Kentucky’s Family Resource Youth Services Centers Recognized Statewide for 30 Years of Service

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – Thirty years ago, the movie “Home Alone” was released, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics were popular, and George W. Bush was president.

In Kentucky, the Family Resource Youth Services Centers (FRYSC) initiative was formed.

Following a declaration by the Kentucky Supreme Court that Kentucky’s education system was inefficient and inequitable, the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) was created.

In response to growing concerns and desire to remove barriers to educational success, the Kentucky General Assembly designed FRYSCs as one component of KERA, which provided an unprecedented state-level partnership between Kentucky’s Department of Education and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

These partnerships share the responsibility of implementing and sustaining FRYSCs across the state.

So what do FRYSCs do? The answer is both complicated and yet relatively straightforward. They are tasked with removing non-cognitive barriers to education that impede a child’s ability to learn.

Given the wide array and complexity of social issues (e.g. poverty, family restructuring, teenage pregnancy, substance abuse and domestic and youth violence) their task can be a bit overwhelming.

FRYSCs are the bridge connecting education and human service systems in the engagement and joint provision of critical services that provide support to children, youth and families. These centers are designed to address the needs of children by developing partnerships with school, family and community to help all public school students reach proficiency.

Recent surveys report that educators, parents and community partners feel that the Family Resource 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.”

Now more than 30 years since inception, the Kentucky’s FRYSC program is the nation’s largest school- based family support initiative with 854 centers in public schools across the Commonwealth.

This week the FRYSC program is being recognized and celebrated for significantly impacting the lives of students and families in Kentucky for over 30 years and now through a pandemic. House Bill 308 has been introduced by Representative Matt Koch to make the 2nd Wednesday of each February “FRYSC Day in Kentucky.”