Purdue News

June 11, 1999 USDA awards top honors to three Purdue projects WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture singled out three projects headed by Purdue University staff members for its 1999 Agriculture Secretary's Honor Awards. The awards recognize the year's most significant contributions to agriculture, consumers and the USDA's ability to serve the nation. The three honored projects are "CARe, Communities Against Rape," headed by Mary Pilat, Purdue Extension specialist in 4-H youth; "Agricultural Science and Education Impact," led by Dave King, Purdue's director of agricultural communications; and "It's My Child, Too," headed by Aadron Rausch, Purdue Extension specialist in consumer and family sciences. They received the awards Wednesday (6/9) in Washington, D.C. Both CARe and It's My Child, Too were developed through Community Systemwide Response, a Purdue Extension program that helps Indiana communities identify and respond to emerging local issues and challenges. CARe, Communities Against Rape: Approximately 2,000 rape cases are reported each year in Indiana. "And those are just the ones we know about. Some estimates place actual rape numbers at 10,000 per year for Indiana," Pilat said. CARe brought together educators, counselors and health professionals from five statewide programs, eight colleges and universities, and 30 communities to create and distribute teaching materials aimed at preventing sexual assault and rape among people under age 24. In addition, the organizers developed a plan to create community planning committees that would bring together local members of the legal system, medical community, clergy and parents. CARe staff also led a statewide media campaign and an educational effort headed by youths. For more information, visit the CARe Web site. Agricultural Science and Education Impact: The national impact project helped agricultural researchers and educators from across the United States find a more effective way to describe how the public benefits from dollars invested in land-grant research, education and the Cooperative Extension Service. Agricultural communicators across the nation worked with professors and staff at their universities to describe current research, Extension and educational efforts. Then the communicators pulled together all that information to write national Agricultural Science and Education Impact sheets. Bob Gilliland, vice president and dean for Extension at Utah State University, said that with shrinking resources, the impact effort came along just in time. "If we didn't have it, I don't know where we would have been. It really gives good credible information to justify the investments and show how effective the sponsorships have been." It's My Child, Too: Children in father-absent homes are 10 times more likely to be extremely poor. They're more likely to drop out of school, get pregnant as teen-agers, abuse drugs and get in trouble with the law. About two-thirds of juveniles incarcerated in the Indiana Boys and Girls schools come from homes without both birth parents. These children are losing out on life. They also cost taxpayers millions. Purdue Extension staff created the 13 interactive sessions of "It's My Child, Too" to teach young fathers how to be better parents. Then they trained educators in 54 counties to use the session materials. Twenty-six counties in the state have offered the program to local young dads, who say it's taught them a great deal and helped them stay involved with their kids. The sessions have gained recognition from outside Indiana, too: 48 organizations from 22 states plan to use the program. "A father who feels emotionally connected is more likely to provide monetary support and to remain involved in his child's life," Rausch said. "Children of involved fathers are less likely to live in poverty, less likely to suffer abuse and neglect, and less likely to engage in criminal behavior." Sources: Dave King, (765) 494-8396 Mary Pilat, (765) 494-6871 Aadron Rausch, (765) 494-9516 Writer: Rebecca J. Goetz, (765) 494-0461, rjg@aes.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page