Partnering with county extension agents to train mentors

Abstract

North Dakota State University, sponsor of six regional RSVP programs in the state, has formed an innovative partnership with the North Dakota Cooperative Extension Service agents to train RSVP volunteers to mentor children of incarcerated adults. The partners developed customized mentor-training materials that can be incorporated into the existing youth-development curricula used by extension service agents statewide. The partnership is as an effective model of a practical approach for national service programs seeking to provide uniform, consistent mentor training across large, statewide or multi-site service areas. Erich Stiefvater of LEARNS, submitted this effective practice in April 2006.

Issue

North Dakota State University (NDSU) manages six regional RSVP programs serving 47 of the 53 counties in North Dakota and one county in Minnesota. Because its RSVP volunteers are dispersed throughout multiple local program sites scattered across a wide geographic region, the program office often faces the challenge of delivering volunteer training that is consistent across its service area. This challenge presented itself when the program office sought to train RSVP volunteer mentors in working with children of incarcerated adults.

Action

Extension agents are in an ideal position for delivering a standardized training on mentoring children of incarcerated adults statewide, both because of agents' presence in many local RSVP service areas and because the agents already have high-quality youth-development curricula.

RSVP identified key extension personnel for adding and delivering a mentor-training component with little difficulty — NDSU faculty members and extension agents who had strong backgrounds in youth development.
Extension staff and RSVP worked to create a customized, off-the-shelf mentor-training curriculum that could be incorporated into the standard extension youth-development curricula.
The co-developed training materials are currently available for an 8-hour, pre-service mentor-training session.
Additional curricula with materials on advanced topics for use in ongoing monthly in-service trainings is being developed by RSVP.

Context

In addition to the six regional RSVP programs, NDSU also hosts the North Dakota Cooperative Extension Service. In the past, by connecting with NDSU faculty who are also extension staff, RSVP has tapped into the statewide network of local extension agents and staff working together to support local RSVP programs and initiatives. For example, RSVP staff and volunteers facilitate extension agents providing nutrition and health-maintenance training at senior centers and parenting and consumer-education training in programs for young adults.

The service area of the NDSU-sponsored RVSP programs encompasses a broad array of community demographics, but the counties served tend to be rural and have agriculture-based economies. The state has three long-term prison facilities, one of which is a women's prison. In its initiatives in support of children of incarcerated adults, the program office and regional RSVP offices work with the state's Division of Corrections and with the chaplains and wardens at all three facilities.

The Cooperative Extension System is a nationwide, non-formal educational network funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Each U.S. state and territory has a state extension service office at its land-grant university (usually a main or branch campus of a state university system) and a network of local or regional offices. Originally developed to provide farmers and ranchers with information and research to help improve agricultural practices, the extension service has broadened its scope to provide education in home and family, economic development, the environment, and youth development. Each extension service office is staffed with one or more experts that provide research-based education to help individuals improve their lives and livelihoods. Through its management and oversight of the 4-H youth program, the extension service and its local agents have developed a wealth of expertise and materials related to educating and mentoring children and young adults.

Outcome

Local RSVP programs across North Dakota will be able to look to their local extension agents to provide training for volunteer mentors on how to work with children of incarcerated adults.

The co-developed content allows the local programs to use the rich and time-tested extension youth-development content from the extension system, augmented with mentor-training-specific resources.
The collaboration offers reassurances that RSVP mentors are trained in a consistent manner across the state.