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INVESTIGATOR: Walston, H.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY
FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY 40601

POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT: AN AFTERSCHOOL MENTORING PROGRAM FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND HISPANIC YOUTH

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: High-quality 4-H Youth Development programs coupled with good experiential learning (service learning - mentoring), when implemented properly, will enhance youth and college students social and life skills, and prepare them for their future careers as well as their role in society. The project will assist youth in becoming productive, responsible citizens and positive contributors to their local community, the state, and the nation, while empowering community partners and supporters to view children as resources rather than the problem. College students having engaged in this project as service learners will be better prepared to serve as leaders, solve problems, and have a broader perspective on issues, which are all traits that will positively impact the communities, states, and regions where they live. This youth development project is unique in that it is a culturally relevant and evidence-supported approach for responding to trauma in African-American and Hispanic youth ages 10-17.

OBJECTIVES: Goal: To establish an extension delivery afterschool 4-H Youth Development program for underserved African-American and Hispanic youth ages 10-17, which will increase the visibility and quality of Extension programs on campus and provide service learning experiences for students majoring in Agriculture, Food and Environment. Overall subordinate objectives are: 1) To develop and operationalize a 4-H Youth Development Afterschool Program for 75 African- American and Hispanic youth ages 10-17; 2) To assist the families of program youth in maintaining and/or increasing parenting skills, autonomy, and integrity in meeting their child's needs; 3) To promote classroom service learning experiences for college students majoring in Agriculture, Food and Environment, Education, and other degree programs; 4) To plan for collaboration and networking; and 5) To coordinate a process and outcome evaluation of the project.

APPROACH: Team members responsible for project oversight are a project PI at 10% FTE and a project coordinator at 100% FTE. These individuals will have responsibility for project oversight, serve as liaisons between the project, university, and partners, and ensure that tasks and outcomes are achieved in a timely manner. The project coordinator will manage day-to-day operation of the project, facilitate and implement activities for youth, supervise volunteer college student mentors, and actively recruit and pair youth with college student mentors, collaboratively work with local schools, and compile data for various reports and assignments. Students majoring in Agriculture, Food and Environment will serve as volunteer mentors for youth participants. They will provide tutoring and assist with program activities under the direction of the project coordinator. These college students will serve the program on a rotating schedule throughout the week. Youth will be transported to the program by buses after school ends each day. All student volunteers will undergo a background check before being involved with youth. Project staff will conduct pre-service and ongoing training for volunteers throughout duration of the project. In addition to youth attending afterschool programs during the academic year, the project will provide project youth with a full-day, six-week summer enrichment institute. An independent evaluator will utilize qualitative, quantitative, process and impact evaluation methods to determine the overall progress and success of the designed program strategies. The evaluation team's (program staff and external evaluator) gathered data will measure program services and analyze according to impact on: (i) targeted volunteer college student mentors; (ii) targeted youth and their progress on noted youth goal plan objectives regarding mentoring and behavior support; (iii) overall program impact towards achieving program goals; (iv) impact on training programs and college student mentors and community partners; and (v) timely modifications in program approaches. The project will make certain that steps will be taken to disseminate best practices, products, and results to others who may wish to replicate the proposed project or segments of the project in similar communities.

PROGRESS: 2018/03 TO 2021/02
Target Audience:The aim of the project was to initially serve 75 at-risk African-American and Hispanic youth ages 10-17 and their families. During Year 1 of the project 2017-2018 - being that several parents refused to grant permission for their child to participate in the project, 60 youth were identified at baseline from grades 5-9. At follow up 2018 - 2019 & 2019 - 2020 project periods, 48 youth were retained each of those years by the project. Youth selected to participate in the project were based on: Score below Proficiency - in one or more of the core adacemic subjects; Demonstrated Behavioral Problems - as indicated by having had contact with the juvenile justice, demonstrating anti-social behaviors, suspensions, expulsions, fight, truancy, etc; and Decreased Family and Behavioral Support - due to lack of parenting skill knowledge and family communication, and work schedule. Changes/Problems:In March of 2020 due to Cov-19, the project was faced with major delivery of service to youth and families being served by the project. Being that children could no longer attend theafter-school hours, the project had to deliver services toyouth and familiesvia Facebook Live, Zoom, Instagram, and MicrosoftTeams. It was such a major challenge to maintain the interest of youth due to constant changes in their school attendance and also participation in the activities provided by the project in meeting its goals and objectives. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During Year 1, the project provided Implicit Bias training for75 community police, 40 parents, and 100 volunteers. During Year II the project provided Child Abuse training for 40 college student volunteers and community adults who mentored one-to-one orengaged in small group and tutoring of youth in the project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Participant baseline and follow-up observation results and youth assessment results were distributed at the end of eachyear of the grant project to local schools principals, city police department, county sheriff department, county mental health department, Univerity units and academic departments,social services, Mayor's office, and the project's advisory board. Presentations of the project were presented by the Principal Investigator and Project Director to the local Optimist Club in Spring 2018 and tovarious campus classes throughout the scope of the project. The project was presented at the Annual National Afterschool Association's virtual conference Spring 2020. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

IMPACT: 2018/03 TO 2021/02
What was accomplished under these goals? The goal to establish an extension delivery afterschool 4-H youth development program for underserved African-American and Hispanic youth ages 10-17 was accomplished. During the scope of the project 48 youth were served. The project increased the visibility of extension programs on campus and provided service learning experiences for college student majors in agriculture, food and environment as well as other disciplinesacross campus. Also during the scope of the project the afterschool progrm was in full operation serving youth after school hours and on Saturdays.During the scope of the project a community policing component was implemented. Community officers from the city police department and sheriff department visited the program to engage youth in building relationships between the police and community. Ongoing family engagement activities were provided for maintaining and increasing parenting skills, autonomy, and integrity and meeting their children's needs. To promote classroom service learning experiences for college student majors, college students served as one-to-one and small group mentors and tutors for afterschool youth attending the project. College student majors in the area of child development and family relations as well as other students from across compus assisted youth with tutoring and homework help throughout the school year. The project maintained an advisory board which met quarterly to assist with reviewing project timelines, project scope and made necessary recommendations for improvement of the project. The advisory board was made up of school officials, mental helth professionals, faculty and staff, social workers, college students, parents, community police, and project youth. The project also maintained its partnerships with the local district schools in the county for transporting children to and from the program.Local school districts provided the project with school data relativeto youth academic performance and behavioral reports. Information and services provided via the project were maintained for process and outcome evaluation of the project. Each year of the project, the project's external evaluator evaluated various components of the project and provided the project with a yearly performance report.

PUBLICATIONS (not previously reported): 2018/03 TO 2021/02
No publications reported this period.