Updates

Guides are sent out once a month to two email lists: one for 4-H Staff (4-hstaff) and one for general interest (ca4hnews).

Contact the California 4-H Youth Development Office at fourhstateofc@ucdavis.edu or 530-754-8518. For upcoming dates, please visit the Statewide 4-H Online Calendar - http://ca4h.org/4hinfo/calendar/

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Programs

As of October 1st, 2009 the CSREES (Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service) became the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. You may visit their website at: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/ for more information.

The name "National 4-H Headquarters" has been officially changed to 4-H National Headquarters lending more focus on the 4-H organization. You may visit: http://www.national4-hheadquarters.gov/ for more details.

Hats Off to Kindness at the State Fashion Revue! Make a soft, fleece or knitted hat, bring it to the State Fashion Revue, model it, and donate it to cancer patients, young or old! This community service is open to all 4-H youth and adults. This is a great way to use your sewing skills for the benefit of your community. Think soft and fuzzy, not hard or scratchy. Bring your hats to Fashion Revue in May and let's show our cancer patients we care! For more details, check out the website at http://www.ca4h.org/projresource/fashion/.

The Junior Master Gardener program has offered a Recognition Certificate for JMG groups to earn this fall. The certification will be in Building a Vegetable Garden. Students will experience hands-on learning as they participate in all aspects of gardening. There is no cost to register your JMG group. If you have a Level One JMG Teacher Guide, visit http://67.59.137.247/index.cfm?did=2035&sectionID=2017

Funding

The fall season is in full swing and as students are researching schools and colleges they'd like to attend after graduation, 4-H members are reminded to plan to apply in Spring 2010 for one of the Statewide 4-H Higher Education Scholarships available. For more information on the scholarship program, visit: http://www.ca4h.org/4hresource/ir/scholarship/.

Research

A recent webinar discussing Research and Evaluation also included a summary of the work and results from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development. To hear the webinar, visit: http://nc4-heval.wikispaces.com and select the 9-23-09 webinar. If you are interested in participating in continued discussion, the next webinar will be October 21, from 3-5pm and will discuss evaluation of the program development cycle.

Volunteer Research Knowledge & Competencies (VRKC)
Led by Ken Culp, III (University of Kentucky), Renee McKee (Purdue University), and Patrick Nestor (West Virginia University), the study on which this taxonomy is based identified the competencies that volunteers will need in order to effectively deliver 4-H Youth Development programs and activities in the next decade. This taxonomy provides 4-H professionals with a national focus and direction related to the levels of competency and the perceived needs of 4-H volunteers. While the study provided benchmark data for future comparisons, the VRKC taxonomy provides insights into priorities for volunteer development. The complete taxonomy is available at: http://www.national4-hheadquarters.gov/comm/vrkc.pdf

Staffing

For Staff: Counties must enter and confirm in the 4-H Information System, the Annual Financial Reporting to the State 4-H office, by November 1, 2009. Contact the State 4-H Office for any questions, 530-754-8518.

For Staff: County offices are to submit record books to the State 4-H office by November 6, 2009. Applications postmarked by November 6, 2009 will be accepted. Visit http://www.ca4h.org/4hresource/ir/recordbook/competition.asp for more information or you may contact Quang Hogan Tong at 530-752-5644 or qtong@ucdavis.edu for additional questions.

For Staff: 4-H units that operate within the July 1-June 30th fiscal year need to submit their IRS 990, 990EZ and 990 E-postcards to the IRS by November 15th, 2009. Click here to view instructions for filing a 990 e-Postcard.

For Staff: Applications for new state/national 4-H events and competitions are due to the State 4-H Office by December 1, 2009. Click here for an application. You may contact the State Office at 530-754-8518 for additional questions.

For Staff: 4-H Online enrollments reports for the 2009-2010 Program Year will be run on December 1, 2009. Invoices will be generated and sent to county offices shortly after. Payments for December invoices will be due postmarked by December 31, 2009 to the State 4-H Office. Contact the State 4-H Office at 530-754-5818 for any questions.

For Staff: The 2010 Western Regional Leaders' Forum is scheduled for March 11-14, 2010 in Albuquerque, N.M. Click here to register. Some key upcoming dates youth development professionals will want to save include:
-December 15, 2009:
Early Bird Registration Deadline, $200.
-January 15, 2010:
Regular Registration Deadline, $250
Share Faire Registration Deadline
4-H Display Registration Deadline
Volunteer Leader Award Deadline

For Staff: 4-H National Headquarters, CSREES, and the USDA have announced the CYFAR 2010 Conference to be held in San Francisco, CA at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel on May 4-7, 2010. For any children, youth and family professionals who are interested in submitting a proposal to present a workshop or exhibit at the conference, National 4-H interested in your ideas. Proposals to present at CYFAR are due November 10, 2009 and you may find more details on proposal requirements at: http://www.cyfernet.org/cyfar10 or directly at http://fycs.ifas.ufl.edu/cyfar/Call.html. You may also contact June Mead, jm62@cornell.edu for additional questions.

For Staff: The Human Development and Family Studies Division (HDFS), Department of Human and Community Development at the University of California, Davis has an opening for the position of Assistant or Associate Cooperative Extension Specialist in Youth Development. Click here to view the position announcement and qualifications. The position will remain open until filled, with applications received by January 15, 2010. For questions, contact Chris Hermes at chermes@ucdavis.edu.

For Staff: The University of Arizona has announced an opening for the position of Evaluation Specialist in Family and Consumer Sciences. Please click here https://www.uacareertrack.com/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1253636567623 for a full job description and more information on the application process.

For Staff: The latest issue of Latino Briefs Digest has been released and is available at: http://ucanr.org/LatinoBriefsDigest. The most recent issue provides information examining research on technology, media and health issues in Latino communities.

For Staff: You may have received unsolicited mail for 4-H members and volunteers addressed to the County 4-H Office. These members and volunteers would have most likely been treasurers in 2006-2007. Each chartered 4-H unit which has an IRS EIN is associated with a contact name and address. When California's data was uploaded to the National 4-H system to update the IRS databases, in December 2007 and March 2008, many of the contact names were pulled from the 4-H Financial Reporting system for PY0607. IRS EIN is public domain and anyone can search on various websites for EIN's and obtain the contact name and address. In Fall 2008, the State 4-H Office went through a process of confirming each county's chartered 4-H units and EIN. During that process, most counties elected to use a 4-H staff name as the primary contact for each unit. This list of Chartered 4-H Units is maintained in the State 4-H Office and will be uploaded to the National 4-H system when the next window opens. If you have any questions about the list of charted 4-H units for your county, please contact Whitney Bell at webell@ucdavis.edu.