About Us
KY SEED is a $9 million, six-year cooperative agreement initiated in 2008, between the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Kentucky Division of Behavioral Health to support Kentucky's further development of its system of care for children age birth to 5 who have social, emotional, and behavioral needs and their families.
KY SEED funds are distributed to eligible Kentucky IMPACT Regional Interagency Councils (RIACs) and other early childhood partners to enhance services available to young children with mental health needs and their families. The initiative is currently funding 11 regions in the state. The initiative also works to increase awareness about the importance of protecting and nurturing the mental health of young children and increasing recognition that while many children have mental health challenges that are real and painful, they are treatable. Early identification and intervention are essential to promoting positive outcomes.
Structure
The State Interagency Council for Services to Children with an Emotional Disability (SIAC) serves as the governing body for KY SEED. While the initial intent was to add an early childhood content expert to the SIAC, the SIAC members, after much discussion, chose to create an early childhood standing committee - the KY SEED Committee of the SIAC - to make recommendations to the SIAC specific to improving Kentucky's Early Childhood System of Care.
This committee is made of up of early childhood program experts from each of the SIAC member agencies, the statewide family network agency, and other state and local entities that provide services and/or supports to young children and their families.
KY SEED's State Administrative Team (SAT) will act in a grants management capacity for the initiative. That is, it will review and triage development, implementation, finance, evaluation, and other issues as they arise, as well as make recommendations within the scope of authority and to the appropriate entities. [e.g., Make recommendations to SIAC and RIACs on behalf of the KY SEED Committee of the SIAC, EKU, Division of Behavioral Health (DBH), and SAMHSA, etc.
Staff
KY SEED comprises four core staff members who work to enhance Kentucky's System of Care. The main offices for KY SEED are located at Eastern Kentucky University within the College of Justice and Safety's Training Resource Center (TRC). The TRC contracts with KY SEED to provide office space, administrative support, and budget oversight and management.
Beth Potter
KY SEED Project Director
Beth.Potter@eku.edu
859-622-7236
Christopher Duckworth
KY SEED National Evaluation Coordinator
Christopher.Duckworth@eku.edu
859-622-7284
Erin Truett
KY SEED Training/Cultural Competency Specialist
859-622-7281
Ronica Shannon
KY SEED Communications & Social Marketing Specialist
859-622-6672
Laura Beard
KY SEED Lead Family Contact/Kentucky Partnership for Families and Children
Laura@kypartnership.org
502-875-1320
1-800-369-0533
For more information about KYSeed please review our Profile Document (PDF)
More About us
KY SEED is a $9 million, six-year cooperative agreement initiated in 2008,
between the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Kentucky Division of Behavioral Health to support Kentucky's further development of its system of care for children age birth to 5 who have social, emotional, and behavioral needs and their families.
What is a System of Care?
A system of care is a coordinated network of community-based services and supports that are organized to meet the needs of children and youth with mental health challenges and their families.
The values of a System of Care are:
> Family-Driven and Youth-Guided> Community-Based
> Culturally Competent
Latest News
4-16-13
April is Autism Awareness Month The National Federation is partnering with the IDEA Partnership to share these ready-to-use materials for Autism Awareness Month! Share widely! (read more)
4-12-13
2013 Kentucky Fathering Conference Engaging Fathers Strengthening Families (read more)
3-4-13
FREE Communicare training, "Ages and Stages," will be March 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and March 28 from 2-5 p.m. or 5-8 p.m. Both sessions will be conducted at the Nolin RECC Building in Elizabethtown. Training participants will learn about ASQ-3, ASQ-SE and receive an overview about early childhood development. Seating is limited, so please reserve a spot by calling (270) 765-5145 or e-mail cquick@communicare.org. The trainings are sponsored by KY SEED and the Lincoln Trail RIAC.
3-8-13
Child Adult Relationship Enhancement (CARE) Model Training will be hosted three times in April by Erica Pearl, Psy.D. The events, which will be conducted from noon to 4 p.m. April 8, 11 and 15, will be located at 100 Gray Street in Elizabethtown. CARE is a trauma-informed, field-initiated practice that can be used by clinical and non-clinical adults who interact with traumatized children. CARE focuses on connecting with children and increasing children's positive behaviors. A light lunch and resource fair will begin at 11 a.m. A limited number of spots are available. RSVP by calling (270) 765-5145
3-4-13
What Leads to School Readiness? In Kentucky, we believe that the early years are the most important years. This means that we believe in the value of investing in our youngest children (read more)
3-4-13
ReThink Spring Break: Helping ensure the health and safety of adolescents during spring break and beyond (read more)
3-3-13
BE A CHILDREN'S CHAMPION MONTH: Children's Champions of Madison County encourages adults to help all children and youth have more opportunities to be successful. That's what it means to Be A Children's Champion! (read more)
3-1-13
Compare and Contrast: Medicaid Health Homes and Patient Centered Medical Homes. (read more)
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