Showing posts with label CCAP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CCAP. Show all posts

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Meet the Child Care Council Staff


Introducing Casey G.

Belinda @ Kids Matter

Please say hello to Casey. She has been employed with the CCC for the past five years and is an Eligibility Specialist serving Scott County. Casey said she loves her job because, “… it allows me to reach families that need the childcare assistance the CCC provides and guide them to additional useful resources. I give them comfort when they need it, a shoulder to cry on, and ears just to listen to them when needed. I try to go above and beyond for all of my families every single day. I just love my families in Scott County.”

Casey is married to her wonderful husband of three years, Shane. In May, to celebrate their third anniversary, they took a trip to Gatlinburg (where they spent their honeymoon). They made this trip on a motorcycle. “Thank goodness for good weather,” she said. They rode the Tail of the Dragon, which is a “tourist thing” for people who have motorcycles. It’s an 11 mile stretch of road with 318 curves. Casey declared, “It was fun and scary all at the same time!” After venturing on to Nashville and back home, the whole trip was 1400 miles.

Casey and Shane love anything outdoors. She said, “We love to hunt, mostly for deer, during firearm and archery season, but each of us would love to go turkey hunting or bear hunting someday. We do lots of fishing, out of our kayaks, in the creek near our house. We show antique tractors and farm equipment all over the states of Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. We love to go camping as well; either while we are showing our tractors, or at the horse park with family. We love anything and everything we can do outside!”

Casey is a proud wife and dotes on her husband, “He is currently a volunteer firefighter for the community of Stamping Ground and is in the process of trying to become a career firefighter in Georgetown.” She went on to tell me about the sweetest thing he ever did for her, “He spent all week writing me a poem. On Friday, when I came home, I saw the poem with hand-picked wildflowers from our own land. The poem told me to get all dolled up as he was going to pick me up, like on an actual date. We had a very nice dinner and then he took me dancing.”

Oh, but that’s not all! Casey’s love for Shane shines in what she considers her greatest achievement in her life. She said, “It may not count to some people, but it counts for me. Marrying my amazing husband has to be my greatest achievement. He is a wonderful man, husband, protector, and provider. Not only does he promise to serve and protect me, but he also promised to serve and protect an entire community that depends on him along with the rest for the Stamping Ground Volunteer Fire Dept. He rushes from our home whenever the radio sounds to save someone’s life. He comforts the loved ones of the lost after he desperately tried to save them. It is dangerous for him and absolutely terrifying for me, but it is something that he loves to do and people count on him to be there. He completes me.”

They don’t have children but, they do have a six year old Australian Shepard, who is like their child, Molly Ann (pictured above). She has a pretty amazing story that I have to share. Casey said, “Molly rescued my husband and me when she was almost a year old. When my husband went to the home, he was not expecting to rescue a dog. But, when he got there, she was chained to a fence along with four other dogs.  The only thing they had eaten was some table scraps divided between the dogs. She was shot with a BB-gun every time she barked. She was underweight, dirty, and flea infested. Shane paid for her and brought her home. She has been our baby ever since and we could not imagine life without her.”

Casey said her dad is her hero, “He is always there for me when I need anything. He took care of his family by any means necessary, but would always leave work or stop what he was working on to come to my softball games, cheer competitions, or just play with me. Dad was, and is, always a part of my life. He is strong, caring, and would give the shirt off of his back to help anyone. I strive every day to be just like him. I am who I am because of my dad. He taught me a lot of things that have come in handy for me. I can just about figure anything out mechanically and I have a passion for working on cars, trucks, tractors, or equipment. I love being able to get in there and get my hands dirty.”
Casey has learned, from life, that you should always, “Reach for the stars, but don’t forget about the ones that helped you to reach them.”

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Meet the Child Care Council Staff


(Christina at a Packer’s game, “The best day of my life”)

Introducing Christina P.
Melissa @ Kids Matter
I’d like to introduce Christina, Regional Supervisor for three counties in the North Region of the CCC. Christina has been with the CCC for four years and has been working in the Child Care Assistance Program for 11 years.
Christina has been working, in some capacity, since she was old enough to do volunteer service with a local hospital. Her first paying job was with a nursing home, in the dietary department. When asked what she liked most/least about her job with the CCC, she stated, “I love being able to help families.  The program freeze is what I dislike most about my job”.  Christina said that she chose her career because of her love for helping children and families.  Christina has a warm, giving heart, and feels most at home helping others.
She credits her grandmother for her choice to attend college and helping choose her particular career path. When asked about the most influential person in her childhood, Christina replied, “My grandma.  She is who drove me to attend college and do my best always”. Her definition of family is, “Being there for each other in the worst of times.” I asked her what was the most special way you’ve shown someone that you love them?” She replied, “Usually making them something, I think making gifts to show appreciation is much better than anything store bought.”
Christina’s definition of happiness is, “…no stress”. This is probably why her most memorable travel experience is Cancun, Mexico. No stress can be found there! Christina’s free time is usually spent outdoors and gardening.
I enjoyed this interview because I interact with Christina on a number of things within our organization, mostly via email. It’s nice to get to know someone a little more personally, outside of email correspondence!

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Meet the Child Care Council Staff


Introducing Kim L
Belinda @ Kids Matter
Meet Kim, a 14 year veteran of the CCC. She serves as the Lexington Regional Supervisor, overseeing eleven eligibility specialists who cover 20 counties. She is straight forward, friendly, and outgoing. She is a graduate of Madison Southern High School and holds a CTE in Computer Applications. This year, she and her husband will celebrate their eighth anniversary. They have two wonderful children, a daughter (age 18) and a son (age 10).
Kim speaks with great pride about her daughter, “My daughter is the first in our family to attend a four year college, and to know that I could give her everything that she needed to help make her dreams come true is the best feeling in the world.” She says, “My daughter is in her freshman year at Lindsey Wilson College, where she is majoring in biology, and will go on to pre-veterinarian.” Through the interview, I could just feel the smile light her face as she explained how her daughter, “spent three days a week for an entire summer at a veterinarian clinic doing volunteer work to make sure that was the path she wanted to pursue.” Kim’s advice to any college student is, “make decisions on what you want to do for a career by getting out there and seeing what is involved in the field that you are pursuing.” I couldn’t agree more with that statement. You may love animals, but until you work with them on a daily basis you may not realize the full extent of what you are getting yourself into. Congratulations to her daughter for recognizing such an important lesson at a young age.
Being very family oriented, Kim says that having children at a young age changed her life dramatically for the better and she, “wouldn’t have it any other way.” Kim says a happy family revolves around a healthy marriage which takes, “patience, understanding, and giving as much as you take.” She continues with excellent advice for any relationship by saying, “accept and respect others’ strengths and weaknesses.”
What makes Kim who she is? She contributes that to her family and the people with whom she surrounds herself. She says that the best advice for parents is to, “show your children patience, understanding, and lots of love. Provide discipline when needed, so they know how to grow and become responsible adults. While material things are nice, they do not create happy children.” She credits Julie as being the most influential person in her career. She states, “She has shown me what it means to have someone believe in you. To have someone give you the confidence to push yourself to your fullest potential is just awe inspiring.”
Being an outdoors person, Kim finds great relaxation and fun in weekend fishing trips with her husband. She also finds great comfort in being on the beach with her family. So much comfort, that she refers to herself as, “a true beach bum at heart.” She would call the beach her dream vacation and visits there as often as possible.
Having a grandmother, who is a cancer survivor, has inspired Kim to serve on the Relay for Life committee in Madison County. She encourages everyone to support cancer research, so hopefully one day no one will have to go through such devastation.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Children Living in Poverty in the United States



The Annie E. Casey Foundation has recently released the new Kids Count Report. As I looked through the report, I was saddened to see the high percentage of kids living below the national poverty level.

United StatesScale
0 to 526%
6 to 1721%
less than 1823%

This is the rate of children living in poverty throughout the United States. The smallest children are the  highest percentage living below the national poverty level.

Early childhood experiences and education have been shown to affect a person's entire life. If a child is growing up below the poverty level from birth - 5 years of age, they are frequently at a large disadvantage by the time they start school.

A child's brain grows to 80% of it's adult size (source: Better Brains for Babies @ University of Georgia) during the early childhood years. The brain is stimulated by experiences, play, attachment and consistency. This is why quality care for children is so important. Children from homes below the national poverty level deserve to have opportunities that will stimulate that growth. They need not only new experiences, but they need repeated experiences to ingrain that event/knowledge into their brain.

As you look through the Kids Count Report, you will see a breakdown for the nation and for each state in several areas, including Demographics, Education, Economic Well-Being, Family and Community, Health, Safety and Risky Behaviors and Other Indicators.

One of the goals of the Kids Matter campaign is to raise awareness of quality child care for all children. What are your suggestions for equalizing children? Many states are going towards public preschool for all children, whether funded privately or publicly. This is a great start, but we need to discuss how we reach the full spectrum of children and how we offer a future full of education for all children.

Weigh in with your thoughts.


Friday, July 9, 2010

Child Care Assistance Program


The government offers assistance to all qualifying families that can not afford child care. As with any program, there are criteria that must be met in order to qualify. You can check with your local Cabinet for Health and Family Services to get the specific information that is needed to apply. If you are in Kentucky, you can go to this website to get the information for applying.

As with all programs, there are changes and improvements that are frequently made to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). Starting July 1, 2010 in the state of Kentucky there were a number of  changes that have occurred. Questions related to these changes should be directed to 1-800-809-7076. A few of the changes are listed below.

- Non Traditional Hours - effective July 1, non-traditional care is defined by child care provided between the hours of 7:00 pm - 5:00 am daily or Friday from 7:00 pm through Monday 5:00 am. Payment will only be made for the child that attends non-traditional hours.

- Holidays - regulated providers can be paid for up to ten (10) holidays during a calendar year. Providers can choose any ten (10) days to code as holidays to be paid. This count will begin January 1, 2011.

- Overpayments - effective July 1 all overpayments will be pursued for collection. This will include overpayments for agency error and intentional program violation. **Disqualification periods will be imposed for no payment.

As you can see, most of the changes that I have highlighted effect the child care providers instead of parents. If you have any questions, feel free to call 800-809-7076 if you live in the state of Kentucky and some one will answer your questions. All children deserve quality child care!

Kids Matter