Carl D. Perkins was an elected official at the federal level who chaired the committee to secure federal funding for vocational education (later called career and technical education) programs. This began in the mid 1980's.
Family and Consumer Sciences used to have it's own line item for funding as it is believed the decision makers at that time viewed the impact FCS had on the person was necessary for success in life and all careers.
This is supported by the Department of Labor's Tiered Competency model which identifies "personal effectiveness skills", skills they say are "essential for all life roles", and foundational to life and work success. But what if those skills aren't learned? That is the foundational "life literacy" component FCS is known for. Even Perkins V lists Family and Consumer Sciences as a use of funds to teach employability skills as well as the occupational training.
This funding, called "Perkins" or "Perkins V" due to being it's it's fifth updating states what the funding can and can not be used for, and what must happen to ensure it's being spent with fidelity.
The items below are reference material for your use if your school is applying for, and using Perkins funding to support CTE:
This link (click on title) will send you to the explaination of the competency models. Scroll down to "Level One: Personal Effectiveness Competencies" which is under "Foundational Competencies".
Consider how this connection to FCS Education is vital when talking to decision makers about Perkins and FCS importance.
As per Perkins expectation, and the Montana Perkins Grant, "Advisory council input is included to develop and implement a process to evaluate program effectiveness and to initiate, improve, expand, and modernize quality program effectiveness."
Advisory Committees should represent all CTE program areas and pathways and must meet a minimum of once per school year. Minutes should be taken and will be requested as part of the Perkins grant during odd year applications.
See the attached document for more details and examples.
This link (click on title) will open the 2024-2027 Montana State Perkins plan which directs how all Perkins funding can be used.
Review to learn more about the grant that impacts schools and your program.
Montana FCS Pathways:
Montana FCS embraces four Career and Technical Education pathways which address human needs as aligned through Maslow's Hierarchy of Need--Food, Shelter, Clothing, Safety, Love and Acceptance. Commonly called the "people centered careers", they include:
Design FCS* (Interior and Fashion Industries);
Education*( preK-12, Post-Secondary, Community and Workforce Training Support and Services Industries);
Hospitality and Tourism* (Culinary, Lodging, Entertainment, Hospitality and Travel Industries); and
Human Services* (Counseling, Early Child--Infant through Preschool, Geriatrics, Social Work, Family Therapy, Credit Counseling, wellness and Nutrition related Industries)
(*Access the Montana FCS Programs of Study through the links found below.)
UPDATE! Note the FCS pathways have updated for the 2025-26 school year. Note the items in red which indicate changes beginning in the Fall of 2025. **Click on photo to access the program of study.
2025-26 Update
Design FCS**
Pathway Program of Study
2025-26 Update
Education FCS**
Pathway Program of Study
2025-26
Hospitality & Tourism**
Pathway Program of Study
2025-26
Human Services**
Pathway Program of Study
FCS Pathway Programs of Study 2022-2024:
Education
Hospitality & Tourism
Human Services
A Discussion: FCS Careers, Life Literacy and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
What does "people-centered" careers mean?
The answer is related to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
Who is Abraham Maslow?
Abraham Maslow is a theorists who has shared a model for meeting human needs. Maslow shared for personal needs to be met, one must first meet basic needs before moving to meeting psychological needs and finally self-fulfillment.
The field of Family and Consumer Sciences recognizes this model when teaching "life literacy" skills--the skills needed to live and work in the complex society in which we live.
What is life literacy?
Life literacy means the ability to obtain research based information to make life decisions with the goal to be healthy--financially, socially, emotionally and physically--which can mean FCS education is a "prevention" strategy, enhancing the ability to make well informed decisions and avoid intervention needs in the future.
How is life literacy and "people-centered careers" related?
Life literacy is the foundation to all "people-centered" careers. One must understand life literacy from a personal level to understand what it means to work in a field to bring intervention support to others through the careers.
What is the skill set of the "people-centered careers"?
The skill set FCS Education builds includes high order communication, flexibility, problem-solving, life span decision-making, cooperation, and empathy. These are practiced within the context of the pathway technical skills. Human Services requires the highest level of skill set requirements of the FCS pathways.
FCS Pathway Credentials
For more information: American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences pre-professional credentialing program: AAFCS Pre-PAC
DESIGN FCS Credentials
CAD (School Specific)
AAFCS--Fashion, Textiles, and Apparel
AAFCS--Housing and Furnishings
AAFCS--Interior Design Fundamentals
EDUCATION Credentials
Child Development Associates (CDA)*
AAFCS--Early Childhood Education
AAFCS--Education Fundamentals
(*Instructional hours and lab hours can be started at age 16.)
HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM Credentials
AAFCS--Culinary Arts
AAFCS--Food Science
AAFCS--Nutrition, Food, and Wellness *
(*Class 4 limitation)
HUMAN SERVICES Credentials
AAFCS--Broad Field FCS
AAFCS--Family and Community Services
AAFCS--Leadership
AAFCS--Nutrition, Food, and Wellness
AAFCS--Personal and Family Finance
SCED Codes Used for Reporting and Pathway Recognition
COURSE CODES WITH DESCRIPTIONS*:
Overiew:
MT CTE has courses recognized by a state identified title and a five digit code (called SCED codes) with a nationally developed course description.
These codes are used for linking data reporting, pathway course identification and teacher licensure allowances. It is vital accurate codes are used for courses in MT FCS programs.
As FCS courses are established and/or added to school offerings, review the programs of study listing of recognized codes by pathway (accessed above), reading the aligned descriptions (accessed below) to determine the best fitting five-digit code.
Course Code Access Link: https://opi.mt.gov/Leadership/Assessment-Accountability/School-Accreditation/Endorsement-Course-Codes
NOTE: CTE and FCS codes are located toward the end of this document, so scroll from bottom up to access them more quickly.
(*Look under FCS Framework for Montana FCS course framework documents with codes and descriptions as well as standards by course. )
National FCS to Pathway Connection Resources
1.NATIONAL LEADFCS FRAMEWORK: LEADFCS Education ( www.http://www.leadfcsed.org/ ) is a national organization which addresses issues that cross the US. See this box link below for more detail related to the FCS Education connections to the 16 career pathways. Yes, FCS is found in all pathways and is considered foundational to workforce success.
2. FCCLA AND PATHWAYS: FCCLA has multiple resources divided by pathway. Refer here for more information.
Fashion & Interiors Modernized Career Sub Cluster Reference Documents:
Modernized Career Clusters--Fashion Alignment
Fashion Industry Statistics
Fashion Industry in the NW and Montana
Fashion Industry Skill Set
This link will provide resources specific to the Fashion Industry. There are additional resources found under " Funding Opportunities and Resources".