Project Plan

Project Title:  Learning in Action:  Save King County 4-H

Focus Group/Target: (see below: Stakeholder Analysis)

     The main constituency for the implementation of this project will be those within the greater King County, Washington area who are currently involved in 4-H either as a member, volunteer, club leader, 4-H administrator (both County and State), members of Washington State and King County Cooperative Extension, and past 4-H members who may still have a vested interest within the organization. 

     

     Additional stakeholders within in this process have been identified.  They are those in the Government Sector (i.e. King County Council members and city officials, those within King County’s jurisdiction), those in the wider 4-H Organization (i.e. current members, former members, volunteer leader, and/or parents/guardians).  Within 4-H identified subgroups which may affect the project implementation are as follows:  Washington State Cooperative Extension (Washington State University), King County Cooperative Extension officers and agents, as well as other Cooperative extension programs such as the Master Gardener’s Association.  The final key players will be the greater King County Community, either not aware of 4-H itself or unaware of the financial and membership challenges King County 4-H is facing currently and in 2011.

Project Aim/Goals: (see next page: Logical Framework)

     The primary project objective is to assist current 4-H Leaders, volunteers and 4-Hers in their attempt to “save” King County 4-H, which consists of Cooperative Extension support within the County, and the maintenance of the King County (Enumclaw) Fair and fair grounds.  Additional goals include but are not limited to; outside grant sourcing and availability, membership growth, awareness of the youth program itself (thus, the potential growth of membership), awareness of funding woes and the implications on the greater King County community if 4-H is lost (Conn, 2010).  Taking advantage of what ‘General Systems Theory’ emphasizes (i.e. "connectedness, context and feedback” (Waltner, Toews, Murray, & Neurdoeffer, 2004), individuals will need to be involved at various levels within several systems:  the local club level, the county 4-H level, the greater King County community, the King County Cooperative Extension office/agents/board, members of the King County Council and the members of the King County Council Budgetary Committee (a sub-group of the County Council). The main focus of the overall project will be to engage the local 4-H members and volunteers at the club and county level, in order to empower them to proceed with tactics to further involve the wider community (social) and government (County Council) systems. Many actions will need to not only be about the funding and engaging of the adults involved but also about encouraging the youth and community members to be involved in the process, utilizing one of the main components of 4-H as a whole, education, civic engagement and youth leadership.

     With this project I hope to begin further conversations perhaps even in a new direction, on how to gain both County/State support for local 4-H programs, and by default Cooperative Extension programs, particularly within King County in order to secure funding for the continuation of the program on a long term basis, rather than the current situation of year-to-year support and funding approval (Conn, 2010).  Which in turn, has left many involved individuals with a bad taste in their mouths, if you will, for political leaders and the government system as a whole.  In addition, hopes are to create some type of forum for the youth involved in the organization at the county level to at the very least share their fears and worries with one another, if not their past and current joys and aspirations too!  Currently, both National 4-H and King County have Facebook pages, but outside of random comments and alerts to current shows and/or exhibitions they are quite limited in scope.  With this said, with approval at the County level and of local 4-H leadership I hope to either create several discussion boards or enlist the assistance of the interested parties to do this, to begin facilitating conversations around the current funding dilemmas.  

     Long-term this project has the potential to continue growing and molding to each new wave of participant goals and hopes for the program.  Eventually, I would like to work alongside the youth, parents and volunteers within the organization towards some sort legislative change which has made it necessary for 4-H as a non-profit, reliant on each subsequent County Council approval within a given year to maintain operations (Conn, 2010). This would include approaching National 4-H and the United States Congress for change.  However, first thing is first and with each small step towards our initial goals, our bigger goals can become actualized. It must be noted that to begin reaching any objectives, King County 4-H as “[an] organization needs to build its confidence to act in and on the world in a way that it believes can be effective and have an impact….[and] has to shift from ‘playing the victim’ to exerting some control, to believing in its own capacity to affect it’s circumstances (Eade, 2003, pp. 61-62),” thus the chosen starting point of conversation and opening up new pathways of dialogue.

Top Five Goals:

1.  Begin facilitating conversations between County Cooperative Extension Agents (and Board), 4-H Leaders, Volunteers, and Parents regarding the current status of King County 4-H.  Identify key areas of interest and barriers to these areas.

2.  Work with Parents and 4-H Leaders to create a youth involved project regarding the “youth” or “4-Her” experience at the local and county level (e.g. county wide blog, discussion board on the county 4-H Facebook page, letter writing campaigns to members of the King County Council, video diary of their stories , and/or community presentations).

3.  Develop a timeline for action.

4.  Begin community outreach, awareness and membership drive programs (e.g. community open houses, neighborhood flyers, informational booths/tables at local community events, publications (free for small ads in small “Reporter” papers within the County), and club/county project shows or exhibitions).

5.   Petition County Council for matching-grant funding during fall budget meetings (amount and date TBA). 

Implementation Process aka Actions to be taken:

     Having not yet completed a first meeting (electronically) amongst key stakeholders within this process, a fully detailed and developed plan cannot yet be determined.  I feel that it is most important to adhere to the ideal of “Public participation [is] based on the belief that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process” (IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation, 2007).  Additionally, considering that much of the process and process goals are hinged on what the needs, wants and hopes are for the King County 4-H community, I do not feel it appropriate to detail full project implementation actions at this time; however, a slightly more detailed analysis can be found within Appendix II, found near the end of this document regarding Logical Project Frameworks and Analysis.  Nevertheless, short-term there are several goals I hope to have accomplished between May and June.  Please see my “ideal” project timeline given these first steps occur within full, over the course of the next two months. 

     The project plan will essentially utilize the IAP2 model (because of the nature of the issue at hand) beginning at the consultation phase, moving progressively through involvement, collaboration and empowerment.  Eventually concluding with the greater King County 4-H supporters working their way back, to the beginning of model by “informing” the County Council members.  The following addresses most if not all of these stages.  Moreover, throughout the many stages that should occur, mini IAP2 models emerge, but through each participant rather than the facilitator.  As the clubs and key stakeholders are consulted, they are involved and collaboration begins, hopefully empowering each to bring new ideas and people to the conversation, inviting them within the group to continue reaching out to more and more people, organizations and government supporters. 

     Initial goals in beginning collective action will consist of working closely with relevant King County 4-H leaders and the King County 4-H representative within Cooperative Extension, utilizing electronic means such as; email, Skype and other messaging programs/mediums available to us all.  These correspondence will be between myself (the project coordinator/facilitator), my former 4-H leader, Nancy Stewart who is actively involved in the current struggle to ‘Save 4-H’, and the current King County 4-H Office Administrator, Nancy Baskett.  Both women have extensive backgrounds and experience within 4-H as former members, club leaders and County Administrators (N. Steward, personal communication, April 8, 2010).  Nancy Stewart is currently the State 4-H Cat Superintendent, overseeing the entirety of this particular State 4-H project for approximately 20 years, if not longer.  Ms. Stewart is my main contact and source of current information from within the organization.  It is my hope to work with her as a club leader to begin speaking (again through web based media) with parents and volunteers within my old club, Cedar River Rascals and propose some of my ideas for raising awareness of the issue as well as overall organization marketing.  Nancy has mentioned the project to Ms. Baskett and is working with both of us in hopes to facilitate additional conversations and actions in the very near future (N. Steward, personal communication, April 8, 2010).

     It is essential that support be found within club leaders and county administrators before engaging parents and volunteers.  Parents and volunteers should be brought into the scheme via Ms. Stewart and Ms. Baskett, and subsequently will (hopefully) bring their children or rather, allow them to participate in the discussions and actions as well.   Online tools will likely be the best means to work within this busy group.  It has been my past experience that 4-H families are often not only involved in 4-H but are actively involved in other youth programs, athletics and church communities.  This being said there is a wide variety of community members to be additionally tapped as potential resources not only for membership but also for government and business connections, and ideally supporters of the greater cause to maintain funding for 4-H and other youth development programs from the King County Government. 

     When the time is right (ideally no later than mid June 2010) youth will be able to begin working on a collaborative 4-H project in order to express their feelings and concerns, more than simply through a discussion board.  It is my personal goal to work with my contacts to promote an activity such as a short video diary, from youth participating in various 4-H projects explaining their involvement in 4-H, what they do, why they do it and what it means to them.  It is my hope that a short film such as this could be tied to club and county 4-H links for prospective members and families as well as a tool to encourage County Council members to look more closely at their budget, seeing past the numbers and realizing the profound impact on thousands of youth and families their decisions will have.  Involving the children, again relates back to the IAP2 model’s “Core Values…of Public Practice,” stating, “[public] participation seeks out and facilitates the involvement of those potentially affected by or interested in a decision. [And] public participation seeks input from participants in designing how they participate” (IAP2 Core Values of Public Participation, 2007).  By involving 4-H members in an activity it not only encourages them to be actively involved in government decision, but to be civically minded and to utilize their creative strengths and ideas to change and/or alter the course of their histories.  This is what I see as being the most important aspect of this project plan, having once been an insider, a 4-H member myself, faced with similar cuts and feeling lost and powerless.  This is a time where the youth can be empowered and can exercise the leadership roles which have been cultivated throughout their time with 4-H.   

     Overall the project will run the gamut of systems involved, from the local organizational level, to the community or social levels and straight through to the government levels, with potential to continue rising as needs, resistance and challenges arise.

Risks/Concerns:

     In undertaking this work I personally, will need to be mindful of the fact that all those involved are volunteers and that there are children’s feelings and emotional well-being at stake (Conn, 2010).  The program is a place to facilitate education not to unnecessarily involve any children in political action (although this is one area that youth can choose to be involved in through 4-H) (Conn, 2010).  In addition, a conscious effort will need to be made, noting that all things take time and cannot be rushed given the sensitivity, ages and involvement of those within the organization. In the case of involving the youth participants of 4-H, it will be left entirely up to the King County 4-H leaders and parents and/or guardians of each child.  The organization is quite familiar with “Hold Harmless” agreements, liability waivers and parental consent forms, given the nature of the program. There is no doubt that all of this will be discussed and built into a final action plan over the course of the next several months.

I as the planner act as both an insider, having been a member of the community for more than a decade, but also as an outsider wishing to assist an organization I care about from a professional vantage point.  This is a very large risk, one where emotions will likely run high, given past experiences and connections and feelings are likely to get hurt given that most leaders involved in 4-H are just that, leaders who each have very strong opinions and goals of their own and for that of the youth involved.  All of the emotions will have to be mitigated and acknowledged from the beginning.

     Additionally, people may or may not want to participate and could already be resigned to the way things are (and the very real possibility of losing 4-H in King County and Washington State within the next 1-2 years) (Conn, 2010).  This possibly being the greatest risk, knowing that service clubs and youth group membership throughout the United States is in decline (and has been for some time) an apathetic view may have taken hold, particularly since the issue of King County support and funding is not a new issue. 

     As far as acting out some of the proposed project action, including open houses and community festival awareness activities, many things could go wrong.  For example, people could not attend an open house, people may not be apt to want to participate in an organization that is struggling so immensely, community festival organizers may prohibit 4-H from participating given an agenda based issue (however, this is a very unlikely scenario for the greater King County Community festival organizers; again, speaking as an insider involved in one such organization at the planning and implementation levels), and volunteers may not be willing to stay outside and risk public apathy or worse disdain for what they consider to be a worthwhile cause.  Disappointment and fear can and often do reign supreme when working with volunteers and community members.  However, knowing this particular group of 4-Hers, leaders and parents quite intimately, fear only empowers them further over the long run.  In may thwart early efforts but only spurs more activity and passion.  This is obviously the most desired of outcomes in the early implementation stages of the project.  And ideally, will play to several of the key components coming together to begin gaining public awareness and placing pressure on local King County Council members.  I hope to provide added outside perspectives as well as, confidence amongst young 4-Hers to speak freely about their feelings and to help facilitate the more adult thoughts and content with the youthful exuberance and creativity put forth.

RESOURCES

Cedar River Rascals: To Make the Best Better. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2010 from http://www. cedarriverrascals.org/default.aspx.

Conn, A. L. (2010).  (unpublished work).  SWSP 7123 Project Proposal: Learning In Action, Save King County 4-H.  University of Queensland.

IAP2 Core Values of Public Participation. (2007). Retrieved on April 24, 2010 from http://iap2 .affiniscape.com/associations/4748/files/CoreValues.pdf.

-IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation. (2007). Retrieved April 24, 2010 from http://www.iap2.org/associations/4748/files/IAP2%20Spectrum_vertical.pdf.

Kaplin, A. (2003) Capacity Building: Shifting the paradigms of practice. In D. Eade (Ed). Development Methods and Approaches, Critical Reflections (pp. 60-72). London: Oxfam GB.

King County Extension: 4-H Youth, What is 4-H. (2009). Retrieved April 23, 2010 from http://king. wsu.edu/4H/index.htm.

-King County 4-H Association. (2009). Retrieved April 23, 2010 from http://king.wsu.edu/4H /KingCounty4-HAssociation.html.

Lerner, R.M., Lerner, J.V., & Phelps, E. (2009). Waves of the Future: The first five years of the 4-H study of positive youth development. College Station, TX: Agrilife Communications

Save King County 4-H. (2010). Retrieved April 21, 2010 from http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/ pages/Save-4-H-In-King-County/200387315752?v=wall&ref=ts.

Waltner-Toews, D., Kay, J., Murray, T.P., & Neurdoerffer, C. (2004).  Adaptive methodology for Ecosystem Sustainability and Health (AMESH): An Introduction. In G. Midgley and A. Ochoa-Arias (Eds). Community Operational research: OR and systems thinking for community development (pp. 317-349). New York: Kluwer Academic.

4-H. (2009). The 4-H Story. Retrieved April 20, 2010 from http://4-h.org/4hstory.html.

          -(2009). Youth Development: An Overview. Retrieved April 23, 2010 from http://4-h.org/b/      Assets/AboutUs/Fact%20Sheet-Youth%20Development.pdf.