Family Care Center celebrates 30 years

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) -A family care center in Lexington is celebrating thirty years.

The center is for parents and young children.

The goal is to set up families for success.

A few years ago, Lucinda England joined the hands program which is a home visitation service for new and expecting parents that are overcoming challenges.

England says her daughter’s father was dealing with addiction and died almost a month before she was born.

England says The Family Care Center is what helped her move forward.

“It was a really nice support structure to have somebody that’s not part of your family but in the community that can help you and they really opened our eyes to so many different programs that were available to us.”

The center started in 1989.

The Center currently operates five programs:

• HANDS, a home visitation service for new and expectant parents. HANDS stands for Health Access Nurturing Development Services and enrolls families who are pregnant or have a newborn under 3 months old. HANDS assists families in overcoming challenges involved with parenting and helps young children reach their full potential. Families may receive HANDS services until the child turns 2.
• The Parent Education program focuses on young parents who are working to complete their high school diplomas. In addition to academic instruction, the program offers parenting and life skills classes, case management, and college and career readiness services. Since its founding, the Family Care Center has helped about 600 young mothers get their high school diplomas.
• The Early Child Care program serves children age 6 weeks to 4 years. The program is rated 5 STARS by Kentucky’s All STARS quality rating system. Services are provided in partnership with the Fayette County Public Schools Preschool Program, Community Action Council Head Start, and the Child Care Assistance Program.
• The Family Service Coordination/Volunteer Coordination program helps families that want to become independent and self-sufficient. Intensive case management is provided to help families achieve goals within a 6-month period. The program also coordinates the work of the Center’s many volunteers and donations of items for families in need.
• Pediatric Health Care, a University of Kentucky primary care clinic, services pediatric patients from birth through adolescence. In addition to primary health care, mental health is offered through an on-site clinical social worker.