Clay County is a rural county in Eastern KY, 66.4% of our households are husband /wife with their own children, and 33.6% off our households are single parent with children under 18.  62% of our grandparents are responsible for their grandchildren.  46.2% have been responsible for their grandchildren over 5 years.  Family communication is the key to the success of family life.  Helping families to overcome stereotypes, appreciating differences and understanding the developmental stages, sharing a value system and goals and making wise decisions impacts family life by providing a supportive environment for the entire family unit thus impacting the community. The FCS Science Agent has worked cooperatively with several organizations (Court, Promise Neighborhood, Health Department, Resource Centers and many others) to impact families in Clay County. 

Two Mothers have contacted her in the last 3 months about the impact Family and Consumer Science programs have had on their families’ lives. One mother had 3 little girls and had lost custody of them due to drug abuse, she stopped by our office one day, and she had received full permanent custody again.  She took me outside and introduced me to her children.   She was so happy and wanted to share her success with me.  She said the program she had attended contributed to the success she had in receiving custody of her children and thanked me for what I had done.  She had tears in her eyes as she was talking. She had remarried, was dressed appropriately and looked healthy. 

 The grandmother was trying to receive custody of her three grandchildren.  I had contacted her to present a program during the Grandparents Raising Grandparents Program and she said yes.   She told me she really didn’t want to present the program but had any way, during her research she had learned about de facto custody and had got to speak directly to the Family Court Judge on the day of the training. She received full custody of her grandchildren about one month ago.  She also had tears in her eyes as she thanked me and said, “ I owe it to you and the program you presented”.  

This grandmother again presented at this year’s Grandparents Raising Grandchildren conference.  She again in her presentation gave credit for receiving custody of her grandchildren to the Extension program. 

Six children have a healthier and happier home as a result of programming through family and consumer science extension.

23 participants attended this year’s conference, 6 guest speakers, co-sponsored by the Family Resource Centers.  3 month Evaluation results 18% stated program was very  helpful to them-AppalreD Legal Services, Internet Safety, Helping Your Grandchild Succeed in School, Behaviors of Children with Drug Addicted parents, Panel of Grandparents. I shared this information with others, I am more attentive to what my grandchild is looking at on the internet.