Overview

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Every day in America, 13 million preschool children are left in child care arrangements, 24 million school-age youth are in need of after-school programs, and an estimated 5 million youth are without any adult supervision during out-of-school time. Most of today's children and youth will spend more time in child care and after-school programs than in formal education. The need for quality programs has never been greater. Unfortunately, national studies show that many child care and after-school programs are poor to mediocre. CSREES provides resources and national leadership to the Land-Grant University System to conduct research, education, and extension programs that will increase the quantity and improve the quality of child care (early care and education), school-age care (after-school), and teen out-of-school programs. In addition, CSREES collaborates with other federal agencies and organizations working on these issues.

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In Focus

• The National Integrated Food Safety Initiative (NIFSI) supports food safety grants that include food safety in child care and after-school programs.
• CSREES funds individual university and multistate research projects relating to child care and after-school programs.
• Extension CARES...For America's Children and Youth is a National Initiative to create a safe, caring environment for ALL children when away from their parents.
• 4-H Afterschool increases the quality and quantity of after-school programs while building a brand image for CES' contributions to the after-school field.
• CSREES military partnerships establish 4-H after-school clubs and programs on installations worldwide.
• The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) provides nutrition education programs for children and youth in after-school settings.


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Partnerships

• CSREES' partnership with Promising Practices in After-School (PPAS) is a national effort to collect, review, and disseminate practices in after-school programs
• The Afterschool.gov Web site design team collects after-school resources from the federal government; CSREES is the USDA representative.
• CSREES partners with USDA Rural Development to provide information on funding for facilities and small businesses in rural communities for youth programs.


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Events

None

Selected Results and Impacts

• CSREES-related programs improve staff competencies, quality of programs, skills of families, and community resources and policies for early care and education.
• CSREES-related programs improve competencies of staff, quality of programs, skills of families, and community resources and policies for school-age care.
• The annual report of the 4-H Military Partnerships lists many accomplishments in after-school 4-H club programs.


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Resources

• National 4-H Headquarters, CSREES. Information on youth development strategies for after-school programs.
• National 4-H Cooperative Curriculum System, Inc. Online 4-H projects, curriculum, project funding, review and evaluation systems, and other information.
• 4-H Afterschool. Training, curriculum, resources, marketing tools, related links, and other information.


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Contacts

Nancy Valentine