# Council Social Services and Community Development Committee - January 22, 2013 > Auto-transcribed civic record · January 22, 2013 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/2839 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/2839?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2013-01-22 - **Last revised**: July 16, 2026 - **Length**: 2,571 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Social Services & Community Development Committee met on January 22, 2013, at 1:30 p.m., with Chris Ford presiding. The committee addressed five agenda items during the session, taking four votes and hearing three public comments. The meeting began with organizational matters, approving the election of the Chair and the selection of the Vice Chair. The committee also approved the summary from the December 4, 2012 meeting. Two substantive items were deferred to a future meeting: a presentation on Workforce Development & Training by Ford, and Committee Referral Items. Overall, the committee completed its procedural business while deferring policy discussions for later consideration. ## Attendance The following individuals were present at the meeting on January 22, 2013: * Charles Ellinger * Steve Kay * Chris Ford * Julian Beard * George Myers * Jennifer Scutchfield * Kevin Stinnett * Diane Lawless * Shevawn Akers * Ed Lane No absences or late arrivals were recorded. ## Votes and Decisions **Election of Chris Ford as Chair of the Social Services & Community Development Committee** [timestamp: 0:00:00] Motion by George Myers, seconded by Ed Lane. The motion passed unanimously with 10 ayes and 0 nays. All committee members voted in favor: Ed Lane, Julian Beard, George Myers, Jennifer Scutchfield, Kevin Stinnett, Diane Lawless, Shevawn Akers, Chris Ford, Steve Kay, and Charles Ellinger. **Approval of the Motion to Elect Chris Ford as Chair** [timestamp: 0:01:05] Motion by George Myers, seconded by Ed Lane. The motion passed unanimously with 10 ayes and 0 nays. All committee members voted in favor: Ed Lane, Julian Beard, George Myers, Jennifer Scutchfield, Kevin Stinnett, Diane Lawless, Shevawn Akers, Chris Ford, Steve Kay, and Charles Ellinger. **Approval of the December 4, 2012 Committee Summary** [timestamp: 0:02:38] Motion by Steve Kay, seconded by George Myers. The motion passed unanimously with 10 ayes and 0 nays. All committee members voted in favor: Ed Lane, Julian Beard, George Myers, Jennifer Scutchfield, Kevin Stinnett, Diane Lawless, Shevawn Akers, Chris Ford, Steve Kay, and Charles Ellinger. **Motion to Adjourn the Meeting** [timestamp: 0:16:02] Motion by Diane Lawless, seconded by Charles Ellinger. The motion passed unanimously with 10 ayes and 0 nays. All committee members voted in favor: Ed Lane, Julian Beard, George Myers, Jennifer Scutchfield, Kevin Stinnett, Diane Lawless, Shevawn Akers, Chris Ford, Steve Kay, and Charles Ellinger. ## Public Comment Three speakers addressed the committee regarding workforce development and advanced manufacturing education initiatives in the Bluegrass region. **Ed Lane** [timestamp: 0:08:11] referenced findings from a recent BEAM study on advanced manufacturing education. According to Lane, the study indicated low educational levels among workers in advanced manufacturing across the Bluegrass region. Lane suggested that these findings could inform potential future state legislation aimed at providing additional training funding for the sector. **Darrell Smith** [timestamp: 0:10:19] provided an update on the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board's approach to workforce development. Smith explained that the board operates using a sector-driven model and is actively engaged with the BEAM initiative, with particular focus on advanced manufacturing. Smith expressed the board's willingness to provide a formal presentation to the committee at a future meeting. **George Myers** [timestamp: 0:14:54] made a procedural request regarding the anticipated Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board presentation. Myers asked whether committee members could submit questions in advance to help ensure a productive and well-organized discussion during the presentation. ## Appointments Shevawn Akers was appointed to serve as Vice Chair of the Social Services & Community Development Committee. ## Election of the Chair Council Member Chris Ford was nominated for the position of Chair by George Myers and seconded by Ed Lane. The motion passed unanimously, resulting in Ford's election as Chair. Following his election, Chris Ford appointed Shevawn Akers to serve as Vice Chair. ## Selection of Vice Chair [timestamp: 00:01:36] Chris Ford appointed Shevawn Akers as Vice Chair of the committee. The appointment was accepted without objection. ## 12.04.12 Committee Summary (1-3) [timestamp: 00:02:38] The committee reviewed and approved the summary from the December 4, 2012 meeting. Key speakers during this agenda item included Steve Kay, George Myers, Ed Lane, and Diane Lawless. The summary covered two main topics: - **UK Department of Social Services' 'Barriers to Self Sufficiency' Report** — The committee discussed updates related to this report, which examined obstacles individuals face in achieving economic self-sufficiency. - **Bluegrass Occupational Outlook to 2018** — The committee reviewed information on employment projections and occupational trends for the Bluegrass region through 2018. The committee approved the summary without noted objections or concerns being raised during the discussion. ## Workforce Development & Training - Ford (4-17) [timestamp: 00:03:15] Paul Schoninger presented a report on workforce training providers in the region. The presentation focused on identifying gaps in training for high-demand careers and examining discrepancies in training costs across different providers. **Key Speakers:** - Paul Schoninger - Ed Lane - Darrell Smith - George Myers - Chris Ford **Presentation Findings:** The report highlighted two primary concerns: - Gaps exist in training availability for careers with high regional demand - Significant cost discrepancies exist among training providers in the area **Committee Action:** The committee decided to keep the item in committee rather than move it forward immediately. To further develop this discussion, the committee voted to invite the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board to present at the next meeting. This invitation will allow for additional perspective and expertise on workforce development and training issues in the region. **Outcome:** Deferred ## Committee Referral Items (18) [timestamp: 00:12:38] The committee discussed two items during this referral segment: a proposed Senior Citizen Center and the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board's role in workforce training. **Key Speakers** Chris Ford, George Myers, and Ed Lane participated in the discussion of these referral items. **Discussion and Outcome** Both items were deferred to future meetings. The committee determined that further updates and presentations would be needed before taking action on either proposal. No specific concerns or details regarding the Senior Citizen Center proposal or the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board's workforce training initiatives were documented in the available materials. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (10-0): Election of Chris Ford as Chair of the Social Services & Community Development Committee - **Motion** — passed (10-0): Approval of the motion to elect Chris Ford as Chair - **Motion** — passed (10-0): Approval of the December 4, 2012 Committee Summary - **Motion** — passed (10-0): Motion to adjourn the meeting --- ## Full transcript The Social Services and Community Development Committee, and today is January 22, 2013. This is our first meeting of the new session, and so the first item of business is to elect a chair and to have the chair appoint the vice chair. and as soon as we've elected the chair, I'll ask the chair to take over and run the rest of the meeting. So, Council Member Myers. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I would like to nominate my friend and my colleague to be the chair of this committee, Council Member Chris Ford. Second. Okay, we have a motion by Council Member Myers, second by Council Member Lane, to put the name of Chris Ford on the nomination list. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Now, are there any other names to be nominated to the list? Seeing none, is there a motion to elect Council Member Ford as Chair of the Social Services and Community Development? Council Member Myers moved and Council Member Lane seconded. Is there any discussion? Okay. Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right. Council Member Ford, do you have a vice chair you'd like to appoint? Yes, Vice Mayor. I would like to ask, welcome to the council and the committee, and ask Council Member Siobhan Akers to serve as vice chair. And she said? Yes. Yes. Okay. Very good. Thank you so much. I'll ask you to take over and chair the rest of the meeting, and thank you for serving. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Committee Members. Thank you, Council Member Myers, for your nomination and your service as our previous chair. Next on the agenda, we have a committee summary for December 4, 2012 in your packet. It's listed on pages 1 through 3. If you've had a moment to review those, the acceptable timeout, accept the motion for approval. It's been motioned by Council Member Kay, seconded by Council Member Myers. Is there a discussion? All in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? The motion carries. The one item of business that we have is workforce development and training, an issue that I referred to the committee last fall. on pages 4 through 17 we have a report prepared by our staff member, Mr. Paul Schoeniger, in response to Council Member Stenitz's follow-up request on workforce. This time I'll turn it over to Paul, ask him to present, and then we'll entertain any questions if they may exist. Paul? Thank you, Council Member. At the November meeting and then follow-up at the December meeting, I was asked to provide the committee some information. The first was about an inventory of workforce training programs, who they served, how they served, what kind of placement they had, what kind of programs they had. So you'll see that on pages 4 through I think 11 or 12. There's about 80 providers they was able to find. I guess there are a couple things. First, this list is probably very dynamic and probably very fluid and probably not terribly accurate. Or at least it's fluid, I guess. The information included was the name of the provider, what kind of training they had, the placement rates they had, students they annually served, the starting salaries of the students once they finished training, and contact information and location of the training center. You can see a lot of this is blank. I was able to get a list of providers from the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board, and I think by their own acknowledgement it was somewhat dated information. It started with that, added to it as I went along, and then contacted these providers to get information. So the information regarding placement and number of students and starting salary for those that successfully completed the training is self-reported. So because of that, some of it is just blank or not known. They didn't provide or weren't able to provide. But you can see there's a number of training opportunities out there. If you look at this list and compare it with the list that was provided, the positions or the careers that are going to be generated or need to be generated in this community in the next 20 years at the December meeting, you'll see a lot of holes that we're not providing training for in this region. And we're probably providing training for things that won't be all that successful in the future, dog grooming and a lot of hair salons and that kind of stuff, which kind of surprised me. But that is that information. If you have any questions, I'll try to address those. But it is very dynamic, and it's very fluid information, I think. I was also asked to look at performance data for the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board, and you'll see that on pages 13. Again, this is reported directly from the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board. There were three categories, adult training, displaced worker, and youth, and what I was able to find is for both FY11, which was actual, and FY12, which I think is the goal of the Bluegrass workforce, the numbers are goals rather than actual, you'd see that the percent that entered employment that were retained in employment, the retained employment, and this is after training, obviously, and retained, I think, means they kept employment for at least one quarter, and then the average earnings, and I think these are six-month earnings. and again 11 is actual and 12 is the goal of the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board but you'll see that for adult, displaced and youth and in youth it's a little different categories but it's placement attainment and it's educational attainment and literacy rates and so they test the students or the youth throughout the year I believe and I was also asked to provide some comparisons between the workforce investment boards in the state and how much it costs to train individuals, and you'll see that on pages 14. This is just one of their component areas, and it's called individual training account expenses. You'll see, I think, all 10 of the workforce investment boards, the number of students they trained, and the cost per student. I think the significant thing here, again, this is just one component of what the workforce investment boards do, but Bluegrass has a cost per student of over $9,000 and statewide, including the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board, the cost was $3,500 or almost $3,600 per student. And if you didn't include Bluegrass, the figure went down to $3,354 per student. I'm assuming the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board can explain that discrepancy or that difference. I couldn't, but it was a significant difference. With that, I'll end my report unless there are any questions. Okay. Thank you, Paul. Council Member Lane. Thanks for your report, Paul. I thought I would just add something I heard recently is that evidently there was a study done for BEAM, that Bluegrass Economic Advancement Movement Program, and one of the assessments was that the educational level for persons to work in advanced manufacturing was very low in the beam markets, Louisville, Lexington, and the area in between. So there's a possibility that there will be some type of legislation coming out of the General Assembly that will provide additional funding to help train workers for that particular program. So that would sort of complement what you're doing. very much here. Thank you. That's all I have, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Lane. For the benefit of new council members, council members Scutchfield, and council member Akers, the issue of workforce development and training was first introduced in the committee at our November meeting, at which time Paul and our Commissioner of Social Services, Beth Mills, gave us an overview of workforce historical and presently, which primarily is focused with Workforce Investment Act dollars at the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board with the Bluegrass A.U. Development District. Again, we thank Paul for responding to some of the comments that were, requests that were brought up earlier. At that November meeting, we did have present with us several members of the social service community. We also had one, Mr. Darrell Smith, who is the current chair of the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board. At that November meeting, I think Mr. Smith was prepared to speak. However, our time frame did not allow. He has requested a sign in to speak today. If it suits the committee members per the sign-up and public comment, I would ask for consent to allow Mr. Smith to address the committee. Seeing no objections, we'll welcome Mr. Smith at this time. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Darrell Smith. I reside in Councilmember Stinnett's District at 853 Ridgebrook Road and serve as the current chair of the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board and simply here today to verbalize things that Councilman Ford and I have already met and will meet again tomorrow to begin to look at some of these issues more in depth and look forward to the opportunity to come back at a later date to make a more formal presentation of the activities of the board. But just to briefly let you know, we are a sector-driven board. A lot of the information that you're looking there is historical, and no, we don't do dog grooming, although by state law they can sign up to be an eligible training provider, and that's a state list. But we are sector-driven, and moving forward, we are engaged heavily with the BEAM movement and have advanced manufacturing as one of our components, and will be glad to present that information to you at a later date. But just want to say congratulations to Chairman Ford and look forward to our meetings offline to come back at a later date to more enlighten and find ways to work with partnership between the two groups. Thank you, Mr. Smith. Committee members, are there any questions while we have Mr. Smith at the podium? Senator, thank you, dear. Appreciate you being here today. Members of the committee, in regards to agenda item, workforce development and training, what is the will of the committee? I think that the intent of bringing the issue into the committee last fall was to get the conversation started, to get a handle on what we've done historically and what we're going forward. It may be of benefit to the committee to invite representatives of the WIB, as is referred to, the Workforce Investment Board, to give us an overview of the services they provide in regards to WIA funds and otherwise. I'll be glad to extend that invitation on behalf of the committee, if that's the will of the committee. well let's consider it done we don't meet again until march 19th that should be ample time for the whip to prepare to come before us councilmember lane with regard to items on the agenda can we discuss that now is that appropriate yes sir we can segue right into uh agenda item number five Okay, the question I had is that the Mayor's state of the Merge Government Address Day, he more or less said that we had something coming forward for our new Senior Citizens Center. I thought maybe the Commissioner Mills could maybe give us any kind of information that's available on it. It may not be something you can discuss, but just sort of give us a little bit of an overhead view, maybe. Thank you very much. At the work session on the 29th, we have been working on this for about a year and a half most recently. We have consultants, Lifespan Design Studios, and they are coming to present to you what we have to date as far as looking through the community and site selections and site analysis just preliminarily. We won't be making a decision on the 29th. They just want to show you what they've learned so that we can move into the next phase of design. I don't have any more questions. Thank you, Commissioner. So the items referred to committee, as Council Member Lane just alluded to, is the new Senior Citizen Center proposed. The status was moved to work session for update, and Commissioner just informed us that it will be next Tuesday. Next Tuesday, January 20, 29th. In regards to our committee, should we leave that item into committee pending the presentation that will come to us at work session? We'll keep that item in the committee pending that discussion at work session. The next item is workforce investment and training. Again, I guess we will extend that to our March meeting and ask folks from the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board to come forward. Those are the only two items in committee, committee members that we have right now, and we'll keep those in committee. For your consideration, if there are items that the council, our members of this committee, would like us to discuss in this committee, as you see, I think we have several opportunities to have those heard in this committee. And I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you guys or to discuss it in the collective committee to see if we can get some action going. Council Member Myers. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Could I or could committee members submit a list of questions to you that WEA might be able to respond to when they come back to that next meeting? Would that be an appropriate way to do it? That would be fine, yes, sir. Okay, thank you. It would be fine. Thank you. Next, in regards to items, perhaps, to discuss in committee? More of their presentation that they're going to bring back to us. Okay. In regards to the Senior Center or Blue Reds or both? The WEA. The workforce is on the piece. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for bearing with me. Can't do that. Lastly, committee members, just a segue of how I would like to lead the committee. We're the Committee for Social Services and Community Development. Of course, our Department of Social Services is comprised of three divisions, and our division of grants and special programs primarily leads our HUD funding, and they have primarily three grant programs. I would like to, and I will meet with Commissioner Mills and also Director Gooding, is I would like to perhaps have some kind of update from one of those three respective divisions and our grant programs just to keep us apprised of what's going on. At times past, we've always indicated an interest to know more of what's going on in the granting process. and I'm certain that things are always changing as the economy and things in our community change social services wise. So that will give our divisions and our departments time to interact with us and for us to ask questions of them. I will build that agenda definitely to stay within a two-hour time frame and also not to inhibit committee items that we have in committee. if there's no other business before the committee is there is there a motion to adjourn we have a motion to adjourn in the second all in favor signify by saying aye we stand adjourned till march 19th thank you you