State Initiatives - North Carolina
Extension Point of Contact
Kim Allen
Assistant Professor and Extension Speciliast
Department of 4-H Youth Development & Family & Consumer Science
North Carolina State University
Box 7606, Raleigh, NC 27695-7606
Phone: 919.515.9139 Email: kimberly_allen@ncsu.edu
Andrew O. Behnke, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and Human Development Specialist
North Carolina State University
Box 7605, Raleigh, NC 27695-7605
Phone: 919.515.9156 Email: aobehnke@ncsu.edu
Current Projects/Activities
In partnership with a multi-state collaborative team within NERMEN we are developing and implementing the Child Welfare Training: Curriculum Development and Evaluation for Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education. The team was
awarded $1.2 Million by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families Children's Bureau to fund a five year project which will involve developing and pilot testing a marriage and relationship education curriculum that addresses healthy marriage and relationship skills for populations underserved in the general population and overrepresented in the child welfare system. Additionally the project will involve in-person and distance education trainings for child welfare professionals, graduate students and other professionals, including Cooperative Extension educators, working with or preparing to work with adults and families. (Contact: Kim Allen).
Essential Life Skills for Military Families
East Carolina University in collaboration with NC Cooperative Extension and University of North Carolina are providing free educational classes for military couples from around the state. Funding was made possible through a 5 year $2.5 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Family Assistance. Essential Life Skills for Military Families is an 8 or 12-hour program designed to help military members and their families deal with the unique challenges they experience. Sessions are held in members own communities, and the classes are taught by local Cooperative Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Agents. (Contact: Andrew Behnke; Project period: October 2006 - October 2011; www.militaryfamilylifeskills.org)
Strong Couples-Strong Children
University of Chapel Hill is implementing and evaluating the new Strong Couples marriage enrichment program, which targets low-income unmarried couples expecting a child. They hope to essentially reach out to 565 couples per year by providing ongoing weekly sessions of healthy marriage education classes along with ongoing support services. Extension is currently involved in helping to carry this program out to Durham and nearby communities. (Contact: Erline Harvin, Project Manager; Project period: October 2007 - October 2011; www.strongcouples.org).
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