The Kentucky Family Resource and Youth Services Centers were established as a component of the historic Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990. The mission of these school-based centers is to help academically at-risk students succeed in school by helping to minimize or eliminate non-cognitive barriers to learning.

On April 15, 2008, former Gov. Steve Beshear signed Senate Bill 192 into law, allowing changes to the FRYSC core components.

Family Resource Centers serve children under school age and in elementary school and coordinate preschool child care; after-school child daycare; families in training; family literacy services; and health services and referrals.

Youth Service Centers serve students in middle and high school (and in Clinton County, students at Foothills Academy) and coordinate referrals to health and social services; career exploration and development; summer and part-time job development (high school only); substance abuse education and counseling; and family crisis and mental health counseling.

The coordinators and staff in the local school district’s centers are a hard working, dedicated group of individuals who work tirelessly to meet the needs of children in need, as well as their families. The Clinton County News recently discussed the Youth and Family Services Centers roles with Sandra Pharis, Family Resource Coordinator based at Albany Elementary, and Tonya Thrasher and Kim Craig, Youth Center Coordinators at CCHS and the middle school, respectively, as well as Director of Pupil Personnel Julie York, who is the district contact liaison for both centers.

Many people associate the service centers as simply handing out school supplies and so forth during a school day, but there is much, much more involved, as the centers provide food, clothing, assistance in finding housing, and finding ways to help families pay late utility bills, just to name a few.

“We provide non-academic needs to students and families,” Pharis said.

Thrasher added the centers deliver food and supplies, “we sort of work behind the scenes,” she said.

The Youth Centers also oversee the backpack program, which provides children in need with food to take home and that program is solely funded with donations.

The coordinators also noted the number of homeless children there arein the county, some living in hotels, others with relatives or grandparents, who need assistance.

Pharis told of one Barren County retired couple who solely stock up on school supplies children need and use and deliver them to area counties youth and family resource centers and other people, some anonymous, donate monetarily on a regular basis to help purchase items such as clothing, household items, etc. to benefit students and their families.

York noted that in Clinton County alone, at least 20 youth were “considered homeless” but the number is probably even higher.

“No child intends to be raised in a hotel,” Thrasher noted.

The coordinators noted that teachers and even cooks and bus drivers help identify children they see that may be in need and refer them for assistance

“Most usually, most everyone will accept help,” said Thrasher.

Craig noted that no two centers were alike and on any given day, counting food programs, up to 100 students could be served in one way or another.

Each coordinator also make phone calls, family visits, makes medical and even mental referrals when needed. They also write grants, perform intervention programs and work closely with community partners in carrying out their programs.

In fact, everyone involved noted that community partners and all who donate are extremely important in making the Youth and Family Service Centers successful in helping so many children and families, saying they take donations from individuals, businesses, and some churches also donate.

Thrasher also added that there probably wasn’t a business in town that would not help out in some way if called upon to help a child or family.

The district has also gained a grant directed toward school readiness for younger children from around two years old and up, to be prepared for school, something that Pharis works closely with. (A separate article on that program will be published in a later issue.)

Pharis provided the following information about the centers, and what they are charged with doing to support students and families.

The Kentucky Resource and Youth Services Centers are recognized as the nation’s largest school-based support initiative. These centers are designed to address the needs of children by developing partnerships with school, family, and community in order to help all public school students each proficiency.

Recent surveys report that educators, parents, and community partners feel that the Family and Youth Services Centers are a “necessary component of Kentucky educational programming” and a program “vital to students, empowering families, and helping to improve schools. The Family Resource and Youth Services Centers’ program mission is to enhance students’ abilities to succeed in school by developing and sustaining partnerships that promote early learning and successful transition into school; academic achievement and well-being; graduation and transition into adult life.

The funding for the Family Resource and Youth Service Centers, administered through the Cabinet for Health and Family Services Division of FRYSC, is provided by state education funds through the Kentucky Department of Education. Funds are utilized to coordinate a network of service through community collaboration. Ninety-nine percent of Kentucky schools are served by a FRYSC.

The primary goal of these centers is to remove non-academic barriers to learning as a means to enhance student academic success. Each center offers a unique blend of programs and services determined by the needs of the population being served, available resources, location and other local characteristics.

Goals recommended for Family Resource Centers:

* To assist families including new and expectant parents in enhancing their parenting skills which can promote the full educational development of children;

* To promote the health growth and development of children by assisting families to identify and address any home or community barriers to a child’s success in school;

* To ensure families have access and are connected with appropriate community resources;

* To encourage social support linkages and networks among families, thereby reducing isolation and promoting family involvement in activities, and;

* To generate parental and family involvement by offering learning and service opportunities that will enable parents and other family members to participate in center and community activities as providers, participants and volunteers.

Goals recommended for Youth Services Centers:

* To promote young people’s progress toward capable and productive adulthood by assisting them to recognized their individual and family strengths and to address problems that block their success in school;

* To promote supportive peer group relationships among young people, and supportive relationships among young people, their families, and persons in the school and community, in order to develop positive self-esteem and competence;

* To generate optimal parental and family involvement by offering learning and service opportunities that will enable parents and other family members to participate in center, school and community activities as providers, participants and volunteers; and,

* To assist young people to make effective use of community resources, including employment and training resources, and health, mental health and social services resources as necessary.

Family Resource components include:

* Full-time preschool child care for children two and three years of age;

* After school child care for children ages four through 12, with the child care being full-time during the summer and on other days when school is not in session;

* Families in Training, which shall consist of an integrated approach to home visits, group meetings and monitoring child development for new and expectant parents;

* Family literacy services or a similar program designed to provide opportunities for parents and children to learn together and promote lifelong learning; and,

* Health services or referrals to health services, or both.

Core components for Youth Services Centers include:

* Referrals to health and social services;

* Career exploration and development;

* Summer and part-time job development for high school students; *Substance abuse education and counseling, and,

* Family crisis and mental health counseling.

* Educational support/enrichment: Educational support activities may include character education, peer mediation, conflict resolution, mentoring, and may address content and other educational needs identified through the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan.

* Student and family support/referrals is an optional component designed for student and family support and may include services such as basic needs, emergency assistance, holiday assistance, etc.

The following are statistics for the Clinton County Family Resource and Youth Services Centers that were provided during the 2014-15 school year (the current year statistics are still being compiled):

* 1,095 student health related contacts were addressed (dental, head lice, hygiene, immunizations, insurance assistance, medication assistance, school physical, vision, eyeglasses, obesity/nutrition, other health).

* Dental screenings: 750 students were screened two times each; 45 students district wide were identified as needing urgent care.

* Career Development and Exploration (Youth Service Centers): 4-H Reality Store, Career Day, Career/Job Fair, Career Field Trip/Exploration, Career speaker, job shadowing, mentoring-employment/career–779 student contacts.

* Kindergarten readiness activities–$7,000 grant provided through the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood. The Family Resource Coordinator is the chair for the Clinton County Community Early Childhood Council. With collaboration from other community partners activities are provided to promote school readiness to families with children from birth to entering school.

* Youth Service Center Coordinators offer programs to Foothills Academy each week, including: drug and alcohol prevention; suicide prevention; conflict resolution; anger management and assist scheduling their community partners to bring their programs to students at the academy.

* 616 parent/student contacts were made by FRYSC staff for attendance when a student reached four unexcused absences/tardies.

* Attendance incentives and awards: FRYSC staff works closely with DPP to promote and organize KONA and other attendance initiatives on a weekly basis.

* 2,408 basic needs were met for students through the Family Resource and Youth Service Centers. Clothing, food assistance, food stamp assistance, housing, utilities, emergency housing, holiday assistance, other. (32 students were enrolled in the backpack program).

* 403 contacts were made for parenting skills/family support. There were 23 families that participated in KINections, a support group for families raising children other than their own (grandparents, uncle, aunt, etc.)

* 1,524 academic support contacts: adult education, early childhood care, GED, homework assistance, testing support, tutoring, school supplies, college preparation,, family literacy program and many others.

* Total FRYSC contacts and interventions: 42,320.