Extension
It Starts With Us
Creating a Stronger Community One Step at a Time
Community Improvement and Needs Assessment
Samantha Saunders, ANR/4-H Agent & Britney Poe, FCS/4-H Agent
Youth Engagement Leadership Program (YELP)
Community Engagement
Building Healthy Coalitions
Family Development General
In the fall of 2018, the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service began a statewide assessment of community issues and priorities. From the data collected, the top priority issues were identified as: jobs & infrastructure, agriculture & environment, health & wellness, youth & families, and community vitality.
Some of these things would be very hard for us to have an impact on, such as the jobs and infrastructure. However, we could utilize programming in order to help address the other areas. Agriculture and the environment, health and wellness, and youth and families have been addressed in other Plans of Work listed. This plan of work will focus on community vitality and substance abuse within the county.
Robertson County also have a very high poverty rate at 30.4% of the population living below the poverty line (DataUSA). This is much higher than the national average at 13.1%. Robertson County has a population of 2,161 (as of the 2018 estimates), it houses one school building that services all youth in the county, and it does not have a stoplight. The whole school is on the free/reduced lunch’s program because of the counties high poverty rate. There are numerous individuals that rely on state assistance (EBT, WIC, LVCAP programs, disability) in order to stay afloat. Even though there is such a large amount of people living below the poverty line, there are numerous individuals who partake in risky behavior such as drugs, alcohol, and smoking.
Illegal substances are in the county, and most everyone knows it. We have very few overdoses and very few drug arrests just because there is not a large enough problem in the county for the state to focus on it. In 2018, there were 376 drug related arrests in Robertson County. This is almost 2% of the population who is being arrested for drugs. 21% of the adult population smoke and 13% are considered excessive drinkers (alcohol). This along with other health issues, such as obesity (34%) and physical inactivity (28%), make for a prime opportunity to pursue healthy living programming.
Robertson County was once considered to be a booming town with multiple options for entertainment, food, and groceries. Now there are hardly any local businesses and most people have to travel out of county to get the necessities. The needs assessment struck an interest in the reviving of our town and county and have set several things in motion. The most important was to be able to establish a sense of community pride.
-The prevention and/or reduction of substance use and its related consequences.
-Changed public perception of substance use via stigma reduction.
-Youth will be able to teach others on substance abuse prevention
-A coalition formed ran by youth on educating other individuals
-Economic improvements will occur due to the activities of an engaged community
-Health of the community will increase due to an increase in community pride and participation
-Social interaction will centered around being engaged in the community
-Long-term goals completed that was determined during the Community Needs Assessment
-Civic improvements will be accomplished by engaging the community in its entirety
-Local community presence in vacant buildings around the city
-Reduced stigma from local community members
-Delayed age of first use among youth
-Personally seeking community engagement
-Create opportunities to affect change in the community
-Provide access to places where knowledge can be gained
-Increased knowledge of substance use prevention, addiction, and recovery
-Improved social skills and/or self-efficacy in youth
-Increase knowledge of context, problems, history, and policies within the community
-Attitude conveying ability to positively affect community needs
-Develop skills to increase engagement by all community members
-Aspire to positively affect community and world issues
-Youth involvement on ideas to encourage community pride
-Youth involved prevention groups for substance and alcohol abuse
Initial Outcome: Increased involvement by the community on improvements and courses on substance use prevention.
Indicator: Groups meeting and achieving tasks, and the number of youth educated on prevention
Method: Observation, rosters, activity and program outcomes
Timeline: 2024-2025
Intermediate Outcome: Number of youth and adults seeking ways to improve the community and the reduction of substance use stigma.
Indicator: Meeting outcomes (projects completed) and age of youth being delayed (substance use)
Method: Group meetings, Observation
Timeline: 2024-2025
Long-term Outcome: Community engagement will be strong and the number of substance users will be reduced and more prevention will be known.
Indicator: Improvements within the community and city, and a reduced number of drug arrests.
Method: Observation and statistics
Timeline: 2024-2025
Audience: Youth Grades 9th-12th
Project or Activity: YELP
Content or Curriculum: Engaging Arts, First Impressions, YELP content, Civic Engagement, and Leadership Building
Inputs: 4-H agent, CEDIK, business owners, community members, elected officials
Date: 2024-2025
Audience: Community Members & Youth Organizations (4-H, FFA, FCCLA, FBLA, BETA, etc.)
Project or Activity: Community Service Projects
Content or Curriculum: Civic engagement
Inputs: Extension agents, community partners, school, parents
Date: 2024-2025
Audience: Robertson County Community Improvement
Project or Activity: Revamp Mt. Olivet and Robertson County
Content or Curriculum: First Impressions, Community Needs Assessment
Inputs: Extension agents, CEDIK, business owners, community members, elected officials
Date: 2024-2025
Audience: Robertson County Youth (4th grade and up)
Project or Activity: Drug and alcohol prevention
Content or Curriculum: DARE, Life Skills
Inputs: Extension agents, school, FYRSC, Comprehend
Date: 2024-2025
Audience: Families Impacted by Substance Abuse
Project or Activity: The Signs of Addiction & How to help with Addiction Trainings
Content or Curriculum: Addiction 101
Inputs: Extension agents, Comprehend, health department
Date: 2024-2025
Audience: High School Youth
Project or Activity: Truth and Consequences
Content or Curriculum: T & C: The Choice is Yours
Inputs: Extension agents, school, FYRSC, sheriff’s office, elected officials, court
Date: Spring 2025
Audience: 4-H Youth
Project or Activity: Health Rocks
Content or Curriculum: 4-H Health Rocks
Inputs: Extension agents, school, clubs, volunteers
Date: 2024-2025
