Research grant funds program development in Arizona and initiatives to assess and improve programs nationwide
The Norton School of Family & Consumer Sciences has won more than $2 million in federal research funding to help children and families in Arizona and across the country. The grants were awarded in a blind competitive review process based on faculty expertise and experience, said Soyeon Shim, director of the Norton School.
Statewide and National Reach
The $2 million will be split among multiple interrelated initiatives, some focused on Arizona communities and others with national scope.
In Arizona, the Norton School will work with existing agencies and organizations that serve youth and families, providing training and consulting to develop programs that strengthen at-risk families with children 3-5 years old. The programs serve impoverished families and other at-risk families in communities facing significant challenges, such as serious economic downturn. Another Arizona-focused arm of the research concentrates on helping at-risk youth develop strategies, competencies and voice as they navigate critical issues at school and at home.
On a national level, researchers at the Norton School are developing tools and processes for improving hundreds of related programs across the United States — initiatives under the umbrella of the federal Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) program. Norton researchers will be collaborating with selected university partners to develop tools and processes for evaluating and improving CYFAR programs — including online surveys and templates for observational assessments — and should begin feeding data back to CYFAR within a year.
Delivering Return on Research Investments
Two Norton School researchers will head up the projects: Angela Taylor will lead the development of Arizona programs, working with professor Melissa Barnett and collaborating with Lynne Borden in partnership with county faculty within the federal Cooperative Extension program; Borden will lead research related to national programs, working with doctoral candidate Christine Bracamonte Wiggs.
"These projects represent an opportunity for the Norton School and The University of Arizona to work with the federal government to really make a difference in the lives of children and families across the country," said Lynne Borden, who heads up the projects' national evaluations and improvements work.
Expanding that idea, Taylor added that all of the integrated work of The University's outreach and extensions projects ultimately drive better outcomes through quality research. "As the seat of the Cooperative Extension System in Arizona," Taylor explained, "one of our primary goals is to make sure that research findings make their way into communities, applying them in concrete ways so that families feel the return on the government's investments."
Funding, Partners & Communities
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (formerly the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service) within the United States Department of Agriculture awarded the grants to the Norton School.
Borden selected researchers from five other institutions as collaborators in developing evaluations and improvements for CYFAR programs nationwide: North Carolina State University, Pennsylvania State University, Texas A&M University, the University of Minnesota and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Within Arizona, researchers will work to develop programs in Coconino, Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties. The University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension Service extends to all 15 Arizona counties, where Cooperative Extension county faculty work in partnership with the University to apply recent research findings to critical issues in communities statewide.
About the Norton School
The John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences within The University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences houses the Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing, the Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth and Families and the Take Charge America Institute for Consumer Financial Education and Research. The Norton School offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in family studies, human development, retailing and consumer sciences.
CONTACT:
Kimberley Brooke
Assistant Director, Marketing and Communications
Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences
kbrooke@u.arizona.edu
(520) 626-7952
