LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Five days after announcing it would continue serving state-assigned children, Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children (KBHC) officials have rejected a state contract, a move that is expected to force the agency to downsize significantly.
At least half of KBHC’s 465-member staff eventually will lose their jobs, according to Executive Director Bill Smithwick.
The about-face comes after a Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper story quoted a state official as saying it was “a very real possibility” that the state might stop sending children to the homes.
The statements from Viola Miller, secretary of Kentucky’s Cabinet for Families and Children, came four days after KBHC announced it would sign a more restrictive contract in order to continue to care for state children.
On June 28, however, Smithwick said Miller would not speak with KBHC, and her attorney would not clarify her statements. “We believe that’s exactly what Dr. Miller meant,” he said. “We believe the state’s intentions are not to send children to us.”
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