KCDC Disability News Message

Martha K. Gabehart | Executive Director
Kansas Commission on Disability Concerns (KCDC)
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly
900 SW Jackson, Suite 100 | Topeka, Kansas 66612
(785) 296-6525 (direct) | (785) 260-4027 (cell)

APSE 2023 Creating Connections conference is June 12-15. This is the last week to register. You can register here.

This message is from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS)

Secretary Howard is pleased to announce the formation of the KDADS Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) Leadership Committee to help move six key areas forward to better serve individuals living with Intellectual/Developmental Disability (I/DD) and co-occurring mental health diagnoses. Following the SIM Conference November 9-10, 2022, stakeholders with years of experience were invited by Secretary Howard to join the SIM Leadership Committee and bring expertise from key intersections of the community: law enforcement, judges, managed care organizations, self-advocates, mental health providers, and other stakeholders. This committee will lead and define priority areas and develop metrics to measure success.

The Intrust Bank job vacancy listing is attached below. Please feel free to share with others.

Join us for a three-day, in-person event for transportation professionals, advocates, and community members from across the state. You will deepen your understanding of the Kansas Active Transportation Plan and build valuable partnerships as you learn how to improve walking, biking, and rolling in your community through workshops, presentations, and other activities.

Walk Bike Roll Kansas Active Transportation Summit
September 20–22, 2023
McPherson Community Building
122 E Marlin Street
McPherson, KS 67460

Wednesday and Thursday sessions will feature Kansas practitioners and advocates as well as national experts covering topics such as safety, equity, culture shift and education, and system longevity. Plus, enjoy a complimentary day of Safe Routes to School sessions on Friday.

KOBD is excited to establish an industry roundtable that will take place every two weeks for the next couple of months on the 2nd and 4th Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Roundtables are intended to provide a space to discuss and share updates from the Office of Broadband. Additionally, NTIA Federal Program Officer Melinda Stanley will be on to clarify program questions. To register click the button at the top right.

The Kansas Office of Broadband Development (KOBD) is launching the Lasting Infrastructure and Network Connectivity (LINC) program, which is a multi-faceted effort to improve broadband infrastructure, last mile & middle mile connectivity, and Internet Connection Point capabilities within the State of Kansas. Through this program, applications will be solicited, and grants will be awarded for Broadband Infrastructure, Last Mile and Middle Mile Solutions, and Internet Exchange Point Solutions.

Service providers may submit applications for any or all capabilities, each application will be evaluated on its own merit. Service providers may submit multiple applications, specifically for Broadband Infrastructure, given specific geographic considerations for each type of application in these categories. Middle Mile and Internet Exchange Point Solutions are combined capabilities where an applicant may submit an application for either Middle Mile or Internet Exchange Point capabilities or both capabilities.

KOBD was just informed by the Office of the Treasury that recipients of the CPF Award will need to provide BDC location data to our office by June 5 through the submittable portal in your progress report.

Additionally, the Department of the Treasury released their finalized supplementary guidance regarding the applicability of the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (the “Uniform Guidance”) to broadband infrastructure projects funded by the Capital Projects Fund (“CPF”) programs.

Casey Russell was hired as Broadband Infrastructure Program Manager for the Office of Broadband Development in April 2023. Prior to joining the state, He was a Network Engineer for the Kansas Research and Education Network (KanREN) for a little over a decade. He installed, managed, and operated fiber optic transport equipment, Route/Switch hardware, and customer premise equipment for the network that served around 85 community anchor institutions around the state. KanREN acquired leased telecommunications circuits, acquired fiber resources via IRUs, and leveraged partnerships to utilize municipal fiber to reach its members all over Kansas.

Casey has also been active in the technology side of the research and education community. He serves on a packet marking working group that is developing internet standards for identifying research traffic as it traverses the Internet and the big research networks such as Internet2 and Energy Services Network. Before joining the state, he was also active in a working group developing and testing the Automated Multicast Tunneling Protocol (AMT). Finally, he has been involved with different kinds of state and federal grant programs throughout his career and is a two-time National Science Foundation Panel reviewer in the technology area.

Outside of the office, Casey likes to spend time with his wife and two grown daughters. During their free time, they like to travel to visit family back in Southeast Kansas. When not traveling, you will often find him at home tinkering with technology or playing video games. Casey also enjoys cars and has a 1967 Chevy BelAir project car . He's excited about pulling it out soon and getting ready for summer driving. Casey shared a picture of his BelAir below. A legacy car, the BelAire was bought new by Casey's wife’s great-grandfather. Want to connect with Casey? Send him an email at [email protected].

We understand there are known inaccuracies with the map and want to support an accurate representation of the coverage in Kansas. A couple of reminders from our office and the FCC are listed below:

Last week, the Federal Communications Commission announced the release of the new Broadband Funding Map. The map outlines funding from federal broadband funding agencies (including NTIA) in a format like the National Broadband Map. You can explore the map and your specific communities here.

The FCC has a portal for consumers “to share their stories and experiences in obtaining broadband internet access,” as part of the FCC’s efforts to combat digital discrimination. The FCC’s Task Force to Prevent Digital Discrimination will be responsible for collecting these stories and experiences, which will help inform its digital discrimination work.

If you have concerns about the map we encourage you to connect with Stephen Shelton, our Broadband Data and GIS Analyst. Stephen can be reached via email at [email protected].

KOBD is excited to launch our mapping effort and seeks your assistance to test our upcoming campaign aimed at creating an updated Kansas map. This map will help identify and understand gaps in coverage based on first-person testing by Kansans. To participate, visit www.broadbandks.com and follow the steps to test the site. The collected data will inform KOBD's actions and strategies for the 5-year plan to #connectallKansans.

• TEAM KOBD finished our Roadshow across Kansas with the final event in Salina. A few quick roadshow numbers we want to share: 26 locations, more than 500 attended to share in a conversation and their perspective, and 870 neighbors engaged with our surveys. Staff traveled a minimum of 14,000 miles from the east to the west and the north to the south. In addition, we had conversations and consultations with sovereign nations from three tribes across Kansas. This work and the timeline have been and will continue to be grueling, but it is so worth it. The stories of hardship and opportunity for impact humble us.

• KOBD is excited to launch our mapping effort and seeks your assistance to test our upcoming campaign aimed at creating an updated Kansas map. This map will help identify and understand gaps in coverage based on first-person testing by Kansans. To participate, visit www.broadbandks.com and follow the steps to test the site. The collected data will inform KOBD's actions and strategies for the 5-year plan to #connectallKansans.

National: This week it was our pleasure to represent KOBD at the Mid-America Economic Development Council Best Practices Summit on a panel sharing about Connected Communities – Tactics and Solutions to Move Community Broadband Access Forward this week in Kansas City. KOBD Director Jade Piros de Carvalho was able to share with peers and supporting partners, Melinda Stanley our Federal Program Officer with the National Telecommunication and Information Administration, and Stephanie Meyer, Project Manager for the Office of Broadband with the State of Missouri.

State: KOBD Director Jade Piros de Carvalho had the honor of presenting on current KOBD programs at the TEL Forum, an annual gathering of professionals in the communications industry held in Salina, KS. This event provided an opportunity to learn about the latest technologies, requirements, standards, trends, and forecasted solutions.

State: KOBD Digital Equity Program Manager Kimberlyn Jones, participated in a Lunch and Learn Session with Stacey Knoell from the Kansas African Affairs Commission. Watch the video and hear the conversation here.

Local: KOBD staff attended a UFCW Local Two citizenship class to gain insights into broadband needs in Dodge City and from the refugee community. It was a pleasure to see and hear their perspectives as new to Dodge and new to Kansas.

Local: KOBD Digital Equity Program Director Kimberlyn Jones, participated in a community event that provided mock telehealth appointments and Affordable Connectivity Program enrollment opportunities for attendees.

Key deadlines, updates and upcoming opportunities from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) are outlined below!

• Permitting Best Practices: Case Studies: Case studies and examples of streamlining permitting including Broadband Ready Communities, E-Permitting, and Rights-of-Way (ROW). File attached below.

• Permitting Needs Assessment: Checklist for four major permitting categories including ROW, Pole Attachments, Conduit Access, and Environment Planning/Historic Preservation. File attached below.

• NEPA Review: Categorical Exclusions: Guidance on NEPA analysis as it relates to categorical exclusions (CATEXs) including the definition, the CATEX review process, CATEX qualifications, and a link to the DOC CATEX list. File attached below.

• NEPA Review: Environmental Assessments: Guidance on NEPA analysis as it relates to environmental assessments including the definition, preparation steps, best practices, and the review process. File attached below.


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