You from our state House studio in Montgomery.

I'm Todd Stacy, welcome to Capitol Journal.

We begin our coverage again this week in Washington, where the government shutdown is now a month long and the impacts are starting to grow.

Just one day before food assistance was set to lapse.

A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration must use emergency funds to pay for at least part of the Snap program, though delays are expected and it's unclear what comes next.

APTs Ale Angle reports from Capitol Hill.

As the government shutdown surpasses 30 days, more than 750,000 Alabamians were on the brink of losing access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or Snap.

Following a lawsuit from Democrat led states, federal judges ruled that the U.S.

Department of Agriculture must begin using its contingenc reserve to pay for the program.

This decision will help avert part of the crisis that Alabama was bracing for.

Hundreds of thousands of people just in our 12 counties in central Alabama will not have food on their table and to me, that is a disaster.

CEO of the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, Nicole Williams, says food banks in the state have been preparing for a spike in demand, even with some Snap benefits resuming, federal workers are still missing paychecks in November.

Benefits will most likely be delayed from going out.

I think what we're trying to do now is, ask the community to step up and either bring food or donate money so that we can purchase additional food and get that out through our system for folks that need it in our regular distributions.

Back in Washington, senators have left for the weekend without reaching a deal.

Some bipartisan talks have begun, but no agreement has been reached to end the shutdown.

Senator Tommy Tuberville says the onus remains on Democrats to vote for the short term spending bill.

The vote fo the measure has failed 13 times.

This is all in their court.

All they got to do is vote for it.

But they refused to do it because it's politics.

This week, Democrats were urging the white House to tap into the contingency reserve to fund Snap while the government is shut down.

They're making an affirmative decision to rip Snap benefits away from the American people as a pressure tactic.

That's what Mike Johnson said.

Previously the Trump administration argued it was illegal for them to do so.

It's unclear if they will appeal these decisions.

But even now that the Whit House's order to use the funds, there's not enough availabl to cover all November benefits, which could still leave people hungry.

And next week will be a pivotal moment for lawmakers to find a way out of this shutdown, as open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act marketplace begins Saturday.

High health insurance costs are at the crux of the funding lapse.

Reporting on Capitol Hill, Alex Engle, Capital Journal thank you Alex.

As she just reported, many ar expected to turn to food banks and other organizations should snap benefits lapse.

Capital Journal's Randy Scott takes a closer look at how that demand could impact local food stores.

Is busy at the heart of Alabama Food Bank in Montgomery.

As the holidays grow close, you'll find volunteers hard at work, such as these high school students from a Saint James school.

Organizers with the food bank say it will get busier due to Washington, D.C.

disagreements.

The government shutdown has continued.

Of course, we're getting into a period of where they've already made the announcement.

There's not going to be any snap distributions in November, which, as expected, i in a lot of people in the panic.

Michael Coleman is the CEO of this food bank.

He says it serves 35 counties with hel from four additional food banks.

He adds it's a big area to cover.

It is even bigger with supplies getting thin.

We recognize we simply don't have enough resources out there to be abl to compensate for a full month's loss and Snap benefits.

Coleman says they were aware the nation's supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or Snap, was going through a period of uncertainty.

They must still find a way t get citizens the help they need.

So there's 269,000 people that are considered food insecure.

That's all.

That's a lot.

And and of course, those do include a lot of the snap people who are receiving Snap benefits.

That means people and organizations such as the Meals on Wheels program in Montgomery may have to make adjustments.

We provide hot meals and frozen meals to seniors who are homebound.

Chris Turman, the CEO of Montgomery's Meals on Wheels program, says they serve about 450 clients five days a week, and potential shortag problems are starting to show.

As we move to the winter months, where our list typically grows, because people are in need, and that what we're anticipating now with what's essentiall coming on Saturday with the snap changes, is that our lis is going to grow exponentially.

Our biggest goal is to make sure that we create partnerships in the community as such with the food bank, local churches, other nonprofits, so that we make sure that any services our clients could take advantage of, that we know who they are so that we can refer them to those services.

Pam Goodwin is the director of senior services for Meals on Wheels.

She says the uncertainty about the Snap program affects those who supply them, with the meals, making for tense times.

We do get some from the food bank and as they go through the difficulties of maybe keeping their pantries fully stocked, that makes it a little harder for us to get the items that we need for those bags.

In Montgomery, Randy Scott, Capital Journal.

Thank you, Randy, and I'll talk in more detail with Nancy Buckner.

She's the commissioner of th Department of Human Resources.

I'll talk to her later in the show.

Switching gears to the education front across Alabama, a growing number of students are earning while they learn thanks to a scholarship progra that connects classroom skills with real world careers in the state's booming automotive industry.

Capital Journal's Jeff Sanders reports on how this partnership is helping train the next generation of Alabama's workforce.

At just 18 years old, Garrett Mann of Wetumpka is already building a career in Alabama's manufacturing industry.

He's part of a program at Trenton State Community College in Montgomery that lets him split time between the classroom and the factory floor.

I fell in love with turning the ranch and stuff that didn't work.

I love to be able to make work.

I mean, it was ego thing was just a skill thing.

I mean, I love to do it and somebody is always going to need it.

And I found the career that I've seen a family get made off of.

And I'll also get the satisfaction of being able to handle my own.

And I'll always have a trade.

The Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association Scholarship, or AMA, is awarde to students pursuing technical fields tied to the state's fast growing auto industry.

It's part of a larger effort by the Alabama Community College System to connect students directly with employers who need skilled workers.

It's been fantastic to see the impact not only to the students, but to the industry who's been able to benefit from the students graduating.

Those programs who have couldn't have participated in these programs without the financial benefit that the scholarship provides.

The scholarships, about $2,000 across two semesters, may not sound like much, but they go a long way for students balancing jobs and tuition cost.

So it's not just automotive industry that these that students can go and work in.

It's it's many others.

Whether you talk about chemical, biomedical, and many, many others.

So we are creating through this program a pipeline of students to go into work across Alabama and many different industry sectors.

The RMR program was highlighted at the recent Southern Automotive Conference in Huntsville, where educator and industry leaders focused on how to keep Alabama's workforce competitive.

And the partnership of Alma with all of US manufacturers.

It helps us to, continue to buil that pipeline of good employees.

And, that gives us a competitive edge sometimes against the other states that we have such good support, from our government.

Who funds the, am I scholarships, the I am I organization that helps us organize how to select and pick those candidates.

All of those things strengthen our manufacturing talent pipeline.

For Garrett, the combination of hands on training and paid work experience is already paying off.

His father and brother also work in manufacturing, but Garrett says this program is helping him carve his own path.

You're not going to go wrong with this.

It's an easy street to making a lot of money, making a lot of money fast, and growing your career as soon as you walk at them high school doors.

With each semester, Garrett is gaining skills that will put him in high demand and giving him confidence for what comes next.

For Capital Journal, I'm Jeff Sa Thank you Jeff.

Before we go to break, we'd like to as for your feedback as a viewer.

Earlier this week, certai members of the Alabama Education Television Commission, that's the body that governs APT, floated a proposal to de-affiliate Alabama Public Television from PBS.

Of course, that would mean the removal of all PBS programing from Daniel Tiger to Antiques Roadshow to PBS NewsHour in Washington Week.

It's unclear what would replace that programing, and it could put a license in jeopardy.

No decision was made, bu the commission will meet again in a few weeks and they've asked for the public's input.

So send us your feedback, email comments at AP, tv.org and let us know your opinion on this matter.

After all, this is public television and as a viewer and a taxpayer, we want to hear from you.

And we'll be right back with tonight's guests.

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Tuscaloosa served as the second capital of Alabama from 1826 to 1846, when the capital moved to Montgomery.

The Greek Revival and Federal styled Capitol building was leased to Alabama Central Female College for us as a concert hall and classrooms until it was destroyed by fire in 1923.

The architectural influence of the structure is reflected in many of the buildings on the University of Alabama campus and the ruins are a city park.

Welcome back to Capitol Journal.

Joining me next is Nancy Buckner, commissioner of the Alabam Department of Human Resources.

Commissioner thanks for coming on the show.

Thank you for inviting me, Todd.

We've got a lot to talk about, but it's been a while since you've been on Capitol Journal.

I was hoping you could remind our audience about the large scope of Dr.. And what all the role is for the state.

Yes.

We were on about six major programs, those being the Snap program, the child support program, the tennis program, the child care program, the Adult Protective Services program, and the child welfare program.

So all in all, each year we touched the lives of about 1.4 billion people.

And all those programs, quite a big umbrella.

You mentioned Snap, Supplemental Nutrition Nutrition Assistance Program that used to be called food stamps.

It's in the news right now because this continued governmen shutdown, we're going on a month now, is really going to start impacting Snap recipients really beginning this weekend.

You'll put out some information about this.

What's the latest you can tell us in terms of the Snap program and its continuation or lack thereof?

Well, of course we don't know how long it's going to.

The suspension is going to continue.

But starting November 1st, which I believe is Saturday, there will not be any benefits loaded on any of the cards.

Snap is distributed on the I cards and that is all suspended.

However, the important thin for the recipients aren't Snap is to continue their normal whatever they have to report to continue their snap, or if they need to apply, they can come in and apply.

The difference is ther will not be any benefits loaded until the suspension is has ended.

The important thing though is to have those files in order.

Our workers will continue to do their wor so that when the suspension is lifted, we get that fil will be ready to be processed.

So it makes it quicker for the benefits to be put back on the cards.

Okay.

So explain that a little bit.

You talk about like documentation.

What kind of things d recipients have to document in.

And especially if they don't have funds on their cards.

Well, they have to.

It's many of our recipients are working, so they have to if they change jobs or their wages increase they have to send that report.

And some of them, because of their situation or on what we call monthly reporting, all those have to continue to be sent and, and, you know, just things like that.

And like I said, we want to encourage people that need it to continu to apply because this will end.

We just don't know when right now.

And then we need to have everything in order so we can send that fil to our vendor that handles that.

And then get the money back on the cards.

Right.

Well, it's just, you know, maybe something we many of us take for grante is just having money in the bank to pay for necessities like food.

And I just can't imagine it being, you know, the funds that yo depend on, just not being there.

So I know that there's been talk of food banks, you know, expanding their resources and offering their resources.

Do you think we have the resources necessary?

You know, let' just say this goes on for two, you know, 1 or 2 more weeks.

Do we have the kind of resources, you think at food banks to.

I kno that's not your job necessarily, but you do you think we have what it takes to get through a a longer shutdown?

I can't say that we do or we don't.

I know that there's a lo of energetic people out there.

We have food banks, we have food pantries.

We have, you know, food closets.

Churches are involved.

Famil resource centers are involved.

Lots of advocates are involved in helping us direct people to food resources and our count departments of human resources.

They're used to doing some of that, not to the extent that this is that directing people to food resources.

And that's wha we want to make sure that we do.

I want to make sur that recipients understand that whatever benefits ar on their card on November 1st, that would have been prior benefits.

They can still use those benefits.

There's been some misinformation put out there about that, and I just want people to kno that I can continue to use that.

So if I have a balance right now that I've not expended, it's not like the card won't work.

It's just that no new funds are going to be added to it.

Right?

Okay.

Well, that's important information for those who do, you know, maybe have some funds left on those cards You know, it's just a reminder.

I mean, we're not there yet.

Like I said, it's going to start on Saturday.

This could be a real crisis for a lot of people.

And, I mean, how many people are we talking about?

Just in the state of Alabama, probably a little over 750,000 and over 300,000 o those are what we call children.

That means they're under the age of 18.

And the interesting thing, I was looking at a number just before I came to visit you.

There are like over 221,000 of those children are under the age of 12.

And, you know, there's a lot of brain development going on durin that part of children's lives.

And food and nutrition is extremely important for them to be healthy and in school.

Right?

We always talk about how, you know, a hungry child can't learn.

That's very effectively.

So it really runs the gamut in terms of its impact.

So hopefully this will the shutdown will end.

I know we're watching Washington like the rest of everybody, hoping that they can figure out a way to to end this, because it does start to affect real people's lives.

I really appreciate yo sharing with us the information, because folks need to know what's real and what isn't.

I wanted to add one other thing if I can, because there's some large corporations that have contacted us on wha they could do and all of that.

And so we have asked them if they've got extra funds to donate to food banks.

There's a big food bank association, but there's lots of smaller food banks around to donate to food pantries and things like that.

So we could keep the food coming.

Absolutely.

That's a great idea.

And everybody wants to do their part.

Switching gears, I know that you mentioned adoptio is part of the umbrella of Dr.. November is adoption month.

Yes.

That's something that's close to my heart.

And, you know, it's a wonderful, thin that the state participates in.

I know there's all kinds of organizations that we had.

Steve Doer from, got beyond last year to talk about it.

Talk about adoption month and how, Dr.. Plays a role in adoptions throughout the state.

We do.

But let me say one thing for sure.

Adoption month is every month at DHS.

Okay.

And I ask the people in the counties because we're always, you know, if it comes to that point where one of our foster children needs to be adopted there, right.

Parental rights have been terminated, then we don't want them to get hung up in the system, so to speak.

So I'm very thankful to all of the judges that help us move those kids through the system and the probate judges.

And I'm so thankful for the foster parents and adoptive parents that take them.

And I'm happy to say for the last fiscal year, we ended up with about 731 adoptions in the state.

And then we also pus something called kinship care.

That's something that changed several years ago.

And if relatives can take children and then we can give them an adoption subsidy if the they decide it's not exactly called adoption, it's just kinship.

Guardianship is what it is.

But it's a it's a state of permanency for that child.

And we're so happy that we had 262 of those, I believe, right now in the state.

So with a relative.

Yes, yes, lots of family take our children.

And this is, you know, you all of you all have to come to the legislature all the time to kind of tweak state law and then things like that.

It can be a very complicated, legal situation that you are always havin to revise and things like that.

So it's it's not easy.

It's not easy.

And it's probably one of the most controversial things that in child support that they are deals with.

So you write about us a lot in the press, but it's hard to make everybody happy when you're talking about a particular child or an amount of child support that someone should or should not pay, which there's judicial oversight involved in all of it.

Even though people generally like to talk about the air.

But I'm glad that our judiciar works so well with us, and I'm so thankful for our foster and our adoptive parents, because that's what these children need is someone to open their heart open their home for that child.

What a blessing for those children.

You know, one of the biggest advocates for adoption and improving adoption law is Andy Hornsby.

Yes.

Former colleague who've sadly, passed away this week.

We're all sad to hear of Andy Hornsby, his passing talk about his legacy as because he was D commissioner twice, I believe.

Yes, he was.

And then he worked in the finance department.

So he worked under three governors.

But, when I first started coming to Montgomery to work, not as commissioner.

I work for Andy Hornsby when I was down here.

So, really happy to be able to say that.

And he was just a wonderful individual.

And Andy believed in treating everybody the same, you know, I attended his service this morning in, you know, Andy could, he did a little bit of work under the Bush administration, too, and, he, he could be in a meeting with everybody with suits and ties, talking with the really, really big officials in the country.

Or he could be around a fire over in, Macon can make a county, sharing, sharing the small top and pettiness bird dog.

At the same time, he was an avid hunter and love loved his dogs and all of that.

So he was just an all around great individual and and a wonderful person to have at the had a day when he was at the head of day.

I really appreciated him and I feel like I learned a lot from him too during those days.

Thank you for sharing that.

Yes, when I was a young staffer in the Riley administration, he really was a mentor to a lot of us, young and, you know, providing some of that what we needed to know about the world when you think you know everything.

So I just want to, give a, our thought are obviously with his family, but a tribute to Andy Horsley.

What a great statesman.

Well, he certainly deserves it.

Absolutely.

Well, Commissioner, thanks again for coming and sharing this information.

I hope you'll keep us updated as the shutdown hopefully comes to an end.

Sure.

I'd love to tell you it's that Saturday, but I. I can't say that today.

We will just keep praying and hope and that's right.

Thanks again.

Thank you.

We'll be right back.

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Welcome back to Capital Journal.

Do you want to be next is apt senior education reporter Trish Crane.

Trish, thanks for coming down.

Great to see you, Tad.

Lots to talk about on the education front.

As always, I want you to catch us up on a number of topics.

I want to start with school enrollment.

I guess it's, average daily membership right at the start of every school year.

They basically take a tall of students that are attending.

And over a period of weeks.

Right.

It's the 20 days after Labor Day.

Okay.

An average number of kids that are enrolled.

But you're reporting on this, made a lot of headlines because we're down.

We actually saw a decrease in enrollment.

Some of that predictable, some not.

Talk about what?

What your data showed.

Yeah.

So, doctor McKee, state superintendent, and released some number at the state board work session, followed by a district level breakdown a few days later.

That's where you really start to, you know, look at what is happening.

Where is the movement of students?

Still a lot of analysis to do, but the number overall, I think we have 714,000 students enrolled statewide, which is 5800 fewer than last year.

So, you know, you think about fewer, fewer, kids need fewer teachers, right.

And because, the distribution of children is not linear.

Right.

Like somebody may have lost a bunch of third graders, another school may have lost a bunch of eighth and 10th graders.

Doctor Maggie said it's goin to cost about 500 teacher jobs.

He said he isn't worrie because most of those will be, you know, attrition, retirement should take care of those.

But the kids, on the other hand, you know, the when, when kids go off to private school or if they homeschool this our state does not track them.

Other states do.

They just take a tally.

It's not like they, you know, keep track of their grades or anything like that.

They just take tally to know where they are.

We don't do that.

So there are we know about 3100 kids.

Of those, 580 went off with choose act money possibly to private school.

And that was predictable.

We knew that that a number of students were going to because this is the first year that the choose act.

There's educatio savings accounts were available.

So so 30.

So okay, 5800 fewer students, right.

Overall, 3100 were choose students that are now in private school.

Correct.

Okay.

So what about everybody else we don't know.

Okay.

You know, initially docto McKee said maybe he was hearing anecdotally that they could be Hispanic students.

You know, there's been movement with a lot of Hispanic families.

Either they're leaving the state, leaving the country because of the crackdown.

Exactly, exactly.

And of course, schools don' track the documentation status of of student that's not allowed, federally.

So we don't know where the kids went.

After the district level information was released, doctor McKee said now he thinks maybe a lot o the children went to homeschool.

Which is, you know, a possibility any time.

Right.

And while schools like to know if children went off to homeschool just s they know what happened to them.

And they wouldn't track them after that.

There's no requirement.

So they well, there's som there's actually some confusion about whether there's a requirement or not.

But right now the way it's being interpreted is there's no requirement, for homeschool families to let the, the distric know that they're homeschooling.

So, I know I was at a, conference last week where Doctor Sullivan, Mark Sullivan from Birmingham City said they were missing 500 Hispanic students.

So until the, real enrollment numbers come out, like 80, average daily memberships for funding purposes.

Right?

So we are schools are funded based on last year's ADM.

So the numbers we gather this year will be used to fund schools next year.

And but that doesn't really tell us the race of the kids the the grades that they're in.

So enrollment numbers should come out in a couple of weeks and that will give us more information.

I'll be able to go back and compare and see.

Have we had a shift, demographically?

But overall, doctor McKee said statewide we've actually gained 300 Hispanic students.

So, you know, I mean, I don't want to single out and, you know, track Hispanic students but that has been the question.

You know, that's the not just in education, but just across the board, right?

Folks either maybe leaving or just kind of remaining in the shadows with this.

Right?

Well we talked about the Choose act because that's part of it, right?

These 3100 students.

Right.

Right.

But that's just that's just a fraction of overall how many students and families are taking advantage of the choose act, right?

$7,000.

The family can get to either go to a private school.

A lesser amount to go to homeschool or they can apply that to another public school.

If they charg some kind of tuition.

Correct.

Let's talk about the act.

How many families overall are taking advantage of this.

And what are you reporting show about how this program is getting off to a start.

Okay.

So gosh that's a lot.

But I'll try to do my best.

About 18,000 families, 18,000 children.

Okay.

I don't know how many families actually could have multiple.

Yeah, exactly.

So about 18,000, maybe close to 19,000 students are using choose Act education savings accounts.

We call them essays.

Right.

And of that amount, about 6500 are in homeschool, right?

They're using them for homeschooling.

Right.

About 12,500 of them are using them in private school.

So we know that we hav some of the pieces of the pie.

We know that about 9600 of those 12,500 were in private school last year.

Okay.

The rest came from somewhere else.

Not exactly sure wha kind of lines up with the 3100.

Right.

And it is.

And we know I said that wrong.

Actually, we do know how many kids from which setting are using ESAs, like kids who maybe homeschooled last year and now are using private school.

Money for private school?

What?

We don't know.

My latest reporting was really a breakdown by school of the participating schools.

I think they're about 250 participating schools.

And we, the Alabama Department of Revenue.

Thankfully, provided the information I requested, which was how many kids are at each school?

Using essays.

And, you know, some schools, like most of their kids, are not a whole lot of schools but most of their kids are using choos act essays to pay the tuition.

And then there are other schools that have, you know, a third of their kids are using Choose Act essays for tuition and they can use for other expenses to but, you know, there are they're kind o spread out all over the place.

So it's it's hard to say, you know, what does that tell us?

I don't know yet.

And this is kind of baseline data.

But it I mean, for the first year, we have to remember, lawmaker thought about 14,000 or 15,000 kids would take advantage of it.

So it exceeded expectations.

Sure.

Yeah.

And that kind of speaks to the next questio I was going to get at, because, for the first year, year, this income threshold.

Right.

Without getting too much into the weeds family for about $90,000, is the income threshold for people to take advantage of that.

The plan was for that to go away for it to be universal.

But we're talking with Chairman Garrett and Chairman or it's likely to stay in place.

The reason why that's interesting to me is you mentioned that so many of these student were already in private school, and so really, they're getting their families are getting a break, right?

Sure.

A break from that, from that cost of tuition.

And if they're under that threshold, that's a really meaningful, cost savings.

It is.

And, you know, so do you expect that to be discussed when the legislature meets?

Do you think they'll revise the law at all, or just to kind of do an introspection to see how it's working?

I think they'll probably fro what I have been able to gather, I don't think they'll adjust a law in terms of making it, you know, universal putting that off for a while.

But what they've said is that everybody would be eligible for an essay two years from now.

So the start of the 2728 schoo year, upon further discussion, you know, Chairma or said if the funding's there.

Right.

So if the funding is not there then it can't become universal, he said.

Maybe it goes up.

The income level right now is set at 300% of the federal poverty level.

Yeah.

So maybe it becomes 325%.

I think they're going to take that as it comes.

Yeah, it seems so.

And when you hear these stories of families that are taking advantage, that economic impact is is the big deal, right?

That's that' that's the that's the big deal.

Yeah.

All right.

Well, we'll keep reporting on the I really appreciate your reporting on the data that nobody else has been able to gather.

You've really, nailed it.

What?

I've got you your latest reporting is on this direct admissions program in the state of Alabama, essentially, where colleges or students can maybe more streamlined a process for applying to colleges, as we traditionally know.

So talk about this program and what, your reporting showed.

Yeah.

So I, I it launched in August.

It's called the direct admission Initiative.

Alabama possible nonprofit Alabama possible is really, shepherding that, overseeing the process.

And what it boils down to is students create a profile.

There's a, you know, there's a a management system, a computer management system called match, that we that Alabama possible has contracted with.

Right.

And then so what happens is children fill out, seniors fill out, profile, basic profile.

Tell me about yourself and upload a transcript.

Okay.

Then all of that degree, you know, it goes through the computer process.

And the participating colleges can decide based on the information in front of them if they want to offer the student admission and or scholarship money.

So it takes away, you know, I always think about the kids who say, well, I'm not college material so I'm not even going to apply.

You know, maybe they are right.

And I think a lot of them are finding out that there is a college out there that wants them and the counselors that I've talked with say it's really given those types of students a boost of confidence, and that they're taking their schoolwork a little more seriously.

So I thought, gosh, should w start this in the ninth grade?

But, firs round has gone through, and it remarkable 20,000 high school seniors participated.

Alabama possible thought maybe 5 to 8000 might because this is really dependent on high school counselors.

Right.

Alabama possible trained the high school counselors.

But then the high school counselors.

Yeah, yeah they've got to get the kids in, you know, in there and willing to do this.

There was one high school in, mobile that BC rain.

They don't really have a bi tradition of going to college.

You know, about half of their kids, a little fewer than half of their kids go to college.

But with direct admissions, number one, 100% of their seniors filled out a profile, which was the only high school in mobile to reach that milestone.

Good for the counselors there.

Absolutely.

They were delightful to talk with.

I understand how they got to 100%, but, and they had $32 million in scholarship offers.

Each every child got an offer of admission.

They say one student got, $830,000 in scholarship offers.

Remember, that' through multiple schools, right?

So, you know, one school may have offered 20,000, another one 5000.

Typically you don't get to use the 32 million in Scout, $32 million in scholarship.

You can't use the whole 32 million state wide.

When the in-state offers came in, it was worth 2.2 billion with a B, in scholarship offers.

And then after the in-state schools are finished, then, match allows the out-of-state colleges to to view the profiles.

Another 2.2 billion with a B scholarship offers came in so that I think it's going to open the doors for a lot of young people wh may not have considered college.

Yeah, but the year isn't over yet.

And so, you know, these are these are kind of promises of admission, bu you have to keep your grades up.

So that's, that's going to be a challenge for the high school counselors to find them.

It's it's quite a carrot.

Yes, yes.

I just love it because you talked about, you know, last year or any other year.

It's a lot of these students wouldn't have even applied.

Right.

Partly because like you said, maybe they didn't believe that they could or should.

But, you know, it can be.

I remember it's kind o a, you know, laborious process.

Oh, yes.

You know, every college is different, but this seems to be very streamlined.

And I just love the idea that these students, you know, get accepted, get some scholarship money.

I can't imagine the kind of boost.

I loved your headline.

It said I got in.

Yeah.

And I just I think that's, so uplifting and a great news story.

We love to share good news stories about what's happening, especially in education in the state.

So thank you for you.

Absolutely.

It was a delight.

Yeah.

And for all of this Thanks for keeping us updated.

We you know, education is at the root of everything we do, here in Alabama.

And there's always stories to tell, and you're the best at telling us.

So thank you.

Thank you.

That's very kind.

Appreciate that.

All right.

We'll be right back.

You can watch past episodes of Capital Journal online any time at Alabama Public Television's website.

aptv.. org.

Click on the online video tab on the main page.

You can also connect with Capital Journal and link to past episodes o Capital Journal's Facebook page.

The rest of It for All Foundation was launched back in 2012 to serve individuals dealing with dementia and their families.

Since those beginnings here in Montgomery.

The ministry has grown to include chapters in 65 different communities in 18 states.

They've recently produce a new documentary called A place for belonging that will soon air here on Alabama Public Television.

Here's a clip.

The vision for the rest of the ministry began in 2012.

We started asking the question, what needs to happen in this community that will not happen unless the church does it.

The one that seemed to match our church best was something for people living with dementia and their families.

90% of the needs expresse by families facing dementia fall outside the domain of medicine and tests, but rather in the how to's, how to provide care, how to improve well-being, how to sustain quality of life within the family.

What we landed on was we were going to begin this awesome volunteer ministr that would serve the community.

We play games, we laugh, we joke.

We just do it all.

These programs are fille with happiness and genuineness.

It's just a beautiful thing to see because we're a volunteer run.

We can have a 1 to 1 ratio which means there's no othering.

There's no teacher student, there's no somebody who needs to be taken care of.

You get to show up as yourself and be part of the crowd.

That's very unique and it's very important.

When I go down into the room, I really cannot tell who is the friend or who is the volunteer.

It just provides that safe environment that they can be themselves.

Their senior adults don't merely want to be entertained.

They want to be needed.

They want to be useful.

And so respite care is at deal for really any, any age or circumstance.

We are just beginning.

And joining me no to talk more about it is respect for all co-founder Daphne Johnston and Bishop Lawson Bryant of the United Methodist Church.

Thank you both for coming on to talk about this.

Thank you for having I to be here.

Absolutely.

Well, obviously, a moving film, I think.

I think one of the reasons it can be so moving is most of us, maybe all of us have dealt with this in some capacity, whether it's dementia, Alzheimer's, impactin a family member or a loved one.

So I want to talk so many questions, but, Daphne, can you take me back to the very beginning?

How did respite for all get started?

Back then in 2022?

Oh, well, onc we launched the respect Ministry at First United Methodist Church here in Montgomery, in the basement of the church, right.

We started with two participants and 14 volunteers.

And Bishop Bryan love to say we had no strategic plan.

We have no consultants.

We had, you know, nothing but organic growth.

It just continued to grow and grow.

And we have people from all over the state come to see what we were doing.

And the idea of us beginning a national respite foundation, truly was planted by one of our care partners, Warren Barrow.

His wife was 52 when she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.

And she was in our ministry for three years, and he wanted to make a difference.

And he said, we have to take this to every city and every state, he said.

This model was too good.

So he helped, me foun the respect for all foundation, which goes into every state now, in 2019.

And so we've been going six years and, I'm just always grateful for his leadership.

Bishop Bryan, you talked about in the documentary how obviously this is a big thing for those participating.

Right.

Those who were dealing wit the, dementia and other issues.

But you also talked about how much it may impact volunteers have ones who come wishing to serve, and they end up benefiting and being somewhat changed themselves.

Talk about more about that.

Had no idea what that was going to be, but I noticed as Daphne developed the model and that she trained people and they got involved, I noticed among our church members and not only ours, but we have church members from all over the community.

It pulls from, every religious entity put out what I noticed about it was a commonality.

They were all very much alive.

They were not depressed.

They were not upset.

It did not turn out to b to them a difficult thing to do, but joyful.

I saw an energy there, and I started thinking, this is remarkable.

This is what every pastor would love to see this kind of energy among your people.

But it was respire that was producing that.

So the people living wit dementia were having an effect on those of us who were volunteers.

And there was an aliveness that I was delighted to hear.

So then we did some surveys about that to figure out what makes you so alive.

And the they gave us lots of feedback.

And one wa they found unconditional love.

They found unexpected joy, and they found what they call radical patience.

They learned to slow down and b with people and pay attention.

Well, that's something in today's day and age.

I mean, we're all addicted to these cell phones and just have the attention span of gnats, you know?

Right.

Yeah.

To learn that kind of patience.

It's it's a respite from our phones and the outside world.

When volunteers come, we know to just put things awa and we focus on relationships.

It's really an intentional, incredible opportunity to be with your neighbor so they get more out of it than anybody, which is beautiful to see.

Well, this is a question for both of you, because you tell the story about how you know, how it came to be.

And really it was, you know, a prayerful ask.

And we'll talk about what, you know is there a need in our community that's not being met?

Right?

Yes.

Talk about how that happened.

And then and then your emergence there's as the co-founder.

So 12 years ago, we were asking at First United Methodist Church what needs to happen in this community.

That will not happe unless the church does it.

Okay.

And the key to that is don't ask your church members.

Ask the local authorities.

Ask social service agencies.

Ask the mayor of the city council, County commission.

You get a long list of things.

But we noticed on there one, they kept coming up something for people living with dementia and their families, and that just resonated with our congregation.

That was great.

I didn't know what it meant, though, and so we prayed about it for a year.

And out of the blue, I got a phone call from Daphn and she said, I see the vision.

Well, that was remarkable.

However, as I got to know her 12 years ago, she had a academic background in gerontology.

She had run senior centers for 15 years.

She was uniquely equipped to see a vision, and it was out of that vision that our our trustees allowed us to invest in her.

A year of stud where she developed the model.

We'll talk about that how your background translated into this foundatio that has just grown and grown.

I want to ask you about that growth, but how did your background translate into that?

I think, that I had run memory care units in long term care.

Previously in my first career for 15 years.

And seeing the red tape, seeing, care given by a staff which we we need long term care.

Absolutely.

But when I was invited to to begin a ministry and really work with volunteers, oftentimes you hear, oh, you know, we've got to work with volunteers.

But it was a blessing.

I had to cut back people because there were so many in the community from all different churches, that wanted to help with a new vision.

And, you know, one o our greatest problems was, was getting enough participants at the very beginning to serve the volunteers.

Because so many people could see that this was not rocket science.

This was not, state regulations.

And this was four hours from 10:00 to 2:00.

Of ball games and music and art and service projects.

You know, i wasn't full of empty activities.

It was full of, neighbors being neighbors.

And, you know, when we get back to talking about the growth, we developed this model over ten years.

At First Methodist.

But what we recognized was whe we wanted to make this bigger, we we went all over the state trying to figure out how we were going to build, say, you know, a clubhouse in Montgomery to accommodate more people.

And it was an moment when we had a Jewish family, from Temple Beth or Allison Berman.

Richard Hannon.

They came from Montgomery.

Allison came an she's our mother in our program.

And she said, why does Birmingham not have this?

And I said, well, you can have our budget our brochures, our everything.

And that was the beginning of us recognizing that there are hundreds and thousands of churches and synagogues, where we could use existing building and not to have to pay overhead.

And therefore, that's a key factor in and how we began the network.

We didn't have to raise money for brick and mortar in one place.

We were going to use empty space during the week that was already paid fo with a huge army of volunteers.

So, you know, God has just put the people and the vision in place.

We'll talk about that growth, because, I mean, it's one thing to go to Birmingham and other places in Alabama, so there's going to be an 18 different states.

I'm curious how that has worked.

I mean, have you been a people reached out to you and said, hey, you've got something going here.

How do we get started?

Well, Bishop Brian was a big believer in me and sent me all over the country, speaking to conferences.

And then I've carried on that tradition.

And so any aging conference, religious conferences, recently did a podcas for the administration on Aging.

We are spreading the model because truly a senior center, churches, synagogues, anyone can do this.

And when we've got 13 years behind us of what works and what doesn' work, of shared best practices, it is really a magnet for different organizations.

Let's talk about the brai science luncheon the other day.

I gues this was a couple of weeks ago.

The first time I had been.

And I'm I'm.

I'm sorry that I have not been yet, because I really got a lot out of it.

Y'all have probably over a thousand people there.

A great program also featuring Lisa Genova.

She's the author of Still Alice and some other books in this in this, topic arena.

A lot to take away from there.

I'm getting the book, by the way.

Should be in the mail from Amazon.

One of the things that struck me.

I want to ask you about this, Bishop, is she talked about how, you know, those dealing with dementi or Alzheimer's have, obviously, you know, to wonder whether or no they're struggling with memory.

But that they haven't lost their emotions as their very human emotions, the full range of human emotions.

That really struck me as a member of the audience because I feel like maybe we do.

We take that for granted, whether it's a relative or somebody else.

Yes, maybe this person is is struggling with memory and to wonder, great healer.

They're still human.

They're still people.

They're still experiencin that the range of human emotions talk about that.

From your perspective, and as much as you've gotten involved in this issue, there has been a tremendous inside.

And the fact that she was there once again points to how early on, Daphne said, let's not just do this, let's do that well, but the community wants to know something about brain health.

So once a year, let's invest in the community by bringing in the best we can find.

But which you talked about that I couldn't help bu think about on the documentary.

Doctor David, Guild marker our wonderful medical associate at UAB, lead researcher in dementia.

He regularly says, remind people that though somebody neurons may have dementia, their feelings do not have dementia, right?

They know if they're in an environment where they're loved and they're cared for.

I think that's hopeful for all of us.

It means you show up and be there and connect with people, and you're going to be impacting them far beyond what cognitive ability might seem.

We're more than our cognitive abilities, and those feelings do not have dementia.

Great insight.

Yeah, absolutely.

Do you think that make a difference in terms of folks changing their mindset?

Maybe this documentary can be a big part of that.

Changing your mindset about, you know what?

You know, folks dealing with dementia actually experience.

Yes.

Well, I think, the general public doesn't realize there's over 120 identified types of dementia.

Okay.

And so one is may not be just like, you know, Alzheimer's.

I get asked all the time, you know, is Alzheimer's the same thing as dementia?

Alzheimer's is a form o dementia, just like Lewy body.

Just like Parkinson's.

Just like, you know people might not know that 40% of people living with Parkinson's develop dementia.

120 different types.

And we, you know, we just feel where we need to meet people, where they are in their journey, their emotions are still there.

Our friends at respite, still make new memories.

They recognize us in the grocery store.

They know they've got new friends.

And to see new memories forming among us.

It's it's really spiritual.

Yeah.

That is powerful.

Okay.

If there are groups out there, they've seen this documentary there.

I can just see it right now.

Folks are thinking, man, I' willing to get involved in this.

First question I would ask you is, let's just say you start a new chapter or, you know, involve a new church somewhere, another state, another city.

What type of support services does respite for all offer?

Those those community organizations that want to be a part of it?

Thank you.

That is a wonderful question.

So respect for all.

The Foundation really focuse on giving tools and resources, to new churches, new organizations and sustainability.

My long term care background of business, really gave me perspective.

And and how can we coach ministry people?

How can we coach community leaders?

That might be good, leaders, but they might not have the business skills to make this sustainable.

So we're putting that together.

We have an annual training every year for three days that bring in top dementia speakers across the country.

Leadership speakers.

We had Brody Crowel at the last one on leadership.

We want to provide these guys, with every aspect of running a sustainable thing that's going to be here forever, right?

We have monthly director calls that focus on dementia, on fundraising, on troubleshooting.

We want to resource, the new director and enterprise, the new director in Huntsville at First Baptist.

We want to resource the director in Idaho.

That might not have the time or the know how to get to national, resources.

So the foundation really focuses on building these people up for sustainability.

And if I am a church out there or another organization wanting to get involved, how do I do that?

Do I get in touch with you and do a website?

Thank you.

You're going to go to respite for all, for alall dawg.

And there's just a myriad of, different ways to enter.

There's a word about on the website.

We had a large, funding grant, from a group in California six years ago that helped us film, six differen episodes of a respite road map.

So it leads you all into the business of respite recruitin volunteers, recruiting families.

In churches can purchase that for a small, minimal fee.

But then to be a part of the network is free.

But to go to the website is key, to make that first contact.

We've developed an onboarding system.

I had, a retired minister, Reverend Jean Jernigan, that developed an onboarding system that is infallible.

It's great.

You're building upon the experience of, you know, like I said, 1 years of growth to make it easy for churches, for families, for food.

We want to add water and stir.

And God said I value the chance to talk to, clergy leaders or lay leaders where we can share the data about how their volunteers grow, through this ministry.

So it's a disciple growth ministry as well.

So those are the conversations that I especially enjoy getting to have.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, look, thank you again for, respect for all as an institution.

Congratulations on your growth.

I know it's very meaningful for a lot of folks.

And thank you for producing this documentary that we're honored to put on our air.

I just know that it's going to lead to more folks participating in something that this really meaningful and really helpful, like you said, a respite.

Todd, we have 17 ministries across the state of Alabama, and I want to say one in every county.

So I hope people watching this documentary on the oped, will reach out because we want to help resource you.

We've got seed grants again, the leadership to help you on the journey.

And again, that's respite for all, dawg.

Thank you both again.

Thank you.

We're grateful.

Thank you.

We'll be right back.

Since 1997, Alabam Public Television has provided programs, services, and resources to childcare professionals, teachers and parents.

Visit AP tv.org/education to learn more.

Before we go, we here at Alabama Public Television are remembering the life of Desmond Wingard, the news director at Wsfa 12 news.

He died Thursday after a battle with cancer.

He started working at SFA in 1999, becoming news director in 2022.

He was just 46 years old.

Visitation hours will be held on Saturday from 5 p.m.

to 7 p.m., and on Sunday from 10 a.m.

to 11 a.m.

at the Lea Memorial Chapel in Montgomery.

A Celebration of Life ceremony will follow.

Des was a tremendous newsman and just a great person.

He will be dearly, dearly missed.

Thanks for watching Capitol Journal.

We'll be back next week.

At the same time right here on Alabama Public Television for our Capital Journal team.

I'm Todd Stacey.

We'll see you next time.