At this year’s Nehemiah Assembly, we launched our new issue campaign to improve reading performance in our public schools. In an extensive research process over the past several months, we confirmed that on the most recent edition of the Ky. state reading test, 64% of all JCPS students are not reading at the “Proficient” level, and that number jumps to 79% for our Black children, and 74% for our children in poverty. On the other common measure that’s used — the “MAP” test — last year’s results showed that 55% of all JCPS students, and 71% of Black students, and 65% of students in poverty are below grade level in reading. Research shows that there is a clear connection between the inability to read and problems of crime, violence, poor mental health, etc.

Our research also confirmed that our low reading performance is not a problem created by teachers, but by colleges of education and large curriculum publishers who are not following the latest “Science of Reading.” Our conclusion is that JCPS must commit itself to a broad and deep retooling of the way it teaches reading, with a new enhanced focus on using an explicit, systematic phonics approach to instruction, in order for our children (especially those most disadvantaged) and our community to thrive.

On March 23, 2023, the Courier-Journal published an op-ed written by CLOUT which summarized our research and our conclusions, referring to reading as “the greatest civil rights issue of our time.” (click here).

CLOUT will continue to work with JCPS to ensure that the school district is following best practice that are consistent with the “Science of Reading” and meeting the needs of all students. Stay tuned for more information about this initiative.

(For more details, click here and scroll down to the section titled “Launch of CLOUT’s new “ALL Kids Reading!” campaign…”)

Following the killing of Breonna Taylor and the resulting community outcry in 2020, we launched our effort to address issues of community safety and equity. Our research confirmed what many in our membership have experienced, that various parts of our criminal justice system—police, courts, prosecutors, corrections—do not provide justice for all citizens. Many people have been victimized by these systems, and some have lost their lives. We decided that we need a different kind of policing, a different kind of criminal justice system, and different interventions with people in crisis.

So, in 2021 we were successful in getting the Metro Council to allocate funds to contract with the National Network for Safe Communities (NNSC) to come to Louisville to lead in what we named, and the city is now calling, the “Truth & Transformation” process. The purpose of the process is to improve police-community relations, and to address racial inequities in our criminal justice system.

During the last mayoral administration, the initiative was delayed. So we knew we needed the support of Mayor Greenberg and LMPD Chief Villaroel to get the initiative back on track and completed successfully.

Therefore, at our Nehemiah Action on March 27, 2023, we secured commitments from Mayor Greenberg to follow through on three important steps to completing the process: first, to hire an outside researcher to conduct a “fact-finding” research process on the history of policing in Louisville; second, to conduct a community listening process (to take place in CLOUT congregations and elsewhere) to gather personal stories from the past and present about police-community relations, and; third, and to work with CLOUT to develop specific policy and procedural changes coming out of the Truth & Transformation process.

CLOUT worked with Mayor Greenberg and Chief Villaroel for several weeks leading up to our Assembly to encourage them to make strong "acknowledgment of harm" statements at the Assembly. This is a step that was not taken by the previous mayoral administration, but we knew it would be a key to the Truth & Transformation initiative being a success.

When Mayor Greenberg was invited to the podium, and given extra time to make statement, he started by thanking CLOUT, saying, “Thank you for your commitment to addressing the challenges that we face in our community and the commitment to Truth and Transformation. We also appreciate your work putting together the Louisville Alliance for Sustainable Gun Violence reduction as well. Your energy and partnership are appreciated, and are really important as we work together to move our city forward in a new direction.”

He went on in his formal acknowledgment of harm statement to say this: “The DOJ investigation produced descriptions of police misconduct and abuse, and of too many people in authority looking the other way. This is infuriating. It’s unacceptable. And it’s inexcusable. It hurts to hear about the specific examples of abuse cited in this report, particularly cases of abuse against Black and brown members of our community, as well as women and people with disabilities. The abuses were committed by people who are supposed to serve and protect them. These are betrayals of the public trust, and betrayals of the integrity and professionalism that the overwhelming majority of our officers bring to the job every day, and every night. Far too many people in our community, over far too many years, have received contempt and abuse from officers of the law, sworn to protect them. To those people who have been harmed, on behalf of our city government, I’m sorry. You deserve better. We can and we will do better.”

In her statement, among other things, Chief Villaroel said, “I knowledge the pain caused by those who did not respect the law enforcement profession, and again, as I say, tainted the badge, and cast of shadow of mistrust upon community members. Those who decided to act in a manner contrary to their oath of office, have had a detrimental impact on this community, and they have cast that shadow yet again. And now we as officers are feeling the effects of that from those of us that want to do it the proper way. To the people who may have been impacted by the officers who did not value what they were called to do, what they were trained to do, what they said they were actually commissioned to do, I apologize for their behavior.”

(To watch a video of their full statements, as published by the Courier Journal, click here).
 
These statements, and the commitments made by Mayor Greenberg and Chief Villaroel, will provide a good foundation for the transformation needed in LMPD and in the relationship between the police and the community.

Be on the lookout for additional news about this initiative, particularly the community listening sessions, several of which will be hosted by CLOUT congregations.

Update March 2024: History of Policing Study
CLOUT has been working on issues related to Community Safety and Equity since 2020. A major focus of these efforts are the "Truth and Transformation" process, outlined by the National Network for Safe Communities. CLOUT secured a commitment to this process from Mayor Greenberg at the March 2023 Nehemiah Action. This  commitment included  an in depth research process into this history of policing. This was completed in 2023 by researchers from the University of Louisville. The History of Policing in Louisville: A Fact-Finding Report on Institutional Harms

Beginning in 2021, CLOUT conducted a citywide Listening Process, and then a 4-month research process, to develop solutions to problems related to crime and violence in Louisville. We concluded that, in order for our community to address this problem, there needs to be a coordinating body to make sure that there is a coordinated effort by all groups working to address this problem. 

At our Assembly in March 2022, Dr. Tad Hughes, Chair of University of Louisville’s School of Criminal Justice, committed to co-convene this body and to help lead a gap assessment to identify areas of need in addressing this problem. Dr. Monique Williams, Director of the Louisville Metro Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods has also committed to be a co-convener and leader in the effort. 

To see media coverage of the Assembly, click here for the lead story broadcast by WLKY-TV and here for the story by the Courier Journal.

At our Nehemiah Action Assembly last year, we launched our new issue campaign to address gun violence in our community. We asked the leadership of Louisville Metro’s Office for Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods and UofL’s Dept. of Criminal Justice to co-convene a new effort to bring together all of the groups working on the problem. Our research had revealed that, while there are a number of ongoing efforts to address the problem, there has been a lack of collaboration and coordination, which has limited the impact of those efforts. What we have needed is a coordinated effort, with groups communicating and collaborating together.

Our work last year resulted in the creation of the “Louisville Alliance for Sustainable Gun Violence Reduction.” The first work of the Alliance was to conduct a “social network & gap analysis” in order to identify which groups are doing what, and what might be missing.

Update April 2023: Mayor Craig Greenberg commits to support CLOUT’s work to address gun violence.

At our Nehemiah Assembly on Mar. 27, Mayor Greenberg committed to meet with CLOUT and the other stakeholders within 30 days to review the results of the analysis and to plan for next steps.

On the two days after the Nehemiah Assembly (Mar. 28-29), the LASVR hosted the “Community Violence Reduction Summit” at the Muhammad Ali Center. This event was one of the major results so far of our work launched at the Nehemiah Action in 2022. The event was attended by 200 or so individuals representing most of the local organizations working on the problem of gun violence. Our committee Co-Chairs Larry Grossman (Congregation Adath Jeshurun) and Jonathan Berkley (Centennial Olivet Baptist) both provided leadership at the event. Mayor Greenberg made a strong statement of support for the effort to reduce gun violence, and included a mention of CLOUT. (See photos below.) 

The participants in the event received a report on the results of the “social network & gap analysis,” which provided a picture of where we are as a community in terms of being networked, connected, etc. to address the problem of gun violence. The results confirmed what CLOUT had revealed through our research last year, that there is a great need for better collaboration, coordination, etc. Steps were discussed at the summit for how groups can be working together more so in the future.

Stay tuned for more information about our work on this issue and the work of the Alliance.

Beginning in 2019, CLOUT’s research revealed that older adults in Louisville are often forced to leave their homes and enter an institution due to a lack of knowledge or access to affordable services and programs for maintaining their homes and meeting their basic needs. (Courier Journal Op-Ed, Sunday, March 17, 2019)

We determined that our city needs a better system of informing and connecting our growing population of older adults to the services and social opportunities that they need in order to thrive and remain independent. This includes the creation of a “Village”-model program, as exists in many other cities.

This is a project which CLOUT initiated after hundreds of members of the community lifted up their concerns regarding obstacles that they or loved ones faced while trying to age outside a facility. This took place during CLOUT’s community-wide listening process in the fall of 2018. The member-led research on this project that followed involved meetings with top local professionals in areas of older adults' advocacy, healthcare, housing, home services, etc. This process was led primarily by older adults of diverse backgrounds seeking to change the aging process in the community where they live. 

We learned that nearly 50% of older adults in our community live alone, and the vast majority are seeking to age outside a facility. With thousands of older adults living alone, isolation is a serious problem. In Louisville, nearly 50% of older adults also have a disability, so everyday tasks that are necessary for aging in place can become overwhelming obstacles. 

Our research led us to the nationwide best practice of the "Village" model as a way of meeting the needs of all older adults in the community. Our focus became ensuring the implementation of a "Village" program in Louisville, specifically one that meets the needs of low-income older adults and those who live in service deserts. 

At CLOUT’s Nehemiah Action Assembly on March 26, 2019, held at Louisville’s Memorial Auditorium, with nearly 1,100 CLOUT constituents in attendance, we secured commitments from key officials on these solutions. 

Unfortunately, the launch of the Village has been delayed by the challenges of COVID pandemic, and other factors, but CLOUT leaders continued to meet with officials and other stakeholders to develop plans for its development and launch.

Update April 2023: The “Louisville Village” is launched!

At our Nehemiah Assembly on Mar. 27, we were pleased to finally announce the launch later this spring of the “Louisville Village.” Kathy Westerfield, Executive Director of the Louisville Village, made commitments to ensure that the Louisville Village follows all national best practices, and that it will be open to all eligible Louisville residents, regardless of income level. It will be open for membership by June 1, at first to persons who live or worship in Zip Codes 40202, 40203, 40218, and 40220, and then will be opening to other areas of the community within the next year. CLOUT urges congregations and community groups in those Zip Codes who are interested in getting involved to reach out to the Louisville Village office, at 502-576-3369.

At CLOUT’s 2017 Nehemiah Action Assembly, a dozen officials, including County Attorney Mike O’Connell, the CEO of Centerstone (formerly Seven Counties), Metro Council members, judges, treatment providers, and others committed to form the “Safe City Roundtable” for the purpose of jumpstarting the implementation of promising best practices such as: a "Living Room” program as an alternative to jail or the emergency room for persons in mental health crises; a LEAD initiative in LMPD, to get low-level drug offenders into treatment rather than jail; enhanced CIT training for LMPD; and better utilization of the current Drug Court program.

Over 2017-19, this resulted in the following:

• Establishment of The Living Room - CLOUT worked with Metro Council to secure initial funding to establish the program, and Metro Council allocated $325,000 for a pilot program. That program began in Dec. 2017, and primarily focused on persons delivered there by the police. In the pilot phase it served over 1100 persons with over 8000 hours of service, diverting hundreds of persons from the overcrowded jail. CLOUT continued to work with Metro Council for increased funding in 2018-19, so the program could open to the public (to include walk-ins, families bringing loved ones, etc.), and the Council allocated $1 million for that purpose. Once the program opened to the public fully in Dec. 2019, it experienced a 200% increase in guests, with 76% of them being self-referrals and 98% of them being diverted from higher levels of care such as police or EMS. In its first year and a half of operation, The Living Room assisted over 3000 persons. Unfortunately, due to city budget cuts, no funds were allocated to the program for 2019-20, and so the program has temporarily closed. CLOUT continues to work to reopen The Living Room.

• Increased utilization of Drug Court - At CLOUT's request, a training for judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and others was conducted in fall 2017, using experts from the National Associate of Drug Court Professionals. The result was an immediate increase of 20% in the utilization of the program.

• Establishment of the LEAD initiative - CLOUT provided community support for the establishment of a LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) initiative, which allows police officers to direct low-level drug users to treatment rather than jail. Due to a Dept. of Justice grant secured by the Louisville Metro Criminal Justice Commission, the pilot program began in spring 2018.

Over 2018-19, CLOUT engaged in meetings with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer's office and LMPD to improve public safety for citizens and police officers alike by ensuring that LMPD utilizes the department's de-escalation training and policies more consistently, especially when dealing with individuals who are acting out their health condition of mental illness/addiction. In a victory two years in the making, we were able to announce in October 2019 that new language has been added to LMPD policy and procedural manuals related to evaluating incidents of police use-of-force.

• In 2009, after a city-wide listening process, CLOUT leaders voted overwhelmingly to develop a new campaign of action on the problem of crime and violence in our community. After several months of research, CLOUT discovered that our district’s “zero-tolerance” discipline policies were making Louisville less safe by pushing students out of school and into the criminal justice system. For example:

• In 2009, 25% of students who began high school in the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) did not graduate. In 2013, that number was 30% for white students and 40% for black students.

• Nationally, students who don’t graduate are three times more likely to become incarcerated at some point in their lives.

• One third of all cases before Kentucky’s juvenile courts are initiated in the schools.

• In JCPS, black students make up 33% of enrollment and 62% of suspensions.

• CLOUT researched potential solutions to this crisis, and learned about “restorative justice” programs in court systems, which provide restorative alternatives to incarceration, and “restorative practices” (RP) approaches in schools—proven-to-work alternatives to zero-tolerance discipline policies, and which have dramatically reduced offenses and increased academic performance in cities across the country..

• So, at CLOUT’s 2010 Nehemiah Action Assembly, Ky. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Minton, Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell, and the judges of the Jeff. Co. Juvenile Court committed to support the implementation of a “restorative justice” approach in the local juvenile court as a way of reducing the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Also, Mr. O’Connell committed to discontinue the practice in his office of referring all school-related offenses to court without the option of court diversion. Also, JCPS officials committed to work with CLOUT to explore whole-school RP.

• Later in 2010, funding was secured for the hiring and training of paid & volunteer staff for “Restorative Justice Louisville,” which has since implemented a successful program using restorative approaches in dealing with certain juvenile crimes, without the use of juvenile detention.

• In June 2011, Superintendent Sheldon Berman left his employment with JCPS.

• At CLOUT’s 2012 Nehemiah Action Assembly, new JCPS Superintendent Donna Hargens committed to begin the implementation of restorative practices in schools and to begin the process of revising the JCPS Code of Conduct to reflect the use of restorative practices. As a part of her commitment, Dr. Hargens, other top JCPS administrators & school board members, and the president of the Jeff. Co. Teachers Assn. (JCTA) traveled to Baltimore with CLOUT leaders to visit a model school using restorative practices. Also as part of her commitments, in July 2012, Dr. Hargens convened an all-day orientation in restorative practices by administrators, school board members, and others, which was attended by representatives from almost all 150 JPCS schools. However, Dr. Hargens failed to provide a timeframe for implementation of the pilot program, and did not keep her commitment to formally invite and support interested schools in receiving the necessary training and funding to begin the pilot project.

• In April 2013, at CLOUT’s Nehemiah Action: Jefferson County Teachers Association (JCTA) President Brent McKim stated JCTA’s support of RP and committed to hold an information session for their membership on RP.

• In November 2013, JCPS released an Equity Scorecard confirming CLOUT’s research into the failure of zero-tolerance policies, especially for students of color.

• While Superintendent Hargens did not fulfill her original commitment to implement a pilot project of whole-school restorative practices in several schools, during the 2013-14 school year, JCPS began the implementation of the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program in fifty-three schools, which moved the district in a new direction of using research-based approaches to dealing with school discipline issues, rather than relying simply on discredited and ineffective zero-tolerance approaches.

• In February, 2014, CLOUT and JCTA held two successful events for JCPS teachers and community stakeholders featuring Dr. Fania Davis, Executive Director of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth. Participants at the events were asked to call for the implementation of RP and for the removal of zero-tolerance from the Code of Conduct. CLOUT also learned that JCPS was under federal investigation by the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Office of Civil Rights for racial bias in school discipline policies; so CLOUT collected and sent to the OCR 540 signed postcards in support of the investigation, and also conducted phone meetings with the OCR to provide our research and our perspective on the problem.

• In March and April 2014, after attending every session of the Code of Conduct revision committee, CLOUT brought over 100 citizens to two JCPS Board Meetings in support of a Code of Conduct that reduces suspensions and makes schools safer. JCPS passed revisions to the Code of Conduct that made minor changes to suspension policies and included some information on RP, but kept the zero-tolerance foundation of the Code intact.

• In June 2014, JCPS began training for principals and assistant principals in the new Code of Conduct and the basics of RP, as JCPS expanded implementation of PBIS.

• In 2014-15, CLOUT monitored the PBIS program, and since there was no discernible improvement, decided in the fall of 2015 to re-engage in an effort to get JCPS to implement whole-school restorative practices. CLOUT leaders attended Board of Education meetings, took part in the Code of Conduct process (and was successful in getting the initial Code of Conduct proposal thrown out), publicized JCPS data that was not widely available that showed the seriousness of the suspension problem, and held events related to revelations that JCPS had physically restrained and secluded 4,403 students while only reporting 100 incidents.

• JCPS continued to train stakeholders in basic RP in summer 2015, and expanded PBIS into over 100 schools district-wide. After CLOUT's appearances at JCPS Board of Education meetings in 2015-16, calling for “RP, not PR,” JCPS began a process to incorporate RP more so into the Code of Conduct, continued the training of 700 stakeholders in basic RP, and hired a district-wide RP coordinator.

• In early 2016, JCPS Superintendent Hargens & other top administrators and Board of Education members visited an RP school in Hamilton, Ohio. Then, in May 2016, JCPS allocated $5 million for improved behavior programs throughout the district, including $2.2 million for whole-school RP. CLOUT was invited to the meeting where JCPS heard bids from contracted trainers, where we successfully encouraged the district to contract with the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP). The IIRP was hired on a three-year contract to train a 25-member district leadership team, conduct whole-school training in four schools starting at the end of the 2016-17 year, and another 14 schools during the 17-18 year.

• In July 2017, Superintendent Hargens left her employment with JCPS.

• Over 2017-18, additional schools applied and were trained to implement RP. As of fall 2019, there were 28 schools & 3 other school-related agencies using RP, with an additional 10+ schools in line to be trained to begin in fall 2020. Many schools began experiencing significant reductions in behavior incidents, office referrals, and student suspensions—with some seeing as much as an 80% decrease in those measures. At the end of the 2017-18 school year, at the elementary school level suspensions at RP schools were running 13% lower than the district, and suspension days (actual time out of school) were 30% lower than the district as a whole.

• At CLOUT’s spring 2018 Nehemiah Action Assembly, the new JCPS Superintendent, Dr. Marty Pollio committed to expand implementation into an additional 10 schools in the 2019-20 school year, and to continue to expand implementation district-wide.

• In October 2018, JCPS officials and CLOUT leaders participated in the World Conference of the International Institute for Restorative Practices, in Chicago, IL, where JCPS officials led a workshop in how the district is successfully implementing restorative practices. The officials also presented at the national PBIS Conference that same month.

• During 2018-19, CLOUT leaders conducted site visits to Knight Middle School, where the principal reported that the school’s rate of suspensions has decreased by 80%, and Engelhard Elementary School, where suspensions are down by 79%.

• In early 2019, community leaders from several cities in other states participated in a conference call with JCPS officials to learn about the school district's implementation of RP; and in March 2019, community leaders from Pinellas Co., FL and Lexington, KY visited Louisville to meet with JCPS officials to learn about the implementation and to attend the RP Summit conducted by JCPS at Spalding University. Later in 2019, community leaders and school officials from Knoxville, TN visited, and visits by representatives of other cities are anticipate in 2019 and beyond.

• At CLOUT’s Nehemiah Action Assembly on March 26, 2019, with nearly 1100 CLOUT constituents in attendance, Superintendent Pollio committed to expand implementation of whole-school restorative practices into all 150+ schools within the next six years. This was the first time JCPS had committed to implement restorative practices district-wide, and represented a timeline that is half as long as the previous pace of expansion. This has already resulted in significantly reduced behavior incidents & suspensions in the participating schools.

• Since then, CLOUT has continued to meet with Dr. Pollio and his staff to monitor the progress of the expansion. In 2020, we have been particularly interested in how the COVID pandemic has affected the implementation of RP. At our Justice Ministry Celebration in August 2020, Dr. Pollio reported by video on the school districts continuing efforts, including under the current use of NTI/virtual learning. 

Updated August 2022: Thousands of children in 42 of our public schools (and MANY more to come!) are safer and more successful in school!

• Our campaign to address the “school-to-prison pipeline” by getting JCPS to implement whole-school Restorative Practices (RP) continues to be a success. At our Nehemiah Action in 2019, JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio committed to expand RP into all 150+ JCPS schools over the next six years. This will impact tens of thousands of students and their families, and has the potential to reshape the Louisville community for decades to come! Schools have continued to report significant reductions in student behavior incidents, suspensions, and other measures that show RP has been working well.

• In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was some setback to the district-wide expansion, with the postponed training of an additional twenty schools in summer 2020.

• At CLOUT’s 2021 Nehemiah Action Assembly, and in subsequent meetings in 2021-22, Dr. Pollio committed to make up the lost ground by accelerating the number of schools to be trained in RP. Training in restorative practices will be that much more important post-COVID, as students return from the trauma and isolation due to the pandemic, to rebuild community, reestablish relational skills, etc.

As of January 2023, 61 schools have been trained in using whole-school restorative practices, with many more to come. The result is that, in these schools, over 31,000 students have the opportunity to be safer and more successful!

• CLOUT launched the effort to develop a Louisville Metro Affordable Housing Trust Fund (LAHTF) in 2004, and received initial commitments at that time from several state & local officials to the concept. Since then, CLOUT assisted in the creation of the “Open the Door” campaign, which is a coalition of several local organizations that support the creation of an AHTF. In the meantime, CLOUT worked with allies to achieve in 2006 an ongoing dedicated source of revenue for the Kentucky (state-level) AHTF.

• Finally, in 2007, Mayor Abramson included a local AHTF in his Comprehensive Housing Strategy and committed an initial $1 million in seed money to it, and in 2008, the Louisville Metro Council voted 25-1 to establish the Fund according to the guidelines developed by CLOUT and our allies in “Open the Door” campaign.

• In October 2009, through the work of the “Open the Door” campaign, the Louisville Metro Council voted to move the creation of the AHTF and the Board was appointed by Mayor Abramson.

• At CLOUT’s Nehemiah Action Assembly in April 2011, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer committed to make it a priority of his administration in 2011 to identify an ongoing dedicated source of public revenue for the AHTF. The goal is to have a fund of $10 million per year going toward various affordable housing strategies in our community. Such a fund would produce 840 units of affordable housing per year, would generate 1120 jobs in the first year and 440 jobs every year thereafter, and would generate over $60 million in local revenue in the first year and over 30 million every year thereafter.

• While Mayor Fischer has not yet fulfilled his original commitment, CLOUT’s continued public pressure contributed to Metro Louisville creating the $12 million “Louisville CARES” affordable housing initiative in May 2015.

• CLOUT leaders and allies have continued to share testimonies and data on the benefits of the AHTF at Metro Council meetings in 2015-16, and in January 2016, CLOUT received major media coverage for publicly contrasting the city’s investment in the luxury housing at the Omni Hotel project (funded with $139 million in local & state taxpayer money) with the city’s lack of investment in affordable housing.

• At CLOUT’s Nehemiah Action Assembly in March 2016, Metro Councilman and Democratic Caucus Chair Bill Hollander (D-Dist. 9) committed to advocate for an allocation of $5 million for the AHTF in the 2016-17 city budget, and to work with CLOUT to secure dedicated funding for the Trust Fund in the future. In June 2016, Mayor Fischer committed $2.5 million for the AHTF in his budget, and it was unanimously approved by Metro Council. Over 2016-17, this has funded the development of 326 homes.

• At CLOUT’s Nehemiah Action Assembly in March 2017, four Metro Council members committed to support a $10 million allocation to the Trust Fund in the FY18 city budget. Following that, CLOUT led the successful campaign to secure an allocation of $9.6 million by Metro Council, which has funded 22 different projects that built or preserved 1,115 units through projects in 8 Metro Council Districts. Of these, 775 were renovations of existing units (while maintaining their affordability), and 340 of the units were brand new, through new construction or renovation of a vacant property. It is estimated that this investment of $9.6 million resulted in a leveraging of another $150 million in investments by other parties.  

• At CLOUT’s 2018 Nehemiah Action Assembly, five Metro Council Members (plus two who were absent) committed to support a $10 million allocation to the Trust Fund in the 2018-19 Metro budget, and to work with CLOUT to identify a ongoing dedicated revenue source. In June 2018, Metro Council approved an allocation of $10 million for the LAHTF in 2018-19.

• At CLOUT’s Nehemiah Action Assembly on March 26, 2019, with nearly 1100 CLOUT constituents in attendance, five key members of Metro Council committed to pursue additional funding for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund in the FY20 city budget. In spite of severe city budget cuts in other areas that year (due to a crisis related to state pension funds), $5 million was allocated. This represents a decrease of $5 million over the previous year, but it is significant that we were able to preserve the amount of $5 million for the Trust Fund in this fiscal year. Also, put together, it represents over $27 million in allocations to the Trust Fund over the past four years.

•  In 2020, the mayor’s FY 21 budget recommended another year of funding at the level of $5 million. But CLOUT worked with the Metro Council, emphasizing the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic were going to exacerbate the affordable housing crisis, and ultimately the Council reestablished in the budget the full funding level of $10 million.

• After the 2019 cut of funding by the Metro Council from $10 million to $5 million for the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, in 2020 CLOUT was instrumental in getting the funding back up to the $10 million dollar level. The funding is being used for rehab/development of a variety of housing types across the city to give low-income families quality housing with a rent or mortgage they can afford.

• At CLOUT’s 2021 Nehemiah Action Assembly, we secured commitments from Metro Council President David James and Metro Council Budget Chair Bill Hollander to support another $10 million allocation to the Trust Fund in the 2021-22 Metro budget, and to work with CLOUT to identify additional funds from the new federal American Rescue Plan. CLOUT is continuing to work toward a total allocation of $40 million or more. This will be an important component in the city’s efforts to address both the serious shortage of affordable housing and the racial inequity in housing that has long been a reality in our city.

• In 2021 CLOUT was at the forefront of the call for an even more significant investment to be made into affordable housing, which successfully resulted in securing continued city budget funding for the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund at the $10 million dollar level, plus a $40 million dollar allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funding.

• Update August 2022: Hundreds more families will have access to safe, quality, affordable housing!

  • Once again, in 2022, CLOUT worked with the Louisville Metro Council to ensure that another $10 million was allocated to the Trust Fund for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

  • CLOUT is continuing to work toward securing a source of ongoing, dedicated public revenue of $10 million (or more) per year for the LAHTF.

• As of May 2023, over the past seven years, CLOUT has assisted in getting the Louisville Metro Council to allocate a total of $97.5 million to the LAHTF, which has leveraged an additional $732 million for housing initiatives. So far this has assisted in the construction and/or preservation of over 4200 units of safe, decent, affordable housing!

• For the 2023-24 fiscal year, CLOUT will be advocating in support of Mayor Craig Greenberg’s proposed allocation of $15 million for the LAHTF, which will be most regular budget funding ever allocated to the Fund!

• At CLOUT’s 2013 Nehemiah Action Assembly, several members of the Louisville Metro Council committed to sponsor an ordinance to implement new hiring practices within Louisville Metro government and for companies who do business with local government in order to remove barriers to employment for persons with a criminal record. Specifically, they committed to make Louisville a “Ban the Box” city, and to extend that policy to vendors & contractors who do business with the city.

• After several months of work, including many appearances by CLOUT leaders before Metro Council’s full sessions & committee meetings, in March 2014 the Council voted unanimously (26-0) to pass the “Ban the Box” ordinance. With this vote, Louisville Metro became only the 16th city in the U.S. to pass this policy and to extend it to vendors & contractors.

• This policy is not only a compassionate way to help families get back on their feet, but is also a smart move by the city to address crime and the costs of incarceration & the courts. It will help thousands of individuals & families be able to support themselves by getting a job, and it will help the business community by providing a deeper pool of motivated & skilled employees.

What is “Ban the Box” and what does this ordinance do? 
The approved ordinance will provide more opportunities for the approximately 160,000 persons in Louisville who have a criminal record to get a job, and therefore be able to support themselves & their families. It will do this by prohibiting a check box or written questions of inquiry about a job applicant’s criminal record on employment applications for city jobs, and for jobs offered by vendors who do business with Louisville Metro government (with certain specified exceptions). Businesses will still be able to ask about criminal records and conduct criminal background checks as part of their interview process. Under the ordinance, Louisville Metro government’s current practice of not having the box for city jobs has become law under city code, and the same practice is now required of vendors who do business with the city. 

• At CLOUT’s 2015 Nehemiah Action Assembly, officials representing TARC, KIPDA, and Riverport businesses committed to expand TARC service to Riverport industrial park in southwest Jefferson County, home to 115 businesses and 7000 jobs. Through CLOUT's work, KIPDA ended up ranking this their number one priority transportation project and advocated for funding through a state-administered CMAQ grant. Unfortunately, the state chose to spend the CMAQ money on a recreational bike path in Covington, KY instead.

• Following this, TARC kept their commitment made at the Nehemiah Action to convene a meeting of stakeholders, where Riverport businesses and government leaders discussed the idea of TARC matching business contributions to pay for expanded service. At CLOUT’s request, TARC distributed a follow-up survey to gauge which additional bus trips were most needed.

• At CLOUT’s 2016 Nehemiah Action Assembly, TARC committed to develop a plan to move the project forward.

• Finally, in June 2017, TARC launched the new circulator bus to provide transportation to workers in the Riverport Industrial Park.

• At CLOUT’s 2011 Nehemiah Action Assembly, officials of the Jeff. Co. Public Schools (JCPS) committed to develop a comprehensive plan to deal with the problem of school bullying, to include an improved definition of bullying, required training for all school personnel, an enhanced tracking & reporting system, and evidence-based interventions.

• Beginning in fall 2012, JCPS began the implementation of a plan which includes all of the elements identified by CLOUT, as well as additional steps that the school district is taking. Specifically, it includes:

1. Bullying Prevention Binders (training guide for school staff) – administrators from all three school levels have been trained in how to use the binders, and all schools have copies of the binder; the materials are also online & available to both staff & parents, including PowerPoint presentations to help all students (bully, victim, & bystanders).

2. Ongoing Bullying Prevention Trainings – special training specific to new JCPS employees; training for all employees; parent workshops; online training available to educators & parents; JCPS employees have Professional Development training available online, and parents also have access to the training.

3. Bullying Reporting – all bullying suspensions are now reported on the JCPS “Infinite Campus” database system & can be monitored immediately; a Bullying Report Form is now available online for parents & JCPS employees to utilize; a new Flowchart for Actions in Response to Allegations of Bullying is being used by all JCPS employees to ensure consistency in dealing with reports of bullying; Asst. Superintendents have received training & are now ensuring that school administrators are trained.

4. Cultural Competency Training – online for all JCPS employees to access.

5. District-Wide Bullying Prevention Committee – consists of active members from all JCPS departments working together to continue to create a systemic approach to bullying prevention, based on best practices; Student Response Team Bullying Prevention Coordinator is available as an ongoing resource.

• In 2009, due to CLOUT’s work, (then) Mayor Jerry Abramson agreed with CLOUT’s proposal to convene local banks & credit unions to develop an initiative to offer products & services to reach out to the thousands of unbanked households in the Louisville area, and to apply to the National League of Cities (NLC) to be selected as one of eight cities to receive a year of technical assistance with the initiative. Louisville was selected by the NLC to receive their assistance. Most major local banks & credit unions came together to develop the initiative, and “Bank On Louisville” was launched in July 2010.

• As of 2022, Bank On Louisville has connected more than 43,000 residents to safe and affordable bank accounts and facilitated more than 26,000 opportunities for quality financial education for Louisville residents.

• At CLOUT’s 2008 Nehemiah Action Assembly, officials with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health & Family Services, and 12 other local & state health officials agreed to work together to develop a pilot project for Jefferson County with the goal of enrolling 6000 additional children in the next 3 years in Medicaid & KCHIP (Ky. Child Health Insurance Program). Through subsequent meetings under CLOUT’s leadership, the Regional KCHIP Task Force was formed.

• Later in the year, through the efforts of CLOUT & allied organizations across the state, Gov. Steve Beshear committed to dedicate $31 million (to be matched by $81 million in federal funding) to enroll 35,000 children in KCHIP over the next two years.

• Since the launch of the Governor’s initiative in Nov. 2008, over 47,000 children across the state, including over 9,000 in Jefferson County, have been enrolled.

• At CLOUT’s 2007 Nehemiah Action Assembly, (then) Ky. Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph Lambert committed to double the size of the local Drug Court program and to provide more training for judges in the benefits of the program. Those commitments were met, and now over 200 persons are participating in the program (up from 89 in 2008).

• Also at that Assembly, (then) Ky. Dept. of Corrections Commissioner John Rees committed to create a new training program in issues related to drug & alcohol addiction for all Probation & Parole staff statewide. This program is now in place, and is required for all new & existing staff.

• Also in 2007, Mayor Jerry Abramson committed to establish a new drug treatment program in our local jail, and to create a new position of Drug/Alcohol Counselor on the staff of the Louisville Metro Dept. of Corrections. Those commitments were met, and hundreds of inmates have already been assisted.

HISTORICAL LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

These are just a few of the community improvements resulting from CLOUT’s work since its beginning:

• Traffic improvements in southwest Louisville that have made our streets safer.

• Drug arrests that have cleaned up drug trafficking in a west Louisville neighborhood.

• Public transportation improvements in southwest Louisville that have made our local bus service more accessible & safer.

• Thousands of children in struggling public schools learning how to read at grade level through a research-based reading curriculum.

• STOP program in JCPS, and changes in policies around school suspensions that have reduced drop-outs and enabled struggling students to succeed.

• Cleanup of trashy & overgrown vacant lots city-wide, and a new process for inspecting and citing properties in violation of city ordinances.

• Creation of a gateway mini-park at the entrance to south Louisville.

• Cleanup of abandoned buildings and a rat problem in southwest Louisville.

• Development of a plan for community-oriented policing in the Louisville Police Department.

• One-for-one replacement of demolished public housing units, in order to prevent the loss of affordable housing in the city.

• Improved accessibility to health services for the growing Hispanic/Latino community through the Family Health Centers network.

• Expansion of the local Drug Court program, resulting in more alternatives to incarceration for persons with drug/alcohol addictions.

• Mandatory training program for probation & parole officers statewide in how to deal more effectively with the drug & alcohol problems of their clients.

• Built-in drug & alcohol treatment program in the Louisville Metro jail.

• Enrollment of over 60,000 additional uninsured children in KCHIP (Ky. Child Health Insurance Program).

• Bank On Louisville program, which has already benefitted over 16,000 formerly unbanked households.

• A “restorative justice” program in the local juvenile court in order to address the “school-to-prison pipeline”.

• Elimination of the practice in the County Attorney’s office of referring all school-related offense directly to court without the option of court diversion (therefore preventing young persons from beginning a criminal record and beginning the journey down the “school-to-prison pipeline”).

• Establishment of an ongoing, dedicated source of public revenue for the Kentucky Affordable Housing Trust Fund, resulting in $7 million a year going to the development of affordable housing across Kentucky.

• Comprehensive plan to address the problem of school bullying in the JCPS.

• The Louisville Metro Council voted unanimously (26-0) to make Louisville a “Ban the Box” city (and only the 16th in the country to extend this practice to vendors who do business with the city), which will open up more opportunities to the 160,000 adults in Louisville with a criminal record to rebuild their lives and to be able to support themselves & their families.

• Officials of TARC, KIPDA, Riverport businesses, and Metro Council committed to develop a solution to inadequate public transit services to the Riverport industrial park in southwest Jefferson County, including support for a new circulator bus from Dixie Hwy., which will provide much better access to the 7000 jobs there.

• The creation of the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund (LAHTF), which when fully funded will provide $10 million per year to address the affordable housing crisis in the Louisville Metro area; in 2016, CLOUT got Mayor Fischer & Metro Council to allocate $2.5 million in funding to the LAHTF, and $10 million in 2017 & 2018; CLOUT is continuing to work for an ongoing, dedicated source of public revenue.*

• Implementation by JCPS of “restorative practices” (RP) in the school district, and revisions to the district’s code of conduct to reflect the use of RP, in order to address the “school-to-prison pipeline;” in 2016, over $5 million was committed to these new approaches; to date, 28 schools & 3 other school-related agencies are using RP, with dramatic reductions in student suspension and behavior incidents. In 2019, JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio committed to implement whole-school “restorative practices” in all 150 of our public schools within the next six years (approximately half the time originally projected)*

• Commitments by ten top public officials to form the “Safe City Roundtable” in order to better address the needs of people in our city suffering with drug addiction and  mental illness; this will include expanding the use of the Drug Court program, developing a special crisis stabilization center for persons in mental health crisis (Living Room), and implementing new approaches within the Lou. Metro Police Dept. to direct mentally ill/addicted persons to treatment rather than jail; in 2017, CLOUT got the Metro Council to allocate $325 thousand to the Living Room initiative of Centerstone (formerly Seven Counties Services), and in 2018 to allocate $1 million to expand the program and open it to the public; in its first year and a half of operation it assisted over 3000 persons; unfortunately, due to city budget cuts, no funds were allocated to the program for 2019-20, and so the program has temporarily closed; CLOUT has worked to reopen The Living Room, and in 2022 a new “Community Respite Center” was established for that purpose.

• Over 2018-19, CLOUT engaged in meetings with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer's office and LMPD to improve public safety for citizens and police officers alike by ensuring that LMPD utilizes the department's de-escalation training and policies more consistently, especially when dealing with individuals who are acting out their health condition of mental illness/addiction. In a victory two years in the making, we were able to announce in October 2019 that new language has been added to LMPD policy and procedural manuals related to evaluating incidents of police use-of-force.

• In 2019, commitments by officials from UofL, Metro United Way, and KIPDA to remove barriers to older adults seeking to age in place rather than enter a nursing home or other facility. This will include a new “Village” program similar to that in other cities. CLOUT is continuing to work with UofL’s Trager Institute to develop the plan for the Village, which was due to launch in 2020, but was delayed due to the impact of COVID-19. CLOUT continued to work with various stakeholders to establish a Village program for Louisville, and at our Nehemiah Assembly in 2023, we were pleased to finally announce the launch later this spring of the “Louisville Village” (see above for details).

• In 2020, in spite of having to cancel our March Nehemiah Action Assembly due to COVID-19, CLOUT was able to score significant issue victories in three areas. After a 2019 cut of funding by the Louisville Metro Council from $10 million to $5 million for the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, in 2020 CLOUT was instrumental in working with Metro Council to get the funding back up to $10 million. The funding will be used for rehab and reuse of vacant and abandoned properties, and for mixed income projects that integrate low-income housing. This will impact approximately 1000 households. The funding will also be leveraged up to 16 times over by other investments in the funded housing developments (i.e., up to $160 million), which, due to COVID-19, is needed now more than ever. Also, CLOUT advocated for the city to establish a day shelter for homeless persons as part of the city’s COVID action plan, with the city eventually partnering with the Salvation Army to open two shelters—one for any individual, and another for those testing positive for COVID. Finally, we were successful in securing commitments from District Court Judge Stephanie Burke and County Attorney Mike O’Connell to provide an annual training for judges, prosecutors, public defenders and other defense attorneys to increase the use of Drug Court, which is currently operating at only half capacity. This will help address our city’s ongoing opioid crisis and will serve to decriminalize addiction.

• In 2021, CLOUT was successful in getting the Louisville Metro Council to allocate $600,000 for the implementation a “Truth & Transformation” process, led by the National Network for Safe Communities, in order to improve police-community relations and to bring about more racial equity in law enforcement (see above for details).*

• in 2022, CLOUT was successful in securing the commitments of the leadership of the University of Louisville’s Department of Criminal Justice and the Louisville Metro Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods to CLOUT’s proposal to establish “Louisville’s Alliance for Sustainable Violence Reduction” with the mission of coordinating the various local efforts to address the significant increase in crime & gun violence in Louisville, so that a greater impact on the problem can be made (see above for details).*

• In 2023, we launched our “ALL Kids Reading!” campaign to ensure that all children in JCPS learn to read at grade level. CLOUT will continue to work with JCPS to ensure that the school district is following best practice that are consistent with the “Science of Reading” and meeting the needs of all students (see above for details).*

  *these initiatives are still in the process of being completed as of Summer 2023