In 1988, the United Way of York County and partner agency Family Services of York (now Pressley Ridge York), started an initiative called “Strengthening The Family”.
In 1988 and 1989, they sponsored a community program featuring family oriented topics of interest in York County with a goal of improving accessibility, outreach, and service to the public.
As a response to the success of the concept, the Family Issues Roundtable was established in 1990. Made up of various agency professionals and volunteers from non profits, governmental, and education sectors, the Roundtable planned programming that would be offered to the community on a more frequent basis. Quarterly breakfast programs were scheduled from the beginning in 1990.
Most of the programs in the early years were held at the former Olde York Valley Inn motel in Springettsbury Township.
Below is a list of just a few of the events Family Issues Roundtable presented:
- Understanding Cultural Differences, 1991
- Managing Stress in the Workplace, 1992
- Step Families, 1993
- Building a Violence-Free Community, 1999
- HIV/AIDS in York/Adams Counties, 2005
- Creating a Safe Space for LGBTQ Youth, 2007
- Being Muslim in York County, 2012
- End-of-Life Issues, 2013
- Affordable Healthcare Act, 2014
- Children of Incarcerated Parents, 2015
- The Heroin Epidemic, 2016
Membership on the Steering Committee implies commitment to the following:
1. BREAKFAST NETWORK MEETINGS: This function is the vehicle that effectively provides for the ability and success in meeting the MISSION STATEMENT of this organization. The Steering Committee is assigned the task of maintaining the integrity and continuity of this function, to serve as an informal forum for networking, information, education and debate. No other opportunity exists in the York community for staff and interested individuals at all levels of community service and for persons from multiple disciplines and backgrounds to meet in a planned, organized manner which addresses and furthers the goal of strengthening the families who reside in our community.
2. CO-SPONSORSHIP OF COMMUNITY – WIDE EVENTS: This program function will not supersede, detract from, nor replace goal number one, but should only be pursued to serve to further strengthen goal number one in the context of the MISSION STATEMENT of the organization.
In that context, Family Issues Roundtable will consider engaging in one community-wide event per PROGRAM YEAR as appropriate. The purpose of such co-sponsorship will be to encourage collaboration, to broaden the ability to obtain available resources and to expand the base of those who can aid in planning and implementation.
Co-sponsored events are encouraged with one or more responsible groups from the community. These events would be activities not conducive to the informality of the networking breakfasts and would likely be more formal and structured in nature. Forums that address the public and separately those involved in service delivery and decision making are to be encouraged.
Any sponsored events should be planned in such a manner that meets the standards of quality and professionalism. Consideration should be given to the provision of Continuing Education Credits to meet the needs of various professionals whenever feasible. Consideration should also be given to evaluations of such events, to aid in determining the impact, benefit and future planning.
When agreeing to any co-sponsored event, all parties enter with an understanding that they share in planning, implementation, promotion, recognition, as well as the fiscal aspects – sharing in all expenses that may occur as part of that event.
A subcommittee will be formed representing all sponsoring agencies/organizations in order to facilitate implementation. Any representative of the Family Issues Roundtable may not commit to any formal agreements or expenditures without the approval of the Steering Committee.