Hero Image

Healthy Families and Communities

Initiative Themes


HFC
The Healthy Families & Communities initiative is dedicated to the key areas of:

  • Food Literacy and Healthy Lifestyles
    • improving food literacy and physical activity opportunities;
    • creating and evaluating comprehensive school and community interventions;
    • provide science-based assistance to inform strategic policy decisions benefiting all Californians;
    • conducting policy relevant research involving chronic disease prevention, nutrition for high risk populations (maternal health and senior health), and community food security. 
        
  • Scientific literacy (youth and adult)
    • exploring effective professional development for science educators;
    • integrating environmental and health science education;
    • science program adaptation and development for diverse audiences. 
        
  • Positive youth development
    • develop innovative 4-H Youth Development Programs to serve all the youth population in the state, respecting and appreciating different cultural perspectives and heritage;
    • direct delivery of high quality positive of 4-H Youth Development program in diverse communities;
    • partnerships to support the delivery of high quality of 4-H Youth Development programs in diverse communities;
    • document the science positive youth development and draw on the above products to capture key policy relevant findings for use at community, county, and state level decision-making; agenda setting, legitimation and evaluation.
        
    • support community economic development and workforce development;
    • promote civic engagement by youth and adults;
    • facilitate child care coalitions and other family support initiatives;
    • expand family and community financial literacy and security; and
    • catalyze community coalitions, helping them with both content information on particular policies but also with knowledge about coalition building practices and civic engagement processes.   

Public Value: The HFC SI helps build our state economy, building the capacity and health of our people and communities.

Our Strategic Initiatives help unify, communicate and advocate for the work we do. Here's how the pieces fit together.

Grand Challenges

The HFC SI panel support this work by bringing a broad spectrum of expertise and practice to help identify key emerging issues. HFC emerging issues include:

  • Chronic disease and food insecurity across the lifespan of all Californians 

  • Delivery of high-quality positive youth development in all communities

  • Rising social, economic and health inequality

  • Access to science education and professional learning opportunities

Leader

Photo of Steven M Worker PhD
Steven M Worker PhD
Title: 4-H Youth Development Advisor
Specialty: Educational research; design and research of out-of-school (informal) learning environments; positive youth development; science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education
Address:
Cooperative Extension Marin County
1682 Novato Boulevard
Suite 150-B
Novato, CA 94947
Phone: (415) 761-1020
Email: smworker@ucanr.edu
HFC-related Blogs
Show More