Special funds support families, youth at risk

Iowa State University Extension will be playing an important role in three Iowa communities over the next five years as a part of the Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) program. CYFAR supports the development of community-based programs that serve children, youth and families in at-risk environments. It receives partial funding from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.

From 1995–2000, Union County and Dubuque benefited from CYFAR support administered through ISU Extension. Perry, Sioux City (West Side area) and Davenport (LeClaire Heights area) will be home to the new CYFAR efforts getting under way.

Youth leaders learned to think and act collaboratively through experiential training as part of the CYFAR project in Union County.

Future work in Perry will revolve around the community’s growing Hispanic population. A community enhancement project, with a focus on prevention efforts, will be tackled in Davenport. The Sioux City program will focus on strengthening parent involvement in the schools. For all three, ISU Extension will serve in an administrative/fiscal capacity and lead the way in developing a collaborative framework of local groups and organizations.

"The money is intended to assist in major change at the community level," said Barbara Woods, a special projects manager for ISU Extension to Families. She provides technical support to CYFAR projects in a 10-state area and will serve as an evaluator on the three new Iowa projects. "Funding received through CYFAR needs to be used for education and capacity building in communities, with an emphasis on families and youth."

According to Woods, all programs are based upon the needs of the individual community. The key is developing plans that incorporate the active involvement of community groups and service organizations. "The focus is on helping children and families at risk, with economics being a key factor in determining risk," Woods commented.

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