Beth Potter – Page 19

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Transportation Tuesday: K-TAP Kentucky WORKS Program

Posted on June 9, 2020 | by Beth Potter

There’s a new module on the Transportation website! The K-TAP Kentucky WORKS Program is a service available to Kentuckians who are unemployed, under-employed, or about to become unemployed and are pregnant or responsible for a child under 19 years of age. This program offers monthly transportation support payments and yearly auto repair funds to work-eligible individuals.

The Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (K-TAP) is a program that provides financial assistance and support to Kentucky families in need. The Kentucky WORKS Program is a program available to those receiving K-TAP benefits and provides job-seeking assistance. The goal of this program is to enable work-eligible individuals to support their families through self-sufficiency.

This service is available to Kentuckians who are unemployed, under-employed, or about to become unemployed and are pregnant or responsible for a child under 19 years of age. Kentucky WORKS offers payments for transportation- and travel-related payments necessary to work, participate, or prepare to participate in Kentucky WORKS program activities. Participants can receive up to $200 per month for participating in four or more K-TAP activities per month or $15 per month for participating in three or less activities per month.

This program also offers $1,500 per year in auto repair and associated expenses. This can include repairs to make it functional (brakes, transmission or engine repair, mufflers, or tires) or other expenses like property taxes, vehicle registration and license fees, and auto liability insurance.

To learn more about K-TAP and the Kentucky WORKS Program, visit www.transportation.hdiuky.org/ktap.

Woman with long brown hair wearing a blue shirt in front of a classroom of 7 students wearing a black sweatshirt, burgundy sweatshirt and hat, black sweatshirt with multi-colored lettering, tie dye blue and pink shirt, blue flannel shirt, navy sweatshirt. One student, wearing a white sweatshirt with black cartoons on it, has his hand raised.

Participate in the 2020 Virtual Summer Leadership Experience

Posted on June 9, 2020 | by Beth Potter

The 2020 Virtual Summer Leadership Experience for Kentucky high school students with disabilities entering 11th or 12th grade will be held online from July 29 – 31 from 10:00am – 4:00pm daily. Register by July 12 at bit.ly/308S9ac to reserve your spot. Campers with articulated plans to continue their education upon exiting high school are given priority acceptance. Camp sessions include financial aid, access to resources to support student success, health and wellness, and leadership skill development.

This camp is sponsored by our partners at the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. Contact teresa.belluscio@uky.edu for more information.

Two young preschool-aged boys working with a teacher on a puzzle.

Supporting Kentucky’s Child Care Programs

Posted on June 8, 2020 | by Beth Potter

As part of Kentucky’s response to COVID-19, up to 38,000 Kentucky childcare providers will complete mandatory training to fulfill requirements to re-open their programs. Child Care Aware (CCA) of Kentucky, a program within the UK Human Development Institute (HDI), began working with the Division of Child Care (DCC) on May 20 to release training by June 1. Using a rapid development design, CCA/HDI staff developed the training and had it online on May 26 for DCC review and approval. The training was also provided with Spanish captions and translation of quiz questions.

ECE 020: Requirements for Reopening Child Care in Kentucky is offered at no cost to providers through HDI’s Online Learning Center found at hdilearning.org

The CCA Content Coordinators worked with DCC staff to develop training to promote and support the safety for their staff and the children they serve. This includes current regulations on healthy and clean environments; new and enhanced regulations for child care programs open during the COVID-19 state of emergency, and a refresher course on mandatory reporting of child abuse.

Approximately 6,500 providers have completed the training that went live on June 1. For more information, visit www.childcareawareky.org.

girl with red hair and black glasses wearing black dress and sweater standing in front of black railing with green trees and grass in the background

Universal Design Student Spotlight: Kyra Seevers

Posted on June 4, 2020 | by Beth Potter

Kyra Seevers, who describes herself as a lifelong learner, is a senior at the University of Kentucky majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Sociology. She works with the digital restoration initiative in UK’s computer science department which she says sparked her interest in interdisciplinary computer research. Because she is passionate about creating accessible software and studies user experience design and human-computer interaction, the Human Development Institute’s undergraduate certificate in Universal Design was a perfect fit for Kyra.

Kyra says, “Universal Design is not just designing for people with disabilities. It’s making the world around you so that we don’t need special accommodations. It’s accessible to everyone from the start.”

A Practicum in Germany

One of Kyra’s practicums took her to Germany where she worked with a university in Munich to create software to help people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) cross the street. She worked directly with people in the early stages of the disease to try and understand things like what colors, shapes, and motion they were able to pick up in their peripheral vision.

“I used a lot of my Universal Design experience directly related to disability and helping people with visual disabilities be safer,” she said.

A Practicum with Google

In her second practicum, which she completed last fall, Kyra interned at Google in the area of web security where she worked on making the experience of browsing the internet safer and less intrusive on Google Chrome.

“So that was a completely different pivot from my previous practicum, but both of them showed me different ways that Universal Design is so important to the area of technology,” Kyra said.

Universal Design and Disability

Kyra encourages others to take advantage of the Universal Design certificate program: “I would highly, highly recommend, even if you can’t complete the entire certificate, at least taking the intro course because it’s one of those life changing classes”. Because of what she learned in the certificate program, Kyra has gained an interest in disability rights advocacy.

“Universal Design is necessary in every field… because Universal Design is about creating a world around us that is more accessible to everyone, and every single job that you can possibly have gives back to the world around you, contributes to the community around you, and by learning the skills of Universal Design, everyone can contribute every day to making the world around you more accessible.

For more information on HDI’s Universal Design Certificate, click this link:
https://oldhdi.hdiuky.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Undergrad-Certificate-One-Pager.pdf.

-Amanda Corbin