Our local Family Court program contacted the CES 4-H Agents to help deliver education hours for the youth in their system.  The Court Designated Workers proclaimed that no local youth organizations were volunteering to help them create a program for the youth to get their hours needed to complete probation.  The CES 4-H Agents met several times with the Court Designated Workers to work on designing a training that would meet the needs of the youth.  

The CES 4-H Agents and our Eastern Kentucky University practicum student researched 4-H approved educational lessons that would help the youth not only get their educational hours, but also to help improve their everyday lives.  

The CES 4-H Agents hosted a Middle School and High School session on two separate Saturdays.  All the youth involved in this program had been court ordered to gain educational hours in a certain time period or face juvenile delinquent facilities and for the older youth, jail time.  Each training featured life skills such as hygiene and etiquette lessons, leadership, nutrition, healthy relationships, communication skills, workforce prep, and interview training.  

Throughout the day we had time to engage in some tough conversations on topics introduced by the youth. Some were afraid of being labeled as bad kids and some wanted that title.  After the CES told them we were not there to judge them but to offer help, then their attitudes changed and they engaged more.  

One of the most eye-opening topics was the absence of a positive male role model.  This gave me a chance to share a little about my upbringing and allowed us to knock down a lot of walls.  I feel it is important for them to see someone like me who is a successful professional even though my upbringing was similar to what they have experienced.  When asked how many were being raised by single mothers or grandparents, about 80% raised their hands.  

Sometimes in this career we get comfortable with school clubs and all of our evening clubs where we see youth with stable households. For me it was rewarding to work with an at-risk audience.  I am hopeful we were able to improve the participants’ lives in some way or just let them to know there are adults who believe in them.  It was a hard couple of days, but it was definitely impactful for them and for us.