Progress 08/15/16 to 08/14/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Youth ages 12-18 in Ferguson, Missouri and Jefferson County, Missouri Ferguson Site Thirty youth were served in 2016-2017.A majority are African American and most are from low-income households. A major site partner is St. Stephen's & The Vine,a community based organization in Ferguson Missouri that supports members and organizations throughout the community by providing community meals, staff support to various groups, offering space for community activities, and other community focused initiatives. Missouri 4-H and The Vinepartner to implement the Youth Futures program in Ferguson, Missouri. Efforts - Interactive, college readiness workshops occured two times monthly and included program mentors.Learning activities included topics like communication, social media, college and life experiences series (panel discussion of speed networking and college/scholarship research), a writing workshop and more. This site alsocreated a formal 4-H Youth Futures club including the election and training of club officers, establishment of bylaws, parliamentary procedure training, etc.. Club meetings coincide with college readiness workshops. The clubconducted two service projects: 1) a Peace Meal service project that involved preparing and serving a free meal to the community at St. Stephens and the Vine and 2) a Fall Trunk or Truck program for area youth that included hands-on learning activities, too. Youth Futures club membersalso served ascounselors for a county 4-H summer camp.Fifteen participants attended a three-day college tour that included visits totwoinstitutions (Chicago State and University of Chicago). Ten participants also attended a four-day college orientation conference on the University of Missouri campus. Recreational and social activities like a lock-in, movies and high school graduation celebrations were facilitated. Jefferson County Site Thirty-two youth were served in 2016-2017.Many of the youth struggle academically andare from low-income households, or homeless. Major site partnersare Bridges Alternative High School and Windsor High School in Jefferson County. The program takes place in the schools during school hours. The program at Bridges occurs for one hour each month during a classroom period. The program at Windsor works primarily with youth who are unaccompanied (homeless) and includes individual coaching for college readiness as well as providing personal supports. Efforts - Interactive, college readiness workshops occuredone a month and included teachers from the highschools.Learning activities included topics likestudy skills, communication with teachers, stress reduction, and team building.The youth at Bridges focusedon individualized FAFSA completion in coordination with the school social workers, collegeapplication assistance and individualized career and job information sharing and advising, assistance with resumes, job interviews and applying for summerjobs. The youth at Windsor school focused on creating an attainment plan and career goals, personality assessment, and learning style assessment.Youth Futuresparticipantsalso served ascounselors for a county 4-H summer camp.Ten participants attended a three-day college tour that included visits totwoinstitutions (Chicago State and University of Chicago).Five participantsattended a four-day college orientation conference on the University of Missouri campus. Recreational and social activities like a lock-in, movies and high school graduation celebrations were facilitated. A day camp was held during the summer at an apartment complex and included middle school and high school students from Dunklin school.This educational program included Youth Futures curriculum and robotics. Staff, volunteers and youth at both the Ferugson and Jefferson County sitesprogram together on college tours, the college orientation conference, serving as camp counselors and social/recreational activities. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?All CYFAR program staff and State Steering Committee members participated in the following trainings to prepare for the implementation of the Youth Futures program in Jefferson County and Ferguson: 4-H Youth Futures program (including curriculum), Love Notes (including curriculum), Youth Mental Health First Aid.CYFAR Common Measures evaluation training, and theYouth Futures CYFAR technology plan. The State Steering Committee members andYouth Futures CYFAR Site Directors facilitated a workshop session about the program at the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2016. Two CYFAR Youth Futures staff membersprovided a Youth Futures training in Alabama in April, 2016 The CYFAR Youth FuturesSteering Committee members and Site Directors presented a presentation about the program at the CYFAR Professional Development meeting in Washington DC. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The 2016 Youth Futures Evaluation Summary is shared with University of Missouri stakeholders, donors and program partners. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The CYFAR Youth Futuresprogram model is strong and implemented well at the two local sites. The grant PI will work with the site coordinators for strong T2 data collection in order to provide more effective data that exemplifies strong programming.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Findings for Youth Futures Project in Year 2 Overview The University of Missouri 4-H Youth Futures CYFAR project aims to introduce, adapt, and expand the proven model of 4-H Youth Futures College Within Reach (YF) in two Missouri communities with urgent needs: the city of Ferguson and Jefferson County. The YF program was launched in 2002 to serve youth who are not typically encouraged to attend college. Program components include on-going mentoring, completion of a curriculum focused on life skills around educational attainment and workforce development, college orientation and campus visits, parent engagement, and meaningful youth leadership opportunities. Methods Participants. The sample for this analysis is drawn from the 68 participants who enrolled in the program and completed pre-test questionnaires. Due to challenges in collecting T2 data, our sample of youth with both pre-test and T2 data is limited to 6 individuals. We are currently taking steps to revise our data collection protocol in order to more effectively collect data from participants before they are no longer engaged. Our goal is to also improve the effectiveness of procedures to collect data from mentors and caregivers (when present). The sample youth to date is diverse and consists of: · 35 males; 28 females; 1 other (4 missing value). · Ages ranged from 12 to 18 (m = 15.7, sd = 1.45) · 34% were in 9th grade, 22% in 10th, 10% in 11th, and 27% were HS seniors · 78% were White; 18% were Black/African-American · 37% were from a nuclear family; 32% were from a single-parent family; 12% were from a blended/stepfamily; 12% reported "other" · 32% reported that their biological/adoptive parents married and are living together; 27% said that they married but separated or divorced; 19% also reported that they were never married and not living together Measures. The pre-program questionnaires contain 113 items of five categories: core competencies, career planning, workforce preparation, close relationships, and demographic data. Table 1 represents characteristics of several variables of interest in relation to our short-term outcomes. Table 1. Mean, Standard deviations, and Range Range Mean Std. Min Max Core Competencies Decision making 2.89 .66 1 4 Commitment to school 2.73 .53 1 4 Career planning 1.99 .51 1 3 Workforce preparation 2.11 .50 1 4 Close Relationships Dating relationship 6.06 1.37 1 7 Positive interaction 2.77 .62 1 4 Making friends 7.05 3.03 1 10 Social support 3.78 .83 1 5 The goal of this project isintroduce, adapt, and expand the proven model of 4-H Youth Futures College Within Reach (YF) in two Missouri communities with urgent needs: the city of Ferguson and Jefferson County.YF inspires and prepares underserved youthto attend and graduate from college. Extension/4-H Youth Development staff and volunteers plan and implement the program each year. Program components include on-going mentoring, completion of a curriculum focused on life skills around educational attainment and workforce development, college orientation and campus visits, parent engagement, and meaningful youth leadership opportunities.CYFAR funding willenhance YF to include: conflict management and relationship building skills; systematic professional development for staff and volunteers on topics such as Mental Health First Aid; and customized college orientation programs matched to youth needs. The impact on children, youth and families in these two communities will be significant, but lessons, strategies, and partnerships developed will also strengthen the YF program, improving evaluation, curricula and training. Objectives: Short Term Youth will report positive aspirations about college and postsecondary education. While roughly 15% of youth reported that they expected to finish high school, the remaining 85% had expectations of completing at least junior college/trade school at pre-test. Half reported to expect to obtain a college degree, and almost 23% expected to complete an advanced degree of some kind. Although we do not yet have reliable data on changes in these expectations, youth who enroll in the YF program start out with fairly positive aspirations about college and postsecondary education. Youth will report positive relationship with adult mentor and positive program experiences. · Of the youth completing T2 questionnaires (n = 7), on average they reported a Program Quality mean of 3.75 (range 1 - 5). We look forward to examining this outcome with more robust data going forward, as 3 of these youth had only attending 1 YF session, whereas the others attended between 12-17 sessions. It is not possible to interpret our outcomes with the highly varied participation experiences of such a small group. Youthwill articulate a career goal and steps needed to achieve that goal. Data were collected from 6 YF youth participants for two consecutive time points. On average, the mean score for Career Planning increased from pre-test (m = 1.99) to T2 (m = 2.21). Due to having such a small sample, this is not yet trending toward statistical significance. Parents/caregivers will understand steps they can take to support youth career goals. · One challenge we have experienced to date is engaging parents/caregivers in the YF program with the youth. This is something that we hope to address better going forward. However, we do also tend to recruit a number of youth who do not have a specific active caregiver in their lives. In fact, some may even be their own legal guardians for a variety of reasons. We hope to be able to engage more parents/caregivers and collect data from them. Youth will demonstrate key life skills necessary for success in school, workforce, and relationship contexts. Data from those who completed pre-test and T2 indicate that on average, the mean score for social support increased from pre-test (m = 3.29) to T2 (m = 3.46). Due to having such a small sample, this is not yet trending toward statistical significance. With our very limited data at this time, we are yet unable to measure any improvements in school commitment, workforce preparation, or decision-making skills. Going forward, we will be able to measure changes in these constructs for our youth participants to better understand how the YF program is working. Long Term · For the most part, these are longer term outcomes that we do not have adequate data to address at this time due to the design of our program and evaluation plans. Youth will enroll in post-secondary education. To date, 16 YF participants who were seniors at the time of enrollment at our two CYFAR cites successfully graduate from high school. We are currently in the process of documenting their post-secondary educational experiences. Youth will complete post-secondary education. Youth will have the knowledge, skills, attitudes and health needed for the 21st century workforce. Youth are valued, contributing members of their communities. Youth will develop positive relationship skills and the ability to develop and maintain healthy relationships.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: CYFAR Youth Futures presentation at the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Progress 08/15/15 to 08/14/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audience - 1) youth ages 12-18 in Ferguson, Missouri and Jefferson County, Missouri. Ferguson site Target Audience - Fifteenyouth were served in 2015-2016. A major site partner was the Ferguson Youth Initiative (YFI). Purina Corporation was also a partner and provided mentors, jobsite tours and workshop facilitators. All youth served at this site are African American and all are considered low-income as designated by Free and Reduced Lunch classification. Efforts - interactive, college readiness workshops occured two times monthly and included program mentors. The participants attended a four-day college tour that included visits to 4 colleges and universities. The participants also attended a four-day college orientation conference on the University of Missouri campus. Jefferson County site Target Audience - Twentyyouth were served in 2015-2016. Majorsite partner werethe Homeless Youth Initiative (HYI), Windsor High School, Fox High School, including Bridges Alternative High School, and Northwest High school. Most of theyouth served at this site are considered "unaccompanied" or homelessand all are considered low-income as designated by Free and Reduced Lunch classification. Efforts - interactive, college readiness workshops occured two times monthly and the Fox High School site included individual meetings with youth as needed because scheduling group meetings was not possible. The participants attended a four-day collegetour that included visits to 4 colleges and universities. The participants also attended a four-day college orientation conference on the University of Missouri campus. ? Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training - all CYFAR program staff and the State Steering Committee members participated in the following trainings to prepare for the implementation of the Youth Futures program in Jefferson County and Ferguson: 4-H Youth Futures program (including curriculum), Love Notes (including curriculum), Youth Mental Health First Aid, CYFAR Common Measures evaluation training, and the Youth Futures CYFAR technology plan. The State Steering Committee members and Youth Futures CYFAR Site Directors attended the CYFAR professional development conference How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Impact - Given that 2015-2016 was the first year of this project most of the activity involved hiring and training onsite staff and building local partnerships to support the development and expansion of the program.The focus was on laying the groundwork through marketing the program and engaging local stakeholders to help recruit youth and mentors.Fifteen youth were served in the Ferguson site and 25 youth were served in the Jefferson County site, including bi-monthly group meetings focused on the Youth Futures andLove Notescurriculum. All sites actively collect pre- and post-evaluation data. An active partnership was established between the Ferguson Youth Futures CYFAR program and the Ferguson Youth Initiative (YFI). This partnership involves using the FYI facility for program space, connecting with the YFI Advisory for program direction and utilizing FYI partners as program mentors. The Jefferson County Youth Futures CYFAR program involves active partnerships with personnel in these three schools: Fox High School, Northwest High School and Windsor High School. The school personnel (counselor and teachers) serve as volunteers, mentors. All sites actively collect pre- and post-evaluation data, however given that the program is in its first year of implementation actual programming with youth began in January 2016 so programmatic impact is not yet available. Major activities completed: 1) hired two on-site staff members, 2) trained on-site staff members and CYFAR project team in the 4-H Youth Futures curriculum, Love Notes curriculum, Youth Mental Health First Aid program, Common Measures program evaluation, and the Youth Futures CYFARtechnology plan, 3) Developed Common Measures evaluation procotocol including IRB approval, 4)actively collected pre- and post-test Common Measures evaluation forms, 4) initiatied bi-monthly Youth Futures program sessionswith youth, 5) facilitated a four-day college tour with approximately 20 youth, 6) implementeda four-day college orientation conference for youth on the University of Missouri campus.

Publications