4-H has an opportunity to develop civic engagement skills in Kentucky youth, and this is reflected in the definition of 4-H: “4-H is a community of young people across Kentucky who are learning communication, civic engagement, and leadership skills,” as defined on the University of Kentucky’s Kentucky 4-H Youth Development website. The need and opportunity for Kentucky 4-H to supplement Civic Engagement skill is evident in a 2022 survey conducted by the Kentucky Student Voice Team (KSVT) and facilitated by DiGiacomo and Colvin. KSVT reported that “Nearly 40% of students surveyed expressed doubts about their schools' ability to prepare them for active citizenship,” and also recognized that Kentucky does not require students to take any civics or government course to graduate. The long-term effect of this is apparent in the 2023 Civic Health Assessment by Michael G. Adams, Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Adams reports that 41.3% of “politically confident” Kentuckians surveyed could not name a local official, and this percentage is similar to those surveyed who were considered “insufficiently knowledgeable voters.”

The Kentucky 4-H Issues Conference was prepared by collaboration between county 4-H Youth Development agents, including Kenton County, and UK 4-H Youth Development State Staff. 4-H Issues Conference directly addresses this gap in youth civic engagement preparedness. Over the course of three days, 4-Hers from across the state gathered at the Ray Mullinix Community Center at Dale Hollow State Resort Park to learn how to identify and work with local elected officials, identify local opportunities for improvement within a specific area of interest, and work with other youth to create a mock solution to those local issues. At the conclusion of the conference, attending youth presented their proposed solutions to real local officials and received feedback on the viability of their solution. Additionally, this conference featured a special partnership with the Youth Services Department of the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, in combination with sponsorship from the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Engagement Academy Grant Together We Can Group.

The intended audience for Issues Conference is youth in 9^th- 12^th grade who have the self-motivation to positively impact their local communities, and desire to develop their ability to do so. Kenton County brought two delegates to Issues Conference, one of whom participated in the above-mentioned “Together We Can” partnership with the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. Additionally, Kenton County partnered with Boone, Carroll, and Grant to transport a total of six youth and three agents to Issues Conference.

Outside of Kenton County and the surrounding areas, the conference had 115 attendees total, 75 of which were youth delegates, along with 40 adults. 64% of attendees were female (n=74) and 35% of attendees were male (n=41), and racial demographics broke down as follows:

105 White

5 Black/African American

2 American Indian

2 Asian

1 Pacific Islander

1 Hispanic

Initial post-conference evaluations show that 96% of youth reported reported having a high/very high understanding of how to identify local issues, 90% indicated a high/very high understanding of the process of addressing local issues. Most impactfully addressing the need to prepare youth for civic engagement, a tremendous 80% of youth delegates reported feeling highly or very highly confident in their ability to make a difference in their community.

DiGiacomo, D., & Colvin, C. (2025, March). Beyond the ballot: The State of Civic Education in Kentucky. Kentucky Student Voice Team. https://www.ksvt.org/reports/beyond-the-ballot-the-state-of-civic-education-in-kentucky

Office of Secretary of State, & Adams, M. G., 2023 Civic Health Assessment (2024). Retrieved April 10, 2025, from https://www.sos.ky.gov/SiteAssets/Pages/Civic-Health-Assessment/Civic%20Health%20Report%20Final.pdf#page=44.07.

University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment. (n.d.-b). What is 4-H?. Kentucky 4-H Youth Development. https://4-h.ca.uky.edu/what-is-4H