Mind Matters: Implementing with Diverse audiences in New Mexico The New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service has widely implemented Mind Matters to support mental health, which was identified as a priority area for the state. County Extension Agents have successfully reached a variety of audiences including youth, families, adults, indigenous communities, and underrepresented groups. Some underrepresented audiences include individuals who had experienced incarceration, homelessness, and/or substance use challenges. Evaluations showed participants felt more confident in their ability to manage stress and build resilience after attending the program. This webinar will highlight the experiences of the Extension Family Life team that spearheaded and implemented Mind Matters in their communities. They will share their successes reaching diverse audiences as well as lessons learned to improve future implementation efforts. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Learn how Mind Matters was implemented with diverse audiences in a variety of settings. Review evaluation results…
Extension Agents
Capture and Motivate: Reigniting Youth Collaborations and Engagement Kinesthetic learning is the theory that we learn more when we perform an action and less when we read about it in a book. Bee Busy, based in Texas, reignites this way of innovative learning with the youth in their programs. Bee Busy Inc. utilizes social media to guide students through the six Adult Preparation Topics while they learn multimedia skills that unlock hidden talents, which may have otherwise gone unnoticed. Students learn about teen pregnancy prevention and relationship education. They then produce media to show what they learn. This same media is then used to reach and teach other teens. Join the Bee Busy Inc. staff to learn how to utilize multimedia production as a positive youth development activity and grow your own youth programs. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Identify ways to utilize multimedia in youth programs Learn from the…
What happens when you organize college undergraduates to provide healthy marriage and relationship education (HMRE) to their peers in a structured service-learning class? This presentation will describe a community engagement strategy and pedagogical approach to prepare emerging professionals and strengthen romantic relationships by utilizing undergraduate peer educators to facilitate HMRE to other undergraduate students in their campus community. Join Drs. McElwain and Finnegan as they discuss the process of training, planning, and implementing content from the evidence-based Love Notes curriculum that helped college peers see human development and family relations concepts “come to life,” open a “whole new world” of career opportunities, and develop key professional skills. Objectives: Participants will be able to: Understand the benefits of a peer education model for delivering HMRE through structured university service-learning courses. Identify peer impact and practical gains of facilitating relationship education through a service-learning experience Learn from peer educators’ reflections on their…
Strengthening Facilitation Skills: A Training Curriculum for Programs Working with Youth, is a free, three-module curriculum designed to help facilitators of youth-serving programs improve the quality of their facilitation skills. It was developed as part of a formative evaluation of Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education programs conducted by Mathematica and its partner Public Strategies in conjunction with two community-based organizations called STREAMS. Join Erin Welch and Scott Roby for this webinar where they will share details about the curriculum’s development, describe its resources, and explain how it can be used to foster facilitators’ development. Learn how you can maximize learning and engagement using best practices and participant-centered and trauma-informed facilitation Objectives: Participants will internalize the goals and development process of the Strengthening Facilitation Skills curriculum. Participants will explore the content and resources included in the curriculum. Participants will understand how to use the curriculum and hear tips from the field….
Have you ever wondered what difference having an all male or all female* or co-ed group makes for youth outcomes? Well, so did John Lewis of Urban Strategies. John leads the collaborative, FuturoNow, which is delivering Love Notes SRA to approximately 1,300 youth annually targeting nine, majority-Latino neighborhoods of Los Angeles County that have teen birth rates far above state and national average. As part of their grant, FuturoNow is conducting a descriptive study to compare differences between implementing Love Notes with all male, all female, and co-ed groups. In this webinar you will learn what they learned about outcomes, outreach, and other key takeaways through surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews. *Self-identified Objectives: Participants will learn: How male and female youth experienced Love Notes in gender-based cohorts including what they liked and disliked Two strategies to increase recruitment and retention of male and female youth in by hosting these…
Non-profits often struggle to stretch their limited funds and still provide effective programming for the young people they serve. In the wake of the pandemic, school-aged youth deserve access to social-emotional learning that is trauma-informed and yields results. Yet, many evidence-based programs are often out of reach for school budgets. Non-profit organizations may have grant funding but the ability to find qualified facilitators and deliver in-school programming may be beyond their reach. During this webinar, discover how your non-profit can build relationships with state education offices, schools, and teachers to partner with them in your grant activity. This synergistic approach can result in providing quality evidence-based programming in classrooms that cost-effectively reaches scores of students. Join Sarah Simister, the Director of Positive Youth Development Programs at Social Innovation Laboratory, as she discusses how to build a sustainable program offering healthy relationship programming in schools and how your grant dollars will…
Join Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, and of Public Affairs at University of Wisconsin-Madison, to learn about the concept of on-again and off-again relationships known as “Relationship Churning.” Join her as she discusses the frequency of relationship churning among young adults and parents, explains the associated predictors, and reflects on how practitioners can recognize them, including implications for their work. Webinar Participants will be able to: Explain what a churning relationship is Explain the frequency of and factors associated with churning relationships Reflect on the implications of churning relationships for practice Presenters: Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin – Madison Resources: Relationship Churning Slide Deck + Research The book referenced during the webinar is: Dailey, R. M. (2019). On-again, off-again relationships: Navigating (in) stability in romantic relationships. Cambridge University Press.
From hooking up, to living together, to bearing children prior to clarity about having a future together, relationship and family development has changed. New paradigms have important implications for how we understand the romantic and sexual relationships of young adults. Ambiguity is a preferred condition of relationships for many, which makes it easier to finesse intentions and hide asymmetrical commitment. However, this new relationship paradigm can lead to a person losing life options before making a clear choice about what they want the most. In this webinar, Scott Stanley, Ph.D. will explain the ways motivated ambiguity intersects with types of commitment (e.g., constraint and dedication) to impact mate selection and lasting love. Some themes include the role of commitment in securing attachment, asymmetrical commitment, and research on how common types of relationship transitions can impact long-term outcomes. Objectives: Webinar participants will be able to: Understand how teen and early adulthood…
With the highest teen pregnancy rates in the United States, Arkansas has a great need for health education centering around pregnancy prevention and healthy relationships. After utilizing Love Notes 3.0 and Love Notes SRA for the last three years, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Outreach Specialists, Sarah Harlan and Charles Maxwell, have encountered barriers common to a rural, conservative environment. But despite those barriers, they have seen growth. Join them during this webinar to hear their experiences and lessons learned in bringing relationship education to teens across their state. Objectives: Webinar participants will be able to: Understand how Love Notes aligns with the mission of Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Understand Arkansas Children’s Love Notes implementation strategies. Gain insights into increasing community partnerships and reaching rural areas with health education. Presenters: Sarah Harlan and Charles Maxwell, Outreach Specialists, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Who should attend: Program managers, educators, practitioners, community workers, and anyone interested in working with youth. When: Wednesday,…
The multiple pandemics of public health, racism, and climate change have created tremendous disruption across all institutions. Chances are your organization innovated its approach in ways you might want to keep and it is likely the post-pandemic future will not look like the past. Scenario tools can amplify diverse voices and help organizations and communities envision multiple futures in times of uncertainty. Scenario tools surface risks and opportunities to guide the adaptation of programs and operations. This session will teach practitioners the basics of scenario planning and provide a tool to guide responsive planning during times of rapid change. Objectives: Webinar participants will learn: How to compose a scenario planning team to ensure equity and benefit from diverse perspectives. How to use a scenario planning tool to surface key uncertainties and possible futures. How to embed scenario planning as a skill to enhance organizational nimbleness. Presenters: Sarah Di Troia, Senior Advisor, Project…
Project Evident strives to put practitioners in the driver’s seat when it comes to building evidence for their programs. This doesn’t mean they need to become statisticians or data wizards. Even small programs without data expertise can run small tests of change to continuously improve—and build evidence for—their programs. This webinar will give a practical overview to get you started on continuous improvement. Objectives: Webinar attendees will: Learn how to identify problems and measure targets for continuous improvement. Go through a working example of root cause analysis as a tool for identifying and prioritizing potential changes. Gain guidance in assessing changes, qualitatively and quantitatively Presenters: Gregor Thomas, Project Evident, Director of Data and Evidence Science, Mississippi Who should attend: All organization leaders responsible for overseeing and measuring effective program delivery, i.e. program directors, program managers, facilitators, and evaluators. When: Wednesday, October 14, 2020, 4:00 pm Eastern/1:00 pm Pacific Duration: 60…
September 9, 2020 @ 1:00 pm Pacific Developmentally, one of the ways adolescents explore who they are is through romantic relationships. How adolescents approach these relationships is influenced by the relationships modeled around them. While some youth may have witnessed and learned about positive couple interactions from good models, many may have witnessed only poor models of couple relationships. Educational programs on healthy relationships can help youth develop skills to make smart relationship choices and avoid risky behaviors. Since 2008, the University of Georgia along with Family and Consumer Sciences and 4-H Extension agents, in partnership with schools and community agencies across 76 counties, have delivered Relationship Smarts PLUS to nearly 15,000 youth. Overall, participating youth have reported increases in knowledge, confidence that they can use the skills learned, likeliness to use these skills, and positive feelings about themselves. Join Dr. Ted Futris and Cindy Sheram as they share their…
Join the staff from Project Rise as they share with you how they are successfully engaging the Latino community including youth and their parents in healthy relationship skills programming. Project Rise is utilizing Relationship Smarts PLUS (Sexual Risk Avoidance Adaptation) to prevent teen pregnancy, reduce associated risk behaviors, and promote healthy adolescent development among Latino teens aged 12-18. They are working in four neighborhoods of Los Angeles County where measures of sexual risk are significantly higher than the national average. In focus groups the young people reported learning: Communication and relationships skills including ways to speak with family and friends as well as controlling their anger How to be self-reflective including understanding infatuation vs true love and effective decision making skills Ways to talk with their parents or a trusted adult about sex and healthy relationships. Presenters: John Lewis, Southern California Director, Urban Strategies Guillermo Pichardo, Youth Advocate, Catalyst SGV Who Should Attend:…
Marline Pearson, author of Love Notes and Relationship Smarts PLUS, will make the case why a 4thR is needed for increasing student success. Learn why relationship education must be a central tool to help young people reach their school, work, and family goals by increasing their agency over their love lives. She will cover recent research and share evidence-based solutions to the pressing problems that face today’s youth. Attendees will: Identify at least 2 key reasons why relationship education is key to helping students succeed. Describe current trends that could be reversed by teaching relationship education. Identify 2 evidence based strategies that could be implemented to help students succeed. Presenter: Marline E. Pearson, M.A., Author, Love Notes and Relationship Smarts PLUS. Resources: February 2019 Webinar PPT
Dr. Temple will discuss sexting (a combination of the words sex and texting), the practice of electronically sending sexually explicit images or messages from one person to another. Sexting has received an abundance of attention in the popular press. Much of this attention has been limited to (1) legal cases in which teens who create, send, receive, store, and/or disseminate nude pictures of themselves or another teen face criminal charges including child pornography, and (2) cases in which teens are harassed and bullied as a result of the nude picture being distributed beyond the intended audience. Although media reports often cite various examples of sexting leading to bullying, cyber-bullying, and even suicide, we understand very little about the public health importance of sexting. Using data from his ongoing longitudinal study of adolescent health, as well as a recent meta-analysis, Dr. Temple will examine the prevalence of sexting behaviors as well…
WEBINAR: Working Together: Developing & Implementing a Sustainable Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program
In October 2016, Dr. Michelle Toews and her colleagues at Kansas State University received a grant to develop, implement, and evaluate the #RELATIONSHIPGOALS program, a sexual risk avoidance education intervention with seventh- and ninth-grade students from a local school district. The goal of program is to empower youth to make healthy decisions by teaching them the benefits associated with self-regulation, healthy relationships and goal setting, while also teaching them how to resist sexual coercion, dating violence and other risky behaviors. The curriculum used in the intervention is Relationship Smarts PLUS, Sexual Risk Avoidance Adaptation. Preliminary results suggest the program is reaching its goal. Specifically, students report that they love the program and share that one of the most important things they learn is how to identify healthy and unhealthy relationships. They also say the program teaches them skills they need to develop healthy relationships, particularly effective communication skills, which they…
All states have Extension Programs filling educational gaps for their rural and urban citizens. Community organizations and teachers can take advantage of the relationship education programs offered by their Extension Agents. Join three Extension Specialists who are creatively offering relationship education for youth using Dibble Programs in 4-H, Financial Literacy, and Family Development settings. Presenters: Ahlishia Shipley, National Institute of Food and Agriculture Craig Dart, Utah State 4-H Extension Eric Murphy, West Virginia Family & Consumer Sciences Extension Jennifer Hunter, University of Kentucky Family & Consumer Sciences Extension Resources: April 2015 Webinar
Recruiting and appealing to young adults ages 18-24 can be challenging for a multitude of reasons. In this webinar, Vanessa Logan describes her unique “boots on the ground” approach for how to build trust with marginalized young adults and consequently is able to provide them with tools to develop self-sufficiency. Integrated into her approach is the essential building of healthy relationship skills with pregnant and parenting youth, empowering them to successfully parent or even co-parent when no longer together. With a heart for people, Vanessa identifies critical needs of the underserved and builds bridges by partnering with organizations and community initiatives to uncover resources and move others toward economic mobility and self-sufficiency. Vanessa has a voice in the community for what makes a community thrive: it’s people. Objectives: Through the example of Vanessa Logan webinar attendees will learn to: Recruit young adults 18-24 years old into Healthy Relationship programming; Build…