LaDonna Koebel: Employment and work-from-home scams prevalent during COVID-19 pandemic

Reports of scams to the Attorney General’s Office have skyrocketed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with dollar losses up as much as 8,000 percent compared to 2019. In August 2020, employment and work-from-home scams accounted for nearly half of the dollar losses reported to our office.
Scammers are preying on the vulnerabilities created by the pandemic and know that employment scams are...
Kentucky Skills U partners with Appalachian Regional Healthcare, offers free education

Kentucky Skills U, an agency within the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, is partnering with Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) and the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP) to offer free GED classes and employment to Eastern Kentucky residents.
Through this unique partnership, ARH will offer employment opportunities to residents in the EKCEP Region who do not have...
Anna Baumann: How are Kentucky workers faring this Labor Day; where are quality jobs families need?

The longest economic recovery on record and a state unemployment rate of 4.3% sounds like a strong foundation for Kentuckians’ prosperity. But a close look at the numbers this Labor Day shows an economy where many Kentucky communities still lack jobs, especially quality jobs families need to thrive.
When you take into account the many still-sidelined workers the official unemployment rate doesn’t...
Bevin signs order consolidating adult education services, WIOA partners under one agency

In an effort to align the state’s workforce resources, Gov. Matt Bevin has signed an Executive Order placing adult education services within the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet (EWDC).
Kentucky’s adult education services play a key role in helping Kentuckians become college and career ready by preparing individuals for the GED high school equivalency test, postsecondary education...
Lexington’s new upLIFT program offers free Lextran transportation services for city’s homeless

Lexington is partnering with Lextran to launch upLIFT, a new program that will offer free, conditional transportation services for the area’s homeless population.
The program’s goal is to eliminate one of the most common barriers — transportation — for those who are homeless and seeking employment, medical services, child care, housing or other basic living activities.
“Giving a person...
Kentucky HEALTH to partner with Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky in Medicaid waiver program

The Commonwealth of Kentucky has announced a partnership with the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky in preparation for the launch of Kentucky HEALTH (Helping to Engage and Achieve Long-Term Health), the state’s innovative Medicaid waiver program.
The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, a statewide nonprofit focused on health policy and advocacy, will support Kentucky HEALTH’s community engagement...
More jobs than graduates in food, agriculture, renewable resources and environment, study says

From 2015 to 2020 there will be 57,900 average annual openings for graduates with bachelor’s or higher degrees in food, agriculture, renewable natural resources, or the environment, says a report by Purdue University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But not enough graduates are expected to be experts in those fields, says the report.
Of those jobs, 46 percent will be in management and business,...
Give and take: Goodwill gives employment to thousands and continues to take donations
They take donations, but Goodwill gives, too.
Goodwill Industries of Kentucky placed Kentuckians into 2,881 jobs during its 2014 fiscal year, a 14 percent increase over 2013 job placements. The non-profit also paid more than $17.7 million in wages to people with disabilities or other barriers to employment.
Goodwill—the only nonprofit organization to make the 2014 list of Forbes...