Our Mission
The Kentucky Educational Collaborative for State Agency Children (KECSAC) is committed to the belief that all children can learn and have a right to quality education. KECSAC protects and assures this right by accessing resources and providing support to programs that educate State Agency Children.
Those children who do not receive an education of quality cannot realize their greatest potential.
We believe these goals are achieved through the process of interagency collaboration.
To accomplish the mission, all members of this statewide partnership must exemplify and publicly promote collaborative relationships with its partners and other associates.
Goals
Service Delivery: The Kentucky Educational Collaborative for State Agency Children will assist local education agencies to provide and assure high-quality educational support services through a collaborative delivery system involving the Kentucky Departments of Education, Juvenile Justice, Community Based Services, Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addiction Services, and private and public child and youth care programs.
Administrative: The Kentucky Educational Collaborative for State Agency Children will provide administrative services, professional development and leadership in an efficient and cost-effective manner that complies with state education reform initiatives and other applicable state and federal mandates.
Evaluation: The Kentucky Educational Collaborative for State Agency Children will provide a comprehensive evaluation of the delivery of educational services to State Agency Children including the administrative process, service delivery, program monitoring, and outcomes.
History
In 1990, the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) was passed. This historic decision called for sweeping changes in the funding and delivery of elementary and secondary education throughout the Commonwealth. The Kentucky Educational Collaborative for State Agency Children (KECSAC) was later conceived to meet the needs of a large population of children whose education needs were not specifically addressed in KERA.
Established by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1992, KECSAC has the primary goal of assisting local education agencies in providing a quality education to at-risk youth served in programs operated, funded by, or contracting with the Kentucky Cabinets for Justice, Health and Family Services and Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities.
Eastern Kentucky University’s College of Education has responsibility for the management and operation of this statewide collaborative. The Training Resource Center of the College of Justice and Safety developed the original KECSAC proposal. On July 1, 2000 KECSAC was placed under the administrative auspices of the College of Education. KECSAC’s legislative mission currently includes the annual distribution of 10.4 million dollars to local school districts and the provision of teacher training, data collection, and facilitating interagency and program collaboration among all programs that service at-risk youth in the state. There are very few states that have such an innovative, collaborative model for serving at-risk youth.
KECSAC works with community-based and residential treatment programs designed to meet the needs of this under served youth population. KECSAC also collaborates with acute-care psychiatric treatment centers which service emotionally disturbed youngsters diagnosed with various degrees of emotional disturbances.
KECSAC works with psychiatric residential treatment facilities, which provide psychiatric care for children and youth with severe emotional disturbances who require a high degree of structure and treatment intervention, but do not require hospitalization. Most recently children being served in therapeutic foster care programs were included among the statewide population to be served by KECSAC.
KECSAC is a true partnership that links the schools, family and children’s services, community mental health, juvenile, private providers, and institutions of higher learning. There is an interagency advisory council comprised of representatives from these partner groups that provides support and consultation to KECSAC.
Prior to KECSAC
Prior to the establishment of KECSAC, state agency children (SAC) were traditionally limited by complex funding mechanisms with little coordination of services.
There was an absence of comprehensive data on the educational needs of state agency children.
Supplemental State Agency Children’s Funds (SACF) support was not available to many school districts and there had been no increase in SACF for over eight years despite a marked increase in the number of SAC and general education funding in the Commonwealth.
Day treatment services had not been expanded in five years.
There were no on-going professional development activities directed at the needs of SAC educators working in residential and day treatment settings.
The differential levels of educational services provided to youth compounded the inequities that existed in the delivery of educational services to many at-risk and delinquent youth in Kentucky.
There was no systematic monitoring of the delivery of educational services to SAC.
Achievements & Outcomes
Since it was established, KECSAC has significantly improved services to the historically under served population of at-risk youth in Kentucky. Among these important improvements are the following:
Greatly enhanced coordination and the simplification of the distribution of funds to serve at-risk youth.
The establishment of a statewide monitoring process designed to support programs in their efforts to serve the needs of Kentucky’s at-risk youth.
The establishment of a statewide interagency advisory group, which functions as a viable vehicle for enhanced collaboration and service delivery.
The establishment of statewide administrative regulations and procedures designed to enable districts and programs to better serve their at-risk populations.
The ongoing development of a mechanism for technical support and consultation to practitioners and public officials.
The establishment of a Statewide calendar of professional development workshops and conferences to increase the skill of those who serve at-risk youth.
The establishment of greater collaboration and cooperation among the various agencies that serve at-risk youth.
KECSAC currently works with 53 school districts, some 105 programs, and four State agencies to enhance the delivery of education services to at-risk and delinquent youth in residential and day treatment programs. The needs of SAC are varied and complex and will continue to require the collaborative resources and expertise of a broad range of professionals. KECSAC staff remains committed to helping to provide SAC with high quality educational services.
