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Building Resilience Extension program strengthens children, youth and families By Celena E. Kusch
Using marshmallows and spaghetti, students build simple structures, then test the strength of the structures using pennies for weights. Group projects for the In Touch Science: Structure program build collaboration skills while children learn scientific principles. Children learn about principles of protection at CYFAR, held at the Moshannon Valley YMCA. Through the In Touch Science: Don’t Break That Egg program, teams of children design ways to pad and cushion the fall of an egg. Drug Prevention programs receive National Institutes of Health grant Four Penn State faculty and staff members have received funding from the National Institutes of Health to engage Cooperative Extension’s outreach resources to deliver substance abuse prevention programs to students in 10 schools across the Commonwealth. Already community interest has been high. Grant recipients are Dr. Tena St. Pierre, associate professor of agricultural and extension education and senior research associate at the Institute for Policy Research and Evaluation (IPRE); Lynne Kaltreider, Children, Youth and Families At Risk (CYFAR) project coordinator and IPRE research associate; Dr. Susan McHale, professor of human development; and Dr. Claudia C. Mincemoyer, manager of staff development for Penn State Cooperative Extension. Lynne Kaltreider (left) and Dr. Tena St. Pierre head Penn State’s Children, Youth and Families At Risk National Initiative. During a visit from Penn State Women in Engineering, Philipsburg children (left) designed the perfect playground and made presentations to the group. According to Lynne Kaltreider, experiences like these provide huge opportunities for both Children, Youth and Families At Risk participants and the Penn State students involved. “The young women from Penn State enjoyed it so much they want to come back for more programs.”	In ever-increasing numbers, today’s communities struggle to meet the fundamental needs of children, youth and families. More and more children are at risk for falling prey to the crime and violence in their neighborhoods, child abuse and neglect, undernourishment and poor health, academic underachievement, substance abuse, teen pregnancy and other uncertain futures. Longer term, these realities can limit the ability of younger generations to become responsible family members and active participants in the workforce and in the larger world. With the Children, Youth and Families At Risk (CYFAR) National Initiative, land-grant universities like Penn State marshal their resources to combat these problems and restore opportunity to children and their families. By forming partnerships in local community-based projects through the CYFAR Initiative’s State Strengthening Projects, Penn State Cooperative Extension and other land-grant university extension systems around the nation support and sustain educational programming for at-risk youth and families with limited resources. Pennsylvania’s Chester, Clearfield, Jefferson, Mercer and Montour counties participate in the CYFAR initiative, integrating University research, outreach practices and community involvement to strengthen local families. Penn State’s extensive research base in the area of children, youth and families informs all CYFAR projects. The CYFAR director is Dr. Tena St. Pierre, associate professor of agricultural and extension education and senior research associate at Penn State’s Institute for Policy Research and Evaluation (IPRE), an intercollege, interdisciplinary social and health sciences research institute. St. Pierre and Lynne Kaltreider, CYFAR project coordinator and research associate at IPRE, bring to CYFAR their combined 26 years of research and experience working with high-risk youth and families in multisite projects that aim to prevent problem behavior and enhance resiliency. “The foundation of the CYFAR initiative is that it is research-based,” St. Pierre said. “The CYFAR programs rely on research principles of prevention. For example, we know that children are influenced by the contexts in which they live, so we need to develop programs that involve families, schools, peers and communities to have success.” “In Philipsburg,” Kaltreider noted, “the YMCA is so highly regarded that it has provided an entry into the heart of the community for the CYFAR program. The Y has firmly established linkages throughout the community, and the CYFAR program has been able to build upon them for program support and participation. The community and the schools trust the Y, so they trust the CYFAR programs, too.” To launch a CYFAR program, interested communities and local Cooperative Extension agents write proposals to bring CYFAR resources and funding into their area, according to St. Pierre. These proposals include community partners from the very beginning, with the idea that involvement will continue through the years to sustain the projects after grant funding has ended. Community partners range from housing authorities to school districts and often include many smaller organizations that contribute to individual educational programs. “The CYFAR programs are still fairly new,” St. Pierre explained, “but they are already building the foundations for sustainability.” “The CYFAR initiative calls for sustainability, so the new proposals include plans for creating enduring programs,” Kaltreider added. “Already communities have stepped in to help the projects grow. Individuals and organizations like Americorp donate their time to CYFAR. The Kiwanis club, the Gardening Club and many local businesses have made contributions and underwritten programs. The Moshannon Valley YMCA even undertook renovations with a grant from the Centre Daily Times to enhance CYFAR tutoring programs. The new “Book Nook” has a fresh coat of paint and students who are ready to learn.” In CYFAR, this spirit of community collaboration and network building also takes the form of high-tech Internet connectivity. CYFERNET, part of the CYFAR initiative, provides full-text Internet access to a wide array of information about child care, child development and other family issues in both Spanish and English. Separate sections of the Web site are designed to meet the needs of youth, parents, educators and other professionals. This resource has enriched the opportunities for Pennsylvania CYFAR sites. “All the sites have extensive collaborations both with the communities and with the University,” St. Pierre said. “Penn State’s Cooperative Extension pulls from a broad array of resources to supplement the educational program. We have a wide network of access to expertise here at the University and nationally, as well. The resources are virtually unlimited, and with CYFAR, they are linked over the Internet. The connectivity standards of the initiative have been a great benefit at many levels. The Internet has been instrumental in connecting extension agents to knowledge resources and has united parents and children who can enjoy doing an educational activity together.” Amidst the benefits of the technology, volunteers, research and programming, the heart of the program still lies with the individual children and adults who see CYFAR as a door to new opportunities. “We know that one-on-one supportive relationships with at least one positive adult are critical to building the competence and hope which lead to successful and resilient children, youth and families,” St. Pierre said. “This plays out nicely with the CYFAR volunteers and coordinators. When you watch the children in CYFAR programs, the bonds are clear.” According to Keno Beezer, director of the Moshannon Valley YMCA in Philipsburg, CYFAR has made a difference in the lives of local children. “The kids feel more comfortable and self-confident, and their grades have improved,” he said. “Individual kids are blossoming under Sue Ellen Bartley, the CYFAR project assistant, and the volunteer group. You can see them come out of their shells. When they participate in the CYFAR activities, they just start to shine. As more kids are coming in excited about their grades, more kids are drawn to the program. It’s only going to get bigger and better.” Youth Enrichment Partnership Program Each year, more than 100 at-risk elementary school students from inner-city schools and community organizations participate in an after-school program sponsored by the Penn State Lehigh Valley campus of Berks-Lehigh Valley College and the City of Allentown Housing Authority. Sean Kelly, precollege program specialist, and Judy Lichtman, reference librarian at Penn State Lehigh Valley, coordinate the program. Students who are at risk because of academic, environmental or financial limitations are recommended for the program by their teachers and counselors. Hands-on learning, with an emphasis on writing, drive the curriculum for the program. This summer, fourth-graders learned about cultures and countries and used the Internet; fifth-graders learned about business and business writing by writing letters of inquiry to athletes and musicians, writing for “freebies,” visiting small minority-owned businesses and discussing the importance of working toward a goal and saving money. Students’ parents participated in activities with their children on the final day of each session. Lichtman said, “One very special feature of this program is the participation of faculty from Puerto Rican universities through Penn State’s Scholars in Residence program. These teachers serve as role models for the children, many of whom have recently moved to the Lehigh Valley from Puerto Rico. The bond forged between the teachers and students in these programs is strong, and some children correspond with their teachers long after the program ends. The visiting scholars have also been very successful in reaching out to the parents during the program and on Parents’ Day at the end of each session.” Dr. Celeste Morales of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, a writing fellow of the Lehigh Valley Writing Institute, and Dr. Mercedes García Peréz, visiting scholar from the University of Puerto Rico, taught the program this summer. Kenneth A. McGeary, regional director for Berks-Lehigh Valley College, said, “The most significant community development that I have been involved in my 33 years with the University has been the opportunity to position Penn State to support some of our most vulnerable youth in eastern Pennsylvania. I am grateful for the University support, but also the support extended by many units within the University. “The John Cooney scholarship in honor of the retired campus executive officer of the Penn State Lehigh Valley campus has been endowed at Penn State Lehigh Valley this year. This is another example of the expanding resources and support available for our precollege program, thanks to John Cooney’s leadership.”