Transcript Highlights:

• So there are options available.
• So there are options available.
• You have couches that are comfortable seats, beds.
• However, most bed frames are stationary to the bedrooms.
• use program and eight beds for the youth who have sexually harmed.

Summary: The Health and Human Services Committee held an invited-testimony hearing on LR 425, which examines the Whitehall campus in Lincoln and possible long-term options for youth currently served there. Chair Brian Hardin explained that Whitehall houses two separate programs for adolescent males: a substance use program and a youth-who-sexually-harm program. Testimony from DHHS officials described Whitehall as a Joint Commission-accredited psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) that provides about 40 hours of weekly programming, family involvement, school services, and community reintegration activities. Officials said the department is evaluating whether the programs should remain at Whitehall or move to another state-owned facility, with Hastings described as the department’s preferred alternative because it is more residential in design than a youth rehabilitation treatment center (YRTC).

Transcript Highlights:

• to their next bed when the next<00:54:56.000> necessary<00:54:56.640> bed<00:54:57.040
• is a state-operated DCT facility bed.
• Availability is also a concern.
• > highintensity Medicaid beds in highintensity Medicaid beds in highintensity residential<01:13
• that were available to me in the state. that were available to me in the state.

Bills: HF2434

Keywords: healthcare, personal care assistance, worker retention, disability services, state funding, 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• At 10 p.m., it was: go to your cabins, get cleaned up, get ready for bed, go to bed, lights out.
• There's a bed in Byrd.
• So there's a bed in the Byrd lounge, she tells him.
• Now, you mentioned they've got assets available.
• There was another channel available on the walkie-talkie.

Keywords: 1185, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• <00:21:24.080> to this contact information available to this contact information available
• Chairman. 1,300 beds in the state—what's your estimate as to how many beds do we really need?
• 01:12:01.679> we<01:12:01.840> really as to how many beds do we really as to how many beds
• How is that information made available to the public?
• certification uh 50 square foots per bed certification uh 50 square foots per bed uh<02:02:24.760

Keywords: 1189, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• in committee last year by requiring DHS to publish on a quarterly basis the number of approved IC beds
• Requiring DHS to publish on a quarterly basis the number of approved IC beds, the average utilization
• But it dates back to October 18, 2023, for regions with high service capacity or availability.
• <00:52:16.200> to funds these funds are only available to funds these funds are only available
• to do it and and the same number of beds to do it and and the same number of beds get<01:09:44.719

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• beds.
• Kentucky beds. There are 16 halfway Kentucky beds.
• The halfway house beds—it's 2,561 beds statewide. I think my numbers differ from Miss Hillary's.
• And so with the community beds, they are allowed to come to a community bed instead of going back to
• to come to a community bed are allowed to come to a community bed instead<00:13:27.040> of<00

Keywords: Call to Order 00:17 Department of Corrections 01:35 Community Transitional Services 06:47 Administrative Office of the Courts 23:06 Department of Criminal Justice Training/ KSP 45:49 Adjournment 59:14, 958, all

Summary: The Public Safety and Judiciary Committee met without a quorum, so approval of the January 3, January 20, and February 3 minutes was postponed. The committee then heard an update from the Department of Corrections on halfway house and Recovery Kentucky funding and operations. Deputy Commissioner Hillary Daily said DOC contracts for up to 1,752 halfway house beds and 780 Recovery Kentucky beds, with 16 halfway houses and 13 Recovery Kentucky centers statewide. She reported 6,329 admissions in fiscal year 2025, average daily populations of 1,041 in halfway houses and 494 in Recovery Kentucky, and explained that Recovery Kentucky placements are more restrictive, generally excluding violent and sex offenders, while halfway houses serve probationers, parolees, and sex offenders who need treatment. She also described programming such as MRT, parenting, adult basic education, and trauma-focused services, and said some facilities offer supervised visitation. Daily said no new funding request was included in the current budget, though DOC has sought rate increases in prior cycles. Community Transitional Services director Barbara Stum also testified in support of halfway houses as re-entry and substance abuse treatment centers. She said CTS primarily serves men coming out of prison or returning to prison who need treatment, and that halfway houses provide security, accountability, treatment, employment support, and help with home placement. Stum said the state moved substance abuse treatment into the community in 2010 to avoid sending people back to prison for treatment, and argued halfway houses are the least expensive form of incarceration. She cited daily rates of $33.61 for CTS beds and DOC figures of $37.33 to $44.33 per day, compared with higher prison and jail costs, and said reimbursement has not kept pace with inflation since the last increase in 2019. She said staffing and supplies are the main pressure points, with counselor pay below market rates, and noted two counselor vacancies. A former resident, Michael Bird, testified that CTS helped him recover and re-enter the community successfully. The committee also received an update from the Administrative Office of the Courts on implementation of the video arraignment/video conferencing system. AOC officials Zach Ramsey and Charles Buyers said the system is now fully implemented in all courtrooms and is used for video arraignments and other Zoom-based court proceedings. Buyers described the pandemic-era transition from older, inconsistent equipment to improvised laptop/webcam setups, then to a more integrated vendor-supported system with touchscreen controls and a judicial support specialist position for training and operation. He said 324 courtrooms are already up to the current standard, with 128 remaining on an older bundle, and that there are no technical barriers to continued use. AOC said it is seeking $3.8 million in recurring annual funding to keep the systems upgraded and current, and plans to upgrade 46 systems in fiscal year 2026 across 15 counties.

Transcript Highlights:

• It roughly tripled our floor space that we had available, so we've become much more efficient.
• <00:41:11.960> and the Technologies we have available and the Technologies we have available
• This started in 2022, when the notice of funding opportunity was made available to states.
• in nursing beds, and why there is so much decline.
• We do need more beds for these facilities. We are short.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• and I'm available for any questions. and I'm available for any questions.
• available for is up to 100% of the cost. available for is up to 100% of the cost.
• <01:25:04.600> to the last dollars that are available to the last dollars that are available
• , existing shelters, and adding beds, existing shelters, and adding beds, constructing<01:32:27.120
• new beds and a focus on veterans. new beds and a focus on veterans.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Uh currently the available at that site.
• increase the amount of land available increase the amount of land available for<00:48:52.839>
• Um that building in bed count.
• Thank you and I'm available for phase.
• Sierra Club not available on Zoom chair. Sierra Club not available on Zoom chair.

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The committee heard three University of Hawaiʻi-related measures. HB 718 HD1 would appropriate funds for faculty and staff positions at the John A. Burns School of Medicine in cardiovascular, law, biology, tropical medicine, quantitative health/biostatistics, and environmental health and safety. Testimony was in support, including from university representatives and others who submitted written testimony. Members asked whether the positions were additional and how they would affect enrollment; the university said the hires would teach medical students and conduct biomedical research, helping increase the class size to about 77 and eventually 80, and noted a workforce paper requested by the committee would be provided soon. The committee then discussed SB 1170 HD1, which would grant resident tuition at any UH campus to certain graduates of Hawaiʻi high schools enrolling in undergraduate programs. UH supported the bill and said it had adjusted its testimony in response to prior committee concerns. Members focused on the proposed four-year window, asking why that timeframe was chosen and whether the change was needed at all. UH explained that four years would allow students who left the state to return and still complete an undergraduate degree or prepare for graduate school, and said the bill would help students who come back after one or two years but otherwise would have to wait a year to reestablish residency under current rules. UH also said it was discussing possible administrative rule changes as an alternative if the bill did not pass. Finally, the committee heard HB 1300 HD1, which would fund a University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center pilot study on cancer disparities among Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos, and people living near landfills in Nanakuli, focusing on social determinants of health, lifestyle, environmental exposures, and resilience factors. Testimony from researchers and advocates strongly supported the measure, saying the study could help explain cancer disparities and support future research funding. Members questioned the cost, the reliance on future federal or foundation funding, and the practical outcome of the study. The Cancer Center said the pilot would cost about $500,000 per year for two years, with later funding sought from federal, nonprofit, or private sources; it said the study would produce longitudinal data that could help identify at-risk groups and provide evidence for policy decisions, though members expressed concern that the project needed a clearer end goal and stronger case for public investment.

Transcript Highlights:

• I want to call out first that there's a notion that a bed is not a bed.
• Notion that a bed is not a bed.
• Harbor Heights can hold up to 46, which allows a two-bed flex space.
• You know, we have two 16-bed living units at Green Hill School and two 12-bed living units at Echo Glen
• One was happy to see that you secured the 16-bed facility, but are you searching for more?

Summary: The committee began with a work session on juvenile rehabilitation institution capacity, services, and staffing. DCYF Assistant Secretary Jennifer Redmond described overcrowding at Green Hill School and Echo Glen, driven by longer adult-style sentences extending past age 25, limited community placements, and small facility sizes. She said Green Hill remains above safe operating capacity, but staffing, injuries, large-scale aggression, and use-of-force incidents have improved over the past year. She also discussed Harbor Heights, a new 46-bed flex facility that had opened with 22 youth and would expand once a medical trailer arrives, as well as community transition services, vocational programming, behavior management reforms, and a request for more resources for mental health-focused facilities and staffing. Members asked about success metrics, developmental disability screening and supports, college access at Echo Glen, Mission Creek planning, and gender-responsive programming; Redmond said JR uses assessments, family involvement, and specialized living units, and that some requested funding had already been secured for returning a girls’ program at Echo Glen. The committee then heard from Team Child and the Youth Action Coalition. Greta Schultz said youth perspectives should guide system reforms and identified key concerns: overuse of sentence extensions, underuse of community transition services, continued criminal referrals from Green Hill to Lewis County, limited family contact, inadequate mental health access, and unequal education opportunities, especially for young women at Echo Glen. Justella Gonzalez, a former system-involved youth, said her time in county and state facilities was harmful, with staff mistreatment, poor education, limited therapy access, and humiliating restraint practices; she also said girls at Echo Glen lacked the same college opportunities as boys at Green Hill. Committee members asked for follow-up on county versus state experiences and on telehealth mental health services. The next presentation covered county-level services for youth involved or at risk of involvement with the justice system, led by juvenile court administrators Christine Simon-Smeyer and Judge Rachel Anderson. They outlined the juvenile court continuum from prevention and truancy work through diversion, detention alternatives, community supervision, and disposition alternatives, emphasizing evidence-based, trauma-informed, and restorative practices. Clark County was used as an example of a court that partners closely with schools and community providers, uses risk assessments and wraparound behavioral health probation, and offers detention alternatives without electronic home monitoring. They said most courts do not use detention for status offenses, but instead use court involvement to connect youth to services. They also described funding, noting that courts rely on a mix of state block grant and local dollars, and that recent cuts to early intervention funding reduced programming and staff hours. Members asked about detention for truancy, developmental disability identification, restorative justice practices, and the juvenile block grant. Finally, DCYF Assistant Secretary Nicole Rose and Katie Warren of the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECAP discussed child care and early learning impacts from recent policy and budget changes. Rose said Fair Start for Kids investments had increased child care access, provider participation, and kindergarten readiness, with more than 60,000 children in Working Connections care and rising ECAP enrollment and provider capacity. She said recent reductions will raise most family copays in 2026, delay eligibility expansions, eliminate some expanded eligibility categories, reduce ECAP slots by about 3,000, delay entitlement timelines, and cut provider supports such as rate increases for centers, complex-needs grants, trauma-informed and dual-language incentives, and infant/early childhood mental health consultation. Warren emphasized ECAP’s role in family stability, workforce participation, and reducing poverty, and noted its two-generation approach to supporting both children and parents.

Transcript Highlights:

• There's a bed in Byrd."
• She has gone to bed.
• They were sick in bed.
• Now, you mentioned they've got assets available.
• Radio that was available to them both.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So if you don't have the services available and the people there to serve them, then you're just doing
• And I don't know why, and I'd like to know if that funding is still available for use for this in this
• And I'd like to know if that funding is still available for use for this in this year's budget.
• year of an additional $4.2 million to expand those beds by another 49.
• The beds that have already stood up in the state so far are well, and there's a huge demand: hundreds

Summary: The Health Care Budget Subcommittee met to review agency budgets, vacant positions, and possible efficiencies across several health and human services agencies. Members were asked to identify savings and potential areas for increased funding, and the discussion repeatedly focused on whether long-vacant FTEs, reversion of funds, and staffing shortages reflect true operational needs or broader budgeting and recruitment problems. The chair and members emphasized that the exercise was intended to help the committee make more informed budget decisions and to identify structural issues that may require legislative action. For the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, members highlighted a large waiting list, including individuals in crisis and children, and discussed whether vacant positions and unspent funds could be redirected to services. Several members raised concerns about delays in crisis applications, the use of paper applications, and whether the issue is staffing, process, or both. For the Department of Children and Families, the presenters discussed vacant positions, the use of staff augmentation in state hospitals, support for expanding behavioral qualified residential treatment program beds, and concerns raised by audits of the managing entities, which showed procurement and financial management problems. They recommended continued oversight, reporting requirements on Medicaid enrollees receiving mental health services through managing entities, and support for the governor’s proposed funding items. Other agencies reviewed included Elder Affairs, where members questioned the need for multiple divisions, CARES assessments, and supervisory overhead; the Department of Health, where vacancies, turnover, pay gaps, and units of rate were discussed as barriers to recruitment and retention; and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, where the presenters said vacancies were tied to new nursing homes and recommended shifting a major priority into general revenue rather than trust funds. Throughout the meeting, members generally agreed that the vacancy review was eye-opening and suggested deeper, possibly separate, reviews of agency staffing, pay parity, and fund reversion practices. No formal votes were taken during the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• was enough plugs to either run a cardiac monitor, run their pumps, and plug in the bed.
• A few years back, we were a 68-bed acute care hospital.
• We are now at... 25-bed critical care at this hospital. It's a huge difference. Why?
• Of is what I just saw there, where our hospital goes from 68 beds to 25.
• I tried to talk to my administrator, but he wasn't available. Thank you, Representative.

Transcript Highlights:

• Historically, offender placement was driven primarily by available bed space.
• Historically, offender placement was driven primarily by available bed space.
• Historically, offender placement was driven primarily by available bed space.
• Historically, offender placement was driven primarily by available bed space.
• Historically, offender placement was driven primarily by available bed space.

Bills: HB60

Keywords: geoengineering, weather modification, environmental safety, atmospheric pollutants, criminal pollution, Meeting Start: 00:00:02 Roll Call: 00:00:08 26 RS HB 60 - AN ACT relating to geoengineering: 00:01:35 Department of Corrections Update: 00:32:59 Kentucky Parole Board Update: 01:19:21, 958, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The funding is also used to create test beds that link university research and discovery and development
• When I mention test beds, here I mean these are federally funded infrastructures. where we can take the
• So either they have not become available, or they will no longer be available.
• Similarly, when you're talking about the test beds where we were doing prototype things and testing,
• New Mexico Tech and New Mexico State University have incredible test beds.

Transcript Highlights:

• Um so we had know I'm always available.
• has a bed capacity of 628. has a bed capacity of 628.
• center outside the fence, and a 1,000-bed facility.
• We decided and a thousand bed facility.
• The state is somewhere between 500 and 650 beds short of not forensic level but therapeutic level beds

Keywords: 910, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• We staff the hospital with a nurse that is immediately available for a delivery.
• How many beds do you have at your hospital? I'm sorry? How many beds?
• We are a 22-bed critical access hospital.
• Availability of cooling devices, families are given something irreplaceable: time.
• This is where something like a cooling bed becomes essential.

Bills: HB18, HB37, HB116, HB388, HB879, HB913, HB1151, HB2216, HB2358, HB2809, SB577, SB1590, SB1782, SB1887, SB2744, HB18, HB37, HB116

Keywords: rural health, hospital funding, healthcare access, mental health services, financial stability, perinatal bereavement, healthcare, hospital training, bereavement support, maternal care, fetal demise, stillbirth, neonatal death, parent-child relationship, involuntary termination, family law, child welfare, child protection, HB 388, HB388

Transcript Highlights:

• Meanwhile, those new innovative products or, you know, new formulations would be available potentially
• Meanwhile, those new innovative products or, you know, new formulations would be available potentially
• But that doesn't mean that the old stock isn't available and also used equipment isn't available.
• That doesn't mean that the old stock isn't available and also used equipment isn't available.
• In California, at a time when many systems are reducing beds and scaling back services.

Keywords: 987, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• House Bill 548, FN, specifically also removes a moratorium on nursing home beds, skilled nursing beds
• <01:05:16.079> and presumably you still have the beds and presumably you still have the beds
• there's opioid abatement funds available there's opioid abatement funds available to<01:40:21.440
• um make available the questions online? um make available the questions online?
• So 16 beds or less is considered below that threshold, and Medicaid participation is available.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The Division 3 work session focused largely on amendment 1176 to HB 2, which would have incorporated the substance of HB 548FN, a House-passed bill creating a direct-pay or membership-based model for health care facilities. Representative Mlan described the proposal as a way to increase competition in health care by extending the direct-care model used in primary care to facilities, arguing it could encourage innovation and that concerns about widespread harm to critical access hospitals were overstated. He pointed to Oklahoma’s long-standing Surgical Center model as evidence that the approach had not spread broadly or displaced hospitals there. Several members and witnesses raised concerns. Representative Stringham questioned whether the model would shift profitable services and patients away from existing hospitals, potentially worsening their finances and affecting Medicaid-related funding. David Ross, speaking for county nursing homes, opposed the language because it also removed moratoriums on nursing home, skilled nursing, inpatient rehabilitation, and self-pay beds, warning that it could increase pressure on Medicaid rates and undermine community-based care. Ben Bradley of the New Hampshire Hospital Association said the proposal appeared to create a separate regulatory framework for direct-pay facilities and raised concerns about patient safety, CMS participation rules, and a separate patient bill of rights. The chair concluded that, because HB 548 was already moving through the Senate, the HB 2 process was not the best vehicle for the policy and that the issue should be left to the Senate’s more deliberative committee process. Representative Ferski moved to not accept or remove amendment 1176 from the agenda, and the committee approved the motion by roll call, 9-0, withdrawing the item from HB 2.

Transcript Highlights:

• > Rowan<00:10:42.240> County The services available in Rowan County The services available
• <00:10:47.680> in services that are available in services that are available in Lexington.
• 64 beds, which would give us additional beds over what we have currently for high-risk offenders in
• around 64 beds around 64 beds uh<00:57:24.079> which<00:57:24.319> would<00:57:24.559
• would give us additional beds uh which would give us additional beds over<00:57:25.839> what<

Keywords: Meeting Start: 00:00:03 Roll Call: 00:00:09 Agency Updates: 00:01:44 Juvenile Justice Advisory Board Update: 00:03:36 Department of Juvenile Justice Update: 00:23:10, 958, all

Summary: The Juvenile Justice Oversight Council approved the minutes from its November 8, 2024 meeting and welcomed new member Representative Nick Wilson. The council also heard an update from the Administrative Office of the Courts on a school attendance awareness campaign aimed at reducing truancy referrals to court, and a member requested a future, more detailed presentation on truancy trends. The council then received an update from the Juvenile Justice Advisory Board from Dr. David Frink and Elsie Berger. They described the board’s membership, meeting schedule, public access, annual report and three-year plan, and its role in helping Kentucky remain compliant with federal juvenile justice requirements so the state can receive Title II funding. They said the board reviews grant applications for community-based services, substance use, and early intervention programs, with about $584,000 in federal funds this year and a little over $600,000 expected next year. Members asked about participation, board vacancies, and how to engage with the board, and the presenters emphasized the importance of statewide representation and community input. The Department of Juvenile Justice then provided a broader update through Commissioner Randy White and Deputy Secretary Mona Wamik. White said DJJ is under an ongoing U.S. Department of Justice investigation focused on conditions in detention facilities, including use of force, isolation, abuse, mental health care, and special education, and said the department has cooperated with repeated information requests and site visits. He also reviewed recent legislative and administrative changes, including 2023 Senate Bill 162, regional detention planning, facility segregation requirements, staffing and salary investments, improved staffing levels, reduced mental health vacancies, and training efforts related to security threat groups. He said DJJ has made progress but continues to work on staffing, safety, and facility improvements.