Family Empowerment Centers

A father joyously reads a storybook with his daughter with Down syndrome

General Information

FECs serve parents and families of children and young adults with disabilities, between the ages of 3 and 22 in California.
FECs offer specialized training, peer-to-peer support, access to information, resources and support with referrals and services.
FECs support parents to better understand their child’s educational and developmental needs and serve as a resource to parents for the individual education program process.
FECs promote positive relationships and effective communication between parents and professionals responsible for providing educational and related services.
FECs collaborate with community based, local, and state agencies serving children with disabilities.
FECS are staffed primarily by parents, guardians, and family members of children and young adults with disabilities.
Services available through each FEC vary based on the needs of the region they serve.

Oversight and Funding

The Family Empowerment Centers (FECs) were established in Chapter 690 of the Statutes of 2001 (Senate Bill 511, Alpert), enacted as Education Code (EC) 56400-56415. The intent of the Legislature is to ensure that parents, guardians, and families of children and young adults with disabilities have access to accurate information, specialized training, and peer-to-peer support.

CDE provides fiscal and program guidance and oversight to the FECs. These non-profit 501 (c)(3) programs receive FEC grants from the California Department of Education (CDE) which are Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B, federal funds. Grant funding for the FECs is based upon a specific formula. A base rate of $246,000.00 is allocated annually to each center for each region they support to provide services. Additional funding for each FEC is determined according to school enrollment in the region served.

As a condition of funding, each FEC provides regionalized services. No region is the same and each FEC conducts needs assessments in the regions they serve to ensure the needs of the parents and students are prioritized. FECs submit annual service and outcome based data. The FECs participate in the statewide Family Empowerment and Disability Council (FEDC), composed of the executive directors of the FECs which is facilitated by statewide technical assistance partner Seeds of Partnership.

Additional Affiliations

Many of the parent organizations that receive FEC grants also receive federal, state, or local funding from other affiliations such as Parent Training and Information Center, Family Resource Center, and varied direct Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) or Local Educational Agency (LEA) grants and contracts.

History of the Family Empowerment Center Establishment

2001	Family Empowerment Centers (FECs) were originally established through Senate Bill 511 (authored by Senator DeDe Alpert), then enacted as California Education Code 56400-56414 in 2001. At this time there were 32 FEC regions identified. These regions closely reflected the Family Resource Center (FRC) regional structure. Regions include one or more county, with the exception of Los Angeles County, which is separated into multiple regions due to high student population density. The California Department of Education (CDE) awarded grants to establish 12 FECs via a Request for Applications (RFA) process. These 12 centers served 24 counties within 12 regions.
2006	Two FECs were added following another CDE RFA process in 2006. There were a total of 14 FECs, serving 27 counties, across 14 regions. There were no further additions for the next 15 years.
2021	The State Budget Act 2021-22 initiated a further FEC expansion, including an increase of the base funding and per pupil rate of existing and new centers.
2022	CDE issued an RFA in 2022, through this process, to more closely parallel the current FRC regions, the FEC regions were updated from 32 to 41. Eight new FECs were established and three existing FECs applied and were selected to serve additional regions. Eligible centers were selected until funds were exhausted. This expansion increased the number of centers by eight and number of regions served by 13. Statewide, this brought the total number of FECs to 22, serving 40 counties, across 27 regions. At this time, the CDE also moved forward to include reference to the FECs within the Special Education Rights of Parents and Children Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B- Notice of Procedural Safeguards. Through the approval of the 2022-23 Sate Budget Act, funding was made available to CDE to continue expansion of FECs. Applicants that applied for nine of the regions from the 2022 RFA process which were not funded through the 2021-22 funding, were now able to be awarded a grant, through the 2022-23 funding. This established seven new FECs and one existing FEC to serve additional regions.
2023	An RFA was reissued for the remaining region in California, Lake County. As a result, a new FEC was established in this region bringing the number of FECs to 32, providing services within the 41 regions. For the first time in history, since the establishment of the Family Empowerment Centers enacted into education code in 2001, all FEC regions in the state have an established FEC and are fully funded to serve families of children and young adults with disabilities, between the ages of 3 and 22 in California.
2024	One parent center did not continue as an FEC grantee past June 30, 2024. Two regions became available for CDE to issue an RFA. The counties within these two regions were updated to reflect existing FRC regions. As a result, two FECs were established bringing the number of centers with an FEC grant to 33.