Community in an online, digital format this year.  This format helps us save money on printing and postage with the added benefit of presenting a more environmentally friendly alternative to printed annual reports. It also allows us to showcase our accomplishments to more people in the community since the report is only a click away.

Please click on the cover image (or here) to view the on-line publication. We recommend viewing in the ‘full-screen’ mode to get the best experience.

And will let us know what you think by sending us an email with your impressions of this new format.

Enjoy,
Florence W. Tandy
Executive Director

For more information about NKCAC, visit our website:  www.nkcac.org

The Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission works each day with our partners to fight the issue of economic insecurity in our community by offering emergency assistance and support with housing, early childhood education, job training, energy assistance, homeless case management and healthy relationship education. This support helps families develop the knowledge, opportunities and resources they need to achieve self-reliance.

Low wage workers, retirees and their families face real struggles, and for more than 45 years, Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission has helped low-income families in need. We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in our Community Action Poverty Simulation on October 11^th from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Vineyard Church, 1100 North Main Street, Williamstown, Kentucky (map).

Participants in the Poverty Simulation will role-play the lives of low-income families and senior citizens, providing for their food, shelter and basic needs during an hour-long “month” in poverty. The simulation, developed by the Missouri Association for Community Action, uses fictitious scenarios based on real families.

The volunteers representing bankers, employers, teachers, social service providers, police and businesses are low-income residents of our community. They will use their experiences and knowledge to enrich your experience during the simulation itself and the subsequent discussion.

We are inviting leaders from around the region to experience the Community Action Poverty Simulation. If you are unable to attend but would like to recommend the event to a colleague, please feel free to share the invitation.

To RSVP for this October 11^th event please contact the Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission Grant County Neighborhood Center – (859) 824-4768, or Carrie Pugh, Community Services County Manager, at cpugh@nkcac.org.

Hired Hands play Energy Poker during a recent Energy Workshop

This fun and educational game was developed by our community partners at Save Energy Cincy.  The game itself is a great time, as you can see from the fun that our YouthBuild Hired Hands are having in the included pictures.  But, just as importantly, it provides a lot of great information on how to save money around your home.  For example, you will save $150 in-game if you pull the card that says “You installed a tank-less on-demand water heater so you do not have to pay for wasted heating and re-heating of water sitting in a tank.”  This is a great card to pull because the object of the game is to save money.  But, it’s great for everyone else playing as well since it teaches everyone a bit about how to save money in their own homes. 

Aside from playing the game, participants also get a chance to talk to Energy Educators and get ideas that might work for their specific situation (older house? renter? we have ideas for everyone). 

A YouthBuild Participant reads a card with information about saving money.

If you are in the NKY area and are interested in having NKCAC hold a workshop at your organization or church, or if you would like to attend an upcoming workshop, contact Beth Andriacco.