University of Wisconsin - Extension

Creating partnerships within the community has been the key to success for Family Living educator Beverlee Baker as she has sought to strengthen parenting resources for families in Racine County.

"Because Racine County is an urban area," Baker says, "I've tried to be careful in finding a unique niche for my extension programming within the many players in our county. There's nothing that I do independently without involvement from other organizations. There's always some sort of partnership."

Baker's approach has paid off for the families and providers who work with families in her county. Baker has strong partnerships with the county's Human Services Department and the United Way in Racine County. Among the initiatives Baker's programming has brought to the county are:

- An annual contract for $58,000 from the county's Department of Human Services funds a parenting resource coordinator as part of the county's Family-Smart/Kid-Friendly Family West Resource Center. The parenting coordinator trains volunteers and facilitates parenting programs using curriculum such as UW-Extension's Positive Parenting for parents and caregivers of preschoolers through teenagers.

- A proposal providing $63,000 annually for the Success By 6 United Way early- childhood initiative allowed UW-Extension to hire Kathy Dunkerson as the project's coordinator. Dunkerson markets and evaluates the programs, and provides the Success By 6 initiative with UW-Extension research-based information on what comprises school readiness for children. She is developing a process for providing that research to professionals and funders in the county.

- An ongoing 30-hour course, Touchpoints in Practice, developed by pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton, trains providers working with families of young children. This year's participants included family literacy professionals, social workers, nurse practitioners, child-protective services personnel, parent educators and child-care providers.

- Empowerment Skills for Family Workers, a Cornell University curriculum, helps providers working with families build relationships and better understand life from families' viewpoints.

Dunkerson also is working with the county's child-care resource and referral system and the Office of Child Care through the county's Human Services Department to increase training for child-care providers in the county. She helped secure an additional $124,000 of local match for a $159,000 grant from the State Office of Child Care.

"Knowing both about grant opportunities and where to go to enlist community players is a key part of what we do in urban programming," Baker says.

Racine County providers who work with children and families are appreciative of how UW-Extension programs have affected their work. Says one child-care provider, "As a result of Touchpoints, I plan to value my position at my center and use it to the parents' advantage. Before I was feeling like a small meaningless piece of a huge profession. It was good to know that everyone's in this together."

For more information: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/racine/">www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/racine/