music >> This is just not a Kentucky problem.

This is a problem across our country.

[MUSIC] >> Kentucky police say it's getting harder to find people to join and stay on the force.

[MUSIC] >> All these kids had their headphones on and they were listening to something on their cell phones.

And I was like, this is absolutely ridiculous.

>> But that's changing.

So what's the impact of a cell phone ban in Kentucky schools?

[MUSIC] >> We at KY adopted an attitude where one of our fundamental cornerstones is when, baby, when.

>> And reflections from a man who spent a lifetime helping Kentucky's kids.

[MUSIC] >> Production of Kentucky edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Wednesday, June 24th.

I'm Kelsey Starks and our KET Studios here in Louisville, filling in for Renee Shaw.

Advocates for adults with disabilities in Kentucky are calling out for help.

Lee Specialty Clinic in Louisville is the only clinic of its kind in Kentucky.

It specializes in medical and behavioral health for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Council on Developmental Disabilities says more than 1000 patients at the clinic will soon be discharged because of cuts to Medicaid and the state budget.

Speaking during a committee meeting in Frankfort today, parents with children being served by the clinic called on the Beshear administration and the legislature to find a solution.

>> The clinic is, is is a is a model that's working, and it's addressing a pervasive need that exists throughout the Commonwealth.

And for the individuals who are served by the clinic, change and disruption is really hard.

Continuity Infirmary is very, very important to them and their families.

It will be very disruptive if the decision of the cabinet stands.

>> This contest is a positive.

>> Now.

In a post on social media last night, Governor Beshear said a temporary fix may be coming and he blamed the General Assembly for inadequately funding social services in the state's two year budget, passed earlier this year.

>> I'm working on a plan that will hopefully address the least specialty clinic, because I know how important that is to so many families, but there are only so many times that I can put a Band-Aid on some of these issues.

There are so many times that I can pull a rabbit out of a hat, and if I can do this in this area, it's only going to help.

In this current year, the answer has to be real adequate funding from a General Assembly that doesn't try to make excuses or blame a governor, but actually does the work and provides the dollars needed for our families out there.

>> Members of Kentucky's House Democratic caucus are calling on GOP leadership to use $14 million intended for the Capitol Annex renovation to fund the clinic and other nonprofits instead.

Quote.

When faced with a choice between preserving health care for vulnerable Kentuckians and accelerating a building renovation, the General Assembly should choose people over bricks and mortar.

House Speaker David Osborne responded, saying, quote, the issue is not a lack of funding or resources, but why the governor has chosen not to prioritize the Lee clinic provider reimbursements and other essential programs.

The legislature maintained funding for the Lee clinic and the base budget, and through a dedicated line item, and the administration has both the funding and flexibility to continue supporting it, as demonstrated by its ability to redirect resources to other priorities.

We'll have much more on today's discussion in Frankfort tomorrow, right here on Kentucky edition.

There are mixed results from the recent studies about the well-being of Kentucky children in the areas of health, education, and economic status.

We talked about Kentucky's kids Monday on Kentucky tonight here on KET.

On the subject of education, our panel of lawmakers and child advocates agreed that it's helpful to get kids to put down their cell phones while they're in school.

>> In 2025, in House Bill 208, we had a cell phone ban in schools.

And the feedback.

I just read an article today that had some discussions about, you know, consequences for children having their phones out.

But the the principal at Fern Creek, when they did it a year before, she said that the number of books that were checked out of the library increased exponentially.

I actually did an observation at a high school in Louisville before the cell phone ban, and the number of kids who were doing like a hands on it was one of the academies where they learned to take care of patients.

And all these kids had their headphones on, and they were listening to something on their cell phones.

And I was like, this is absolutely ridiculous.

And so I think that the educators across the state are very appreciative of the cell phone ban.

I would be very interested, as we go through the interim, to hear from some some buildings, some districts, you know, at at how that operationalized.

Did they have pouches?

Did they have to put their phones away?

>> We are resource rich.

>> But connection poor.

And what I mean by that is we have all of these things at our fingertips, but we're still so disconnected.

And removing that technology and being able to spend that time and being able to have their brains develop normally and not have these rapid fire games and lights and sounds and everything coming, that really disrupts the brain function.

And to representative point it, it dysregulates a lot of kids to the point that they are really struggling behaviorally and academically and socially across the board in school.

So I'm very encouraged.

I know we survived without it.

Yes.

You know, my corded phone couldn't leave the wall.

So but, you know, I would encourage more school districts and more states to really take a hard look at.

Can we get these out of our classrooms and have our kids have really quality time together?

>> You can see more of that discussion about the quality of life for Kentucky's kids online.

On demand at ket.org/ky.

Tonight, on average, police departments across the country regularly operate with a 10% staffing vacancy.

This workforce challenge is no different for departments in Kentucky.

Law enforcement officials spoke to state lawmakers about how difficult it is to attract and retain officers in a demanding profession like policing.

Here's more from Kentucky Edition's Clayton Dalton.

>> As we've seen, there's a a changing public perception of law enforcement.

>> Highly publicized police brutality incidents in recent years have changed the way Americans view police officers.

Law enforcement officials testified in Frankfort that this increased negative perception has made recruiting police officers harder than it used to be.

But that's only one piece of the puzzle.

>> Some major retention challenges are salary and benefits.

Obviously, burnout, the workload that they have, mental health and wellness concerns, all of those things combined create a perfect storm, so to speak.

>> These recruiting challenges are hitting police departments of all sizes in every part of the state.

>> You know, we have a 16 officer department and they lose 2 or 3 officers.

And you're now looking at potentially not being able to provide 24 over seven service.

You know, I understand the big agencies, you know, they're down a couple hundred, but they have an opportunity to backfill.

They have the overtime.

This is a critical issue for our smaller and mid-sized police departments.

You know, obviously the application pool is shrunk quite a bit.

When I was police chief, routinely we would have 3 to 400 people test for one slot.

I retired in 2015 and we were lucky if we had 30.

In talking with some of the Chiefs, I know I've spoken with the Covington chief multiple times.

There are about 110 officer department.

Sometimes they get 10 or 20 people to compete for one spot.

And by the time you do the background process and you watch those folks out, you might be picking from an applicant pool of five people to fill that one or multiple spots.

>> Lewis County Sheriff Johnny Bivins said hiring qualified officers is an acute problem for his small department in Eastern Kentucky.

>> I do think that sometimes we settle for less.

You know, if we send them further pops and everything comes back good, it might not be the candidate we want, but.

Lewis County is a 482 square mile, and I have seven full time deputies, and that's what I'm allowed.

If one leaves.

These guys are talking about 10 to 12 applicants.

I would be blessed with two if I could get them.

>> The staffing issues aren't isolated to the local level.

Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett said his agency faces the same issue.

The current training class for KSP started at 80 people in May.

Now only 48 remain.

>> Since 1998, our applicant numbers have went down and our attrition rates have went up.

You know, we've been hit hard in trying to grapple with the change of the pension benefits, and we have seen that that has been a detriment towards bringing in men and women in our agency.

But this is not just a KSP problem.

This is just not a Kentucky problem.

This is a problem across our country.

>> For Kentucky Edition, I'm Clayton Dalton.

>> London's embattled mayor will not be on the ballot this November.

Randall Weddle was a candidate for reelection, but a circuit court judge has ruled he can't run because he is not a resident of London.

In April, a group of voters sued, claiming Weddle lived in an unincorporated community outside the London city limits.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Weddle said he doesn't agree with the judge's decision, but he will accept it.

Mayor Weddle posted this on Facebook, quote, I want to thank the people of London for the trust you have placed in me.

Serving as your mayor has been one of the greatest honors of my life.

My focus now is exactly where it has always been serving the city.

I intend to finish my term strong, continue working every day on behalf of our community and keep doing the job the people elected me to do.

End quote.

Weddle has been accused of giving excessive campaign contributions to Governor Andy Beshear.

Has campaign credit lenders filed a lawsuit against him, accusing him of defaulting on credit card debt.

With Weddle off the ballot now the only other candidate for mayor Matt, or is now unopposed for the office.

Well, Congress is now on record in opposition to the U.S.

war with Iran.

Yesterday, the U.S.

Senate voted 50 to 48 for a resolution directing President Donald Trump to remove military forces.

The U.S.

House had already voted for the resolution.

The Senate had tried to pass it, but this was the first vote to succeed.

Two Republicans were absent for the vote.

One of them is U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who went to the hospital 11 days ago now for Senate.

Republicans voted to join the Democrats in support of the resolution.

U.S.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was one of those four.

Senator Paul talked about the Iran war during a video town hall he hosted yesterday.

>> The Strait of Hormuz is actually more in danger than before the war.

There's more actual problems with security over there now than there was before the war.

Now, on the plus side, if you want to give the Trump administration some credit, the Iranians may be more likely to negotiate because of the war, but the proof is still in the negotiation.

Negotiations are the only way to really limit their nuclear program.

Even though we defeated them militarily, they don't seem to be inclined just to stop unless there's a negotiation in the negotiation.

What they're going to ask for is relief of trade sanctions.

So they can continue begin selling their oil again and begin repairing their economy.

So I think it requires negotiation.

It requires some trading and swapping to get them to end their nuclear program.

Some of that happened under the agreement with Iran that Obama had the the Trump administration pulled out of that.

And one of the consequences is Iran was only enriching to 20% under the Obama administration very quickly went up to 60%.

So getting out of the agreement didn't make things better.

It actually led to a worse outcome.

I don't see a lot of advantages to where we are.

>> Senator Paul repeated his view that only Congress can declare war.

He said a president can't act alone if the United States is attacked, but he says otherwise.

Congress should play a role in a decision to go to war.

[MUSIC] A leading advocate for Kentucky kids is making a career pivot from the classroom to the state capitol.

Terry Brooks is.

Life's work has focused on educating and elevating Kentucky kids for nearly 20 years now.

He's led the Kentucky Youth Advocates, and soon he'll take on a new assignment with Sunrise Children's Services.

Renee Shaw spoke with Brooks earlier this week about how he's rewiring, not retiring.

>> Doctor Terry Brooks.

It's good to see you, sir.

>> Hey, Renee.

It's great being here, as always with you.

>> So you're making a little pivot right now.

Tell us about that.

>> Well, I have been at KY for 21 years, and I'm getting ready to step away from that leadership position.

And I know myself well enough because I'm not a talented guy.

I don't have 4011 hobbies.

So I was really looking for a meaningful next chapter.

I've spent my life as an educator and at KY around kids, so I'm really excited that this next chapter, I'm assuming a leadership role at Sunrise Children's Services.

Sunrise started in 1869 as a reaction to where Kentucky was and kids after the Civil War.

And so it's a new world in many ways.

And in many ways it's very similar.

>> Very similar.

>> Yeah.

So, you know, we were talking off camera that in many ways, if you took my education career and my KY career and put them in a blender and poured it out, that's what.

>> I'm getting ready to do.

Yeah.

And no downtime in between the two assignments.

>> I'm.

My last day at KY is June 30th.

So if, if if I get to leave at 5:00, I'm going to wait until 8:00 the next morning.

So I've got some time.

>> You got some time?

Well, talk to us about Kentucky Youth Advocates, which is really it is considered the preeminent voice independent voice for Kentucky kids and really has dominated the public policy space when it comes to everything from education to child welfare issues, even health issues.

You all have been the voice and the go to.

And it didn't start off that way.

>> Yeah.

You know, as I look back on those two decades, my first experience with KY in the child advocacy arena, and I say this really respectfully, but I was surprised that folks with whom I worked never talked about winning.

They talked about press conferences and protest.

They talked about why other sectors won and kids didn't.

Now, you know me, when it comes to college sports or anything else, I tend to be a little competitive.

So we at KY adopted an attitude where one of our fundamental cornerstones is when baby win, and that's what we want to do.

We tracked some 85 distinct policy wins that we've had over the last two decades.

Most of those have come in the last 15 years rather than the first five.

And absolutely, I believe that as important as on the ground work is.

And it is so important whether you're talking about sunrise or whether you're talking about a school.

But the macro change in Frankfort, that's what drives the lives of children.

So I don't believe that any advocate or champion for kid can accept anything but palpable wins in Frankfort.

And that's what we've tried to be about for these 21 years.

>> Of those 85 wins, do you have a top 1 or 2 that you can narrow down?

>> Well, you know, I think and this is so reflective, I know you know this.

It's so reflective of what I do think is a little bit of a disappointing trend line in Frankfort, which was that you can think back to in 2012, a fundamental juvenile justice Wright omnibus bill was passed, right?

Democratic House member, Republican Senate member championed that later on.

I remember that Representative Jenkins and Representative Mead, a liberal urban Democrat, a rural conservative Republican, put together a child welfare package that still animates what happens on the ground.

So those were big, sweeping changes.

In many ways.

They were the child welfare and juvenile justice equivalents of Cara.

>> So Kentucky Education Reform Act, for those who don't know that.

>> Big swings, right.

I also think that there are smaller wins, which at the time perhaps no one in that maybe includes me realized the power.

And I'll give you an example that's been in the news lately.

We spent three years.

We failed for two and finally got it done.

I think the third to establish the Ombudsman for children as an independent office.

>> Right.

And why is that so important?

>> Historically, that had been in the cabinet for Health and Family Services, and whoever the secretary was, this is not a Republican or Democratic assessment, but essentially the Ombudsman had to handle complaints about his boss.

>> That's right.

Fox guarding the henhouse.

>> Finally, legislation happened that moved the Ombudsman office to the state auditor.

The result of that we've already seen, which is that the issue of temporary placement for kids, what's happening with kids sleeping in offices in state parks is resonating.

I do believe that the independence of that office has something to do with the power of the investigation going on.

So as I look back, some of those wins have been big and sweeping, and some of them have been fairly discreet, but still had real leverage.

>> Yeah.

When we think about where Kentucky kids are, we know that the needle moves forward and sometimes it moves back at almost the same pace and cadence.

When it comes to education, we had some good news when it comes to Covid recovery, that we were outpacing many other states and science and or in math and reading.

But when you think about the overall scope of the well-being of Kentucky kids, are they better off now than they were 20 years ago?

Take that.

Take this new cohort and compare it to the the ones that have matriculated.

I guess you could.

>> Say the good news, bad news on that.

And it's always dicey to do comparisons, right?

I understand that the good news is that at least when I started at KY, those national rankings had us in the 40s.

We're now in the 30s now.

I hope no one.

I hope whoever the new governor is, I hope Senate leadership, House leadership or any of your viewers, none of us should be happy that we're 36, because that means there's 35 states doing better.

But I'd rather be 36 than 44th.

So in terms of comparative ranking, I think, you know, it's improved.

I think there's nuances in the kids count report.

And I'll give you one that I think bears digging into each year with a unique lens and one that has stayed the same.

One of the saddest statistics that is in the kids Count report is child and teen fatality.

I mean, how many kids die?

That number has stayed ungrudgingly the same.

But what's fascinating is when you look underneath the surface, you see the causal factors are dramatically different today than they were a decade ago.

And it does show that we can address the issue.

And I'll give you the example.

When that number was first established, the major cause of death was shaken baby syndrome.

You remember lots of news stories, groups like Kosair for kids, which launched the Fayette campaign, University of Kentucky's pediatric unit.

A number of groups have come together and really, really started training and awareness.

That's gone away, right?

Kids are not dying because of shaken baby.

Now they're dying because of ingestion of drugs, not shooting up in the park, but the medicine cabinet is open or through accidental deaths because of firearms.

So the number of young people dying is still a tragedy.

And it stayed fairly steady.

Causes that should animate our legislators to look the the data point.

And you and I have talked about this a hundred times, but of all the data points in the report, I think there is one seminal one, and that is the number of kids who are living in poverty.

If today is a typical day in Kentucky, some 200,000 kids woke up in poverty.

And we know that that one statistic, that one statistic impacts educational achievement, health outcomes, family stability, every other thing in the report.

So I have said for a long time, and I will continue to say in my new role, unless and until we as a state tackle childhood poverty, those other numbers are not going to move in a decisive and positive direction.

>> Yeah.

Do you think that Kentucky lawmakers are cozying up to that message and understand that it can be nuanced?

It doesn't have to be some sweeping omnibus bill.

There are small changes that can make incremental progress.

>> I sure hope that they do.

I mean, some things are on the table, which is if the General Assembly and governor will invest in the 5000 kids living in kinship care today, we will see an immediate change in that poverty number.

So helping those grandmas and grandpas out make a difference.

The one that, again, we've talked about on so many different shows, budget shows, tax shows, kid shows is we know that nationally, the most effective policy when it comes to combating childhood policy is the earned income tax credit.

That idea.

>> That bipartisan idea.

Ronald Reagan.

>> And Barack Obama that's on the table.

And we know that if Kentucky lawmakers and governor will agree to that, that a refundable state earned income tax credit is good for low income working families, it's good for local economies, and it's actually good for the state budget.

So I would love to think that that idea became a bipartisan consensus in the 27 gubernatorial campaign.

I think it would be amazing if whoever the governor is put that on the table in his or her budget address in 28, and the General Assembly came together and said, let's make a dent in childhood poverty, because if we do that, we're going to make a dent in education, health, family and community stability.

>> Yeah.

Well, Doctor Terry Brooks, we could talk to you much, much, much longer.

But perhaps in your new role, we'll let you settle in and get acclimated.

Not that that will take long.

We'll have to have you back.

And because you are such a strong champion for Kentucky kids, and that doesn't change even if your title does.

>> Well, I appreciate that and my hope and commitment and prayer is that I hope Sunrise Children's Services in its many, many partners, many, many other wonderful child welfare agencies.

We don't want incremental change.

We want a revolution.

When it comes to Kentucky's most vulnerable kids.

>> Yeah.

Good words to end on.

Thank you, sir, and the best of luck to you.

>> Thanks, Renee.

>> And thank you for joining us tonight.

We hope you'll join us again tomorrow night at 630 eastern, 530 central for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, connect and Inspire.

You can subscribe to our email Newsletters and watch full episodes@ket.org.

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And of course, you can always follow us on social media to stay in the loop.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Have a great