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CASA of the Heartland keeping up with growth amidst expansion

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CASA of the Heartland Executive Director Michelle Kail says expanding to cover a six-county service area has its challenges, but the organization is up to the task, and is still growing in Hardin County.

“We’ve gone from serving about 120 children in our community in 2022 to 185 this last year, so we’ve seen an increase in need and an increase in services, and we’re happy to be able to step up and provide that service and meet that need,” Kail said.

Kail provided an update on the organization to the Elizabethtown City Council during their work session Monday. She said 983 child dependency, neglect, and abuse petitions were received in 2025, with about 60 percent coming from Hardin County. Court-appointed special advocates from the organization served 312 children last year.

Kail said 129 children are currently on the waitlist.

“We’ve seen those numbers steadily increase over the last several years,” Kail said. “When I started, we had about 98 kiddos on the waitlist. We got it down to 50, and we’ve seen a heavy increase in educational neglect cases in the last year and a half, so those numbers have gone back up.”

Kail said in terms of geography CASA of the Heartland covers the fifth-largest region in the state, but in terms of services provided the organization is the third-largest CASA organization in the state. She said the cost of foster care per child for the state is about $2,300 a month, while CASA advocacy per child is about $2,100 a year.

“CASA is a wise investment for our community leaders because the children that we’re working with are reunified or find permanency much more quickly than kiddos without CASA, and that number for us in the last several years has decreased,” Kail said.

Learn more about how to become a CASA, or about other ways to support the organization, at www.casaheartland.org.

Hardin County Fiscal Court hosts second February meeting

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The Hardin County Fiscal Court met for their second meeting of the month Tuesday.

Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul presented the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Achievement Award to Director Mark Peterson and the other team members of Hardin County EMS.

“Mission: Lifeline EMS is the American Heart Association’s national initiative to advance the system of care for patients with high-risk time-sensitive disease states, such as severe heart attacks and strokes,” Taul said.

Hardin County Coroner Pat Elmore presented his annual report for 2025. Elmore said the coroner’s office responded to 1,193 cases, about 23 more than the year prior. Elmore reported 45 accidents, three homicides, 1,106 natural causes, 32 suicides, two pending autopsy, and two undetermined. Elmore said an increase was seen in the number of suicides but a decrease was seen in the number of drug-related deaths.

The court approved, on second reading, an ordinance to amend the fiscal year 2025-2026 budget. The amendment accommodates about $700,000 in road repair expenses due to be reimbursed by FEMA. Magistrate Fred Clem asked Taul if there has been any response from FEMA on the payment.

“Not recently,” Taul said. “I mean, we’re still working on it., and so we’re still optimistic that we’re going to get the amount of money that we are wanting to get, but we’re still working through that. But no payment yet.”

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet March 10.

Elizabethtown City Council recognizes employees and firefighters

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The Elizabethtown City Council met for a work session Monday evening.

Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory said the city recognized new hires and longtime employees during a breakfast last week. Gregory made note at the meeting of employees who recently hit major employment milestones.

“We had four people that hit the 20-year mark this month: Pat Jelinek from Public Works, Kim Bell from Gas, Nathaniel Gardner from Fire, and Melissa Harrell-Nepi from Administration,” Gregory said. “The 25 year mark, Police Officer Billy Boling. The 30 year mark, Tim Reynolds from Customer Service, and then I like to call him ‘the granddaddy’ at the 35 year mark, Glenn Sims from Public Works.”

Elizabethtown Fire Chief Mark Malone recognized two recently promoted firefighters: Captain Shawn Seymour and Lieutenant Ryan Kelly. Malone also presented the EFD’s annual awards. 

Hunter Thomas was named Firefighter of the Year.

“This year’s Firefighter of the Year was recognized for going above and beyond by assisting with the recruit class and taking on some other projects around the department that he wasn’t asked to do, he just took it on,” Malone said.

Lieutenant Thomas Kail was named Officer of the Year.

“He loves the communication side of things, so he takes care of actually programming our radios and maintaining our radios,” Malone said. “It saves us a lot of money to be able to utilize him without having to go to a third party.”

Catholic Charities of Louisville Volunteer Coordinator Stephen King spoke to the council about the organization’s efforts serving area assisted living facilities and nursing homes. King said the organization is recruiting volunteer ombudsmen and friendly visitors.

“Something like 60 percent of residents do not receive visitors, for whatever reason,” King said. “Family ties, or maybe their relatives have passed on, but we see a lot of loneliness, and so we’re really looking to bring some bright spaces to a lot of these folks in these facilities.”

Visit the Catholic Charities of Louisville Facebook page for more information.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet March 9.

Deadline for CKCAC Community Needs Assessment this week

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There is still time this week to provide the Central Kentucky Community Action Council with input for their 2026 Community Needs Assessment.

“The Community Needs Assessment is the first phase of our strategic planning cycle,” said CKCAC Executive Director Bryan Conover. “It allows us to ground our work in data and direct community input, ensuring we implement services that truly lift families out of poverty and toward self-sufficiency.”

According to the council, the needs assessment helps the organization ensure its programs “are effectively targeting the real-world challenges faced by local families.” A needs assessment is required annually to meet federal guidelines.

Data gathered through the needs assessment helps the council prioritize resources, identify gaps in coverage, and plan strategically.

“We encourage everyone in the Lincoln Trail region to complete the Community Needs Assessment,” Conover said. “Whether you have utilized our services such as Head Start, Senior Meals, or LIHEAP Energy Assistance, or you want to advocate for the community’s growth, your feedback has a direct hand in shaping local solutions.”

More information and a link to the survey can be found at www.ckcac.org. The deadline to submit a response is February 27.