Programs: Rural Youth Development
Since September 2002, National 4-H Council received funding from USDA to implement the Engaging Youth, Serving Community program. This focuses action on some of the priorities that emerged from the National Conversation on Youth Development in the 21st Century. Objectives of the Engaging Youth, Serving Community program include:
- Youth in rural areas will gain the skills, experience, and confidence needed to emerge aseffective leaders and contributing members of society.
- After-school program staff will develop the skills and competencies to provide holistic positive youth development opportunities to school-age youth in rural communities.
- Youth and adults in rural communities will improve their abilities to work in partnership to address community needs.
For the first round of funding, pilot projects in 4-H After-school, Youth in Governance or Professional Volunteer Development initiatives took place in 47 states, all four regions of the country and Guam through land grant institutions. These capacity-building efforts engaged youth as partners in addressing community issues, provided safe and inviting places for youth to experience positive youth development in out-of-school time, and broke down the barriers to participation in community life.
Engaging Youth, Serving Community 2 continued the work begun in the first round, only focusing on more in-depth work through pilot programs in 12 states. Some states collaborated with at least one other state for a total reach of 23 states.
Engaging Youth, Serving Community 3 zeroed in on “the best of the best” as 20 states were awarded funding to continue projects begun in either EYSC 1 or EYSC 2 in 4-H After-school programming or Youth in Governance projects.
In Engaging Youth, Serving Community 4, a new focus intensely involves youth and adults in addressing community needs through youth-facilitated public forums on key issues facing their rural communities. Five rural communities in each of the 15 states selected are implementing action plans based on the community forums, with youth and adults working together to improve their rural communities.
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