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A country boy who raised farm animals in 4-H, Steve Dasher went on to develop a deep appreciation for the positive youth/adult partnerships created in a 4-H setting, eventually dedicating a 31-year career to extending these opportunities to youth throughout California.  He retires June 29.

Dasher earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a secondary teaching credential at UC Davis, then taught high school vocational agriculture for five years on a reservation for Native Americans in Mendocino County. He was named the UC Cooperative Extension 4-H advisor for Contra Costa County in 1980, for Placer and Nevada counties in 1983 and transferred to San Diego County in 1990.

San Diego County has a very strong community club program, with 26 community-based and 8 military-based clubs. But Dasher found that successful youth development does not always require the establishment of a traditional 4-H club. Creating and implementing new models for 4-H have helped him extend youth development to communities of diverse cultures, such as Hispanic, African American, Islamic and Native American. Dasher strived to recruit and involve volunteers from these communities, leading to more sustained 4-H activities and programs for diverse and often underserved populations.

In urban neighborhoods, which are generally less favorable settings for traditional 4-H clubs led by parent volunteers, Dasher worked with youth attending afterschool programs. He partnered with the San Diego County 4-H Youth Education Foundation, which funded and supported implementation of the afterschool model for 4-H youth development. He used the afterschool sites to conduct applied research projects and pilot UC curriculum. Dasher worked with the San Diego County Office of Education Migrant Education to create leadership clubs of migrant teens in afterschool settings. He received federal funding in 2009 to launch an afterschool program in the most economically depressed part of the county. Each of these programs exposed San Diego County youth to 4-H science literacy curriculum and gave the youth opportunities to interact with positive, older role models.

Dasher made it a point to elevate the county’s 4-H volunteers to the level of “middle management,” where they could feel a greater sense of ownership and responsibility. To support 4-H volunteers, Dasher provided training, organization and evaluation programs. Within the volunteer ranks, he promoted the adoption of proven youth development philosophies and methodologies.

“The strategy was to develop a self-sustaining volunteer corps to operate an experiential-based educational program for youth,” he said.

Throughout his career, Dasher maintained teams of at least 300 volunteers who delivered youth development programs to over 1,000 youth annually.

Over the years, Dasher focused his work on adolescent issues, science literacy and volunteer development. All three areas were part of a major initiative undertaken in the early 1990s. Dasher and several local partners received a three-year, $500,000 grant from the state Office of Criminal Justice and Juvenile Delinquency Prevention to develop community-based collaboratives that address adolescent issues.

“At the time, most youth development programs were looking at alleviating risk factors,” Dasher said. “We were looking at asset development. We wanted to know how to strengthen assets, rather than reduce the causes of bad behavior.”

The project established three youth centers, safe places where adolescents could interact with caring adults, and access resources that gave them the capacity to contribute to the community. One was established at a Boys and Girls Club, one at a city parks and recreation center and one at a school. All the youth were enrolled in the 4-H program and completed 4-H curricula, such as the “Mini Society,” Youth Experiences in Science, and Science Experiences and Resources for Informal Education Settings. Many of the youth attended state 4-H leadership conferences in Sacramento.

After the first three years, the program received a second $500,000 grant for another three years to extend the programs to different age groups. In time, the programs became institutionalized, and to this day address youth and family issues and support youth in San Diego County.

Because of his work on the youth center project, Dasher was recruited by Cal State San Marcos to participate in a specialized graduate program in sociology. For his master’s research, he delved into volunteer roles in mentoring, a subject applicable in his work with 4-H volunteer leaders.

In more recent years, Dasher became increasingly active in administration of the 4-H Youth Development program at the statewide level. He was a member of the Statewide 4-H Staffing Plan Task Force, which recommended the creation of county clusters with one academic advisor in each cluster and one program representative in each county.

The resulting shift away from direction by a county advisor with an academic appointment to a non-academic program representative required new protocols. Dasher was involved in creating a consistent statewide plan for recruiting, selecting, training and evaluating 4-H program representatives. The plan permits 4-H staff to implement programs that deepen the quality of experiences for youth and families. Dasher established a statewide online training program and developed a manual to help staff create a successful complaint review board.

In retirement, Dasher said he plans to continue his involvement with San Diego County’s Workforce Academy for Youth. The project aims to provide emancipated foster youth a six-month paid internship with a county department to impart job skills that will make them competitive for entry-level employment. Senior citizens are recruited to serve as coaches to the youth, helping them cope with problems and develop positive living skills.