Iowa State University Extension

capacity: noun 1, the power of receiving or containing. 2, ability; power to act. 3, function, role.

sustainability: noun and verb 1, the ability to continue, endure. 2, the process continuing, enduring. 3, function, role.

The CYFAR project seeks to develop individual and community capacity to build stronger communities for at risk families. Additional capacity building resources are located on CYFERnet's Community section.

Capacity Building Self Rating Instrument (pdf)
Staff and volunteers capacities are defined as the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable staff and volunteers to effectively reach children, youth, and families living in at-risk environments.

Collaboration Framework (pdf, 20 pages)
Created by the National Network for Collaboration, the framework provides common definitions, key elements, benefits, and diagnostic tools of community group relationships and collaboratives.

Building Communities with Strong Families
Materials and accompanying videotape are designed for communities wanting to start new efforts and for those who wish to strengthen what they are already doing.

CYFERnet
CYFERnet's Web site brings together the best, children, youth and family resources of all the public land-grant universities in the country. It is designed to be used by anyone who needs comprehensive children, youth, or family information. CYFERnet is a national network of Land Grant university faculty and county Extension educators working to support community-based educational programs for children, youth, parents and families.

CYFERNet Building Communities and Supporting Families Bulletins
These bulletins examine different topical areas that are critical to program development and evaluation. In each bulletin you will find a brief introduction to the topic, what community partners have said about the topic relative to their programs, evaluation results from the Organizational Change Survey and the YAR Sustainability Study, a case example of a community-based program that incorporates the topic into their programming, tips on evaluations, lessons learned from evaluation, and resources that will help you both program for and evaluate the topics raised in the bulletins.

Collaboration Framework ... Addressing Community Capacity (pdf, 18 pages)
designed to help individuals and practitioners who are starting or need help strengthening a collaboration to achieve clearly defined outcomes.

Assessing Your Collaboration: A Self Evaluation Tool.
Lynne Borden and Dan Perkins article in the April issue of the Journal of Extension.

Family Involvement Network of Educators
The Family Involvement Network of Educators, from the Harvard Family Research Project, is a bold effort to strengthen family and community engagement in education. FINE represents a national network of people interested in promoting strong partnerships between schools, families, and communities. Membership is free and includes access to the latest and best information about family involvement and regular updates of new resources that strengthen family, school, and community partnerships.

Asset-Based Community Development Institute
The Asset-Based Community Development Institute (ABCD), established in 1995 by the Community Development Program at Northwestern University's Institute for Policy Research, is built upon three decades of community development research by John Kretzmann and John L. McKnight.

Organizational Change
A staff development assessment was conducted in 1995-96 to determine ISUE's baseline capacity to effectively program with children, youth and families at risk. The National CYFAR Organizational Change Survey was conducted in 1997, 2000, and 2003 to document state's organizational capacity and document change over time. The information from these assessments guided the development of resources and staff training opportunities.

Copin County
Copin County is a hands-on opportunity to experience how local policy is made. Funded by the Farm Foundation to the North Central Region Public Policy Committee, it's goal is to create an experiential activity to help citizens understand local public decision making.

Family Resiliency: Building Strengths to Meet Life's Challenges (pdf)
A publication of the National Network for Family Resiliency , CREES-USDA
EDC-53, 12 pages, July 1995

A Measure of How Families are Doing (pdf)
Ten categories listed across the top of this chart are elements of family life that can be measured to determine if and where a family is at risk. The descriptors provide general characteristics of each of the three types of families: thriving family, safe family, at-risk family. Adapted by Karen Shirer, assistant director, ISU Extension to Families. Used in permission. Copyright Mid-Iowa Community Action Agency, Marshalltown, Iowa 1993