Family Resource Center and Rockland 21 C: Helping Our Children and Supporting Families

About four years ago I was asked to join the Clarkstown Family Resource Center Board. I had little idea as to the depth and extent of the Family Resource Center movement and frankly what it does for the community. While I was aware of the “Parent University” the Clarkstown FRC was running at the time—an educational program offered after school by parents to children—I did not fully comprehend what else this unique program model offers.

The Parent University has since been replaced by other opportunities now offered including parenting workshops and seminars to both educate parents and assist families. The network of Family Resource Centers in our county is extensive and indeed unique in our nation. Given that the FRC is an important part of the education fabric of our community, I thought it appropriate to shed some light on the FRC’s in Rockland and the support they receive and offer with an emphasis on the Clarkstown FRC.

The Clarkstown Family Resources Center is a wonderful not-for-profit organization that has done much to assist families within the Clarkstown Central School District. The family resource center is an outgrowth of a larger initiative and adds much to support families throughout the schools. If you were to ask parents in the Clarkstown School District, they would assume the family resource center is run by the district, however it is not, it is a separate 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit that offers programs to assist children and families within the confines of the school building. Rockland County is unique in that it is the first and perhaps only county in the nation to establish a comprehensive network of family resource centers in every school district that receive signifcant funding from a county level of government. Rockland has led the way in developing the 21 Century Collaborative which since 1998 now helps to partially support family resource centers in forty-one school buildings in every district including BOCES throughout the county.  

So what exactly is a family resource center and what does it do?

According to Rockland 21 C, “A Family Resource Center (FRC) is a place where families can go to: find support, seek information, participate in programs, access services, and get to know other parents and children. Family Resource Centers, which are based in schools, also encourage families to become actively engaged in their child’s education and develop connections to the school community. Family Resource Centers, like other community school approaches have been shown to increase school readiness, school success, positive youth development, and parent involvement as well as student, parent, and teacher satisfaction with the educational system. Family Resource Centers develop programming in response to needs identified by parents, children, school and community.”

Rockland County is unique in that it is the only network of Family Resource Centers to receive significant funding from a County government through the 21C Collaborative most recieve federal and state funding. The efforts of Rockland 21 C  Collaborative date back to 1995 and FRC's are now in every school district. Programs vary by district and are driven by the needs of particular communities. The Family Resource program was proposed originally through Yale University and has taken off over the past eighteen years across the nation. Through the efforts of the Rockland 21 C Collaborative and funding from the Rockland County legislature, under the direction of Legislative Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, the Family Resource Centers receive partial support to provide assistance to families. The remaining support comes form the individual school districts and fundraising by the the various FRC boards.

The network and impressive array of programs that are offered through the Family Resource Centers in the County assist literally tens of thousands of children and families annually. These programs run from pre-school socialization groups to Epic Parenting Workshops, afterschool enrichment programs, homework clubs, and home visit programs to assist parents and families and a wide array of other educational and support programs. Depending upon your school district and its FRC, the programs can be more intensive and broad including assistance via targeted mental and physical health screenings.

The Clarkstown Family Resource Center is a small operation that offers several limited but key programs including pre-school play groups, homework groups, parent educational programs and kindergarten socialization programs to encourage efforts for students in forming bonds for a successful transition into school. The Clarkstown FRC is offered primarily within the elementary and middle school but has parental seminars that are aimed at issues affecting parents of children of all ages. Programs in the past have included:

• college transition seminars
• eating disorder seminars
• programs on depression
• one upcoming on how parents can work to deal with rivalry among siblings.

In addition, the Clarkstown FRC offers several micro grants to individual PTA’s that are offered through a competitive grant application. The grants are relatively small, but allow the PTA’s that receive them to offer educational experiences to children and families that would not otherwise be offered.

Sharyn McTigue and Lisa Cohen are key part-time staff in the Clarkstown FRC who run the programs and operations of this not-for-profit. Donna Quirk serves as the office manager and together they run this wonderful program. The Clarkstown Family Resource Board offers time to support the efforts of these dynamic women who are offering groups and programs in many of the CCSD elementary schools. The board is comprised of Mark Quirk, the president, Kathy Redmond, Robert Zeiss, Cristopher Carey, Lisa Bierker and me. This past Friday we were pleased to have a wonderful fundraiser with over 200 children and parents enjoying the “Bossy Frog” band at Link Elementary School. This second annual fundraiser will help us raise needed funds to continue to provide programs for the families within the Clarkstown community.

While the Clarkstown FRC is just one of the FRC’s within the county, it offers insight into what is out there for families. The old joke about kids today not realizing how good they have it is not really true; the issues our children face are extraordinary and resources are needed to educate parents and assist our children so that they may effectively navigate these issues. Thankfully, through the efforts of Rockland 21 C, which helps support the FRC’s across our county and the individual school districts, parents and children have another tool in the educational arsenal to help them succeed.

I used the Clarkstown Family Resource Center to highlight the movement which we should all appreciate. However, I could have selected Nanuet, which  has an extensive FRC program that provides incredible programs and support to families and children within the Nanuet School District. It is the programs offered by the various FRC’s and other educational foundations that we rarely think of that help to make the education and support services within our community so expansive and exceptional. 

So here is to all of the Family Resource Center’s and staff, the unsung heroes who are offering programs and support to help families in educating our children to be the very best that they can be.