Cloverfork Family Resource 

Youth Service

1555 Highway 215

Kenvir, KY 40847

Phone (606) 837-9068

Fax (606) 837-9068

Email: donna.helton@harlan.kyschools.us

Center Coordinator:

Donna Helton

Center Aide:

Rachel Kennard

Hours: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM 

Monday through Friday

What are Family Resource and Youth Services Centers?

Family Resource and Youth Services Centers have been created as part of the Kentucky Education Reform Act. The intent of the centers is to enhance students' abilities to succeed in school by assisting children, youth and families in meeting some of their basic needs. This will be done by providing community services at the centers or by linking families to agencies in their communities. Family Resource and/or Youth Services Centers are developed by single schools or groups of schools that have at least 20% of their students eligible to receive free school meals.


Who can use Family Resource or Youth Services Centers?

Centers receive a state grant based on the number of students eligible for free school meals. However, once a center has been established all children and youth (and their families) enrolled in the school or schools that developed the center can use its services, regardless of the income of their families. Services will be especially beneficial for those youngsters who are at risk of not performing well in school.

Family Resource Centers serve children through twelve years of age. The core components are:

1. Preschool child care for children two and three years of age;
2. After school child day care;
3. Families in training;
4. Parent and child education
5. Support and training for child day care providers; and,
6. Health services or referrals to health services.

1. Referrals to health and social services;
2. Employment counseling, training and placement;
3. Summer and part time job development
4. Drug and alcohol abuse counseling; and,
5. Family crisis and mental health counseling.

What is a Combined Family Resource and Youth Services Center?

A Combined Center can serve students from elementary through high school and their families. All services listed above for both the Family Resource Enter and the Youth Services Center would be provided.

Who runs the Family Resource and Youth Services Centers?

In keeping with the School-based Decision Making concept of Kentucky's Education Reform Act, each school or consortium of schools hires its staff, selects the center site (in or near the school being served) and establishes its own procedure to notify parents and gain prior consent for a child to be referred by the center to a specific service. Each center has a local advisory council comprised of school personnel, parents of students in the school (and in case of Youth Services Centers, at least two students), and community representatives including staff of the public and private services used by the center for referrals.

Kentucky Family Resource and Youth Services Center - Fact Sheet

The Kentucky Family Resource and Youth Services Centers initiative was established with the passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990, as amended. The mission of these school based Centers 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 and graduation and transition into adult life. Each Center has a unique blend of program components depending on location, available resources, local need and community input. The goal of the FRYSC is to meet the needs of all children and their families who reside in the community or neighborhood served by the school in which the center is located.

Schools with at least 20% of the student population eligible for free or reduced school meals are eligible to compete for new grants ranging from $33,000 to $90,000 based on the number of students eligible for free school meals. Continuation funding with grants ranging from $33,825 to $92,250 is provided once a center is established. Kentucky has 710 FRYSC, serving 1,088 schools encompassing approximately 93% of Kentucky’s eligible schools. The total student population is 517,738, with approximately 45% eligible for free school meals. There are 358 Family Resource Centers, 208 Youth Services Centers, and 144 combined Family Resource and Youth Services Centers. The total amount of grants awarded in FY’01 is $46,114,031.

In 1999, the Cabinet for Families and Children, the Kentucky Department of Education and the Office of Family Resource and Youth Services Centers entered into a partnership agreement with Communities In Schools (CIS). CIS brings resources, services, business partners, parents and volunteers into public schools across the United States. The partnership provides for the exchange of evaluative information and experience from the FRYSC initiative for CIS training and support in its areas of relevant expertise.

The Kentucky KinCare Program was initiated in 1999. With a grant from the Brookdale Foundation, the Office of Family Resource and Youth Services Centers in partnership with the Office of Aging Services in the Cabinet for Health Services funded five (5) support groups aimed at grandparents raising grandchildren. Four (4) additional groups were funded in 2000. As the program has developed, the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service has been added as a third partner. A statewide Steering Committee has been developed to assist in the oversight of the program.

The Office of FRYSC is the state affiliate with the Parents as Teachers National Center, Inc. (PAT). PAT is a family education and support program that begins prenatal and extends to age five. Last year, 92 PAT programs were operating in Kentucky.