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From the Director

July Announcements

  • July 31, 2024

youth protection reminders

By: Steve McKinley, Purdue Extension staff development specialist

Thank you for your continued efforts to follow Purdue University Youth Protection guidelines! This e-mail includes some information and reminders to help us continue in these efforts.

General information on Youth Protection:

  • If you have Youth Protection questions, please start by e-mailing puextyouthprotection@purdue.edu. We will provide assistance as we are able. If we need to involve Youth Protection at the university level, we will do so.
  • A wealth of information related to Youth Protection is available on the Purdue Extension Hub: https://extension.purdue.edu/hub/youthprotection/. Included is an FAQ document (near the bottom of the page), along with several youth program registration guides.

Common questions regarding Youth Protection:

  • Programs that target youth as an audience will be registered in Ideal-Logic: https://apps.ideal-logic.com/purdue.
  • If you have a program that targets adults, it is not registered in Ideal-Logic.
  • If a young person attends a program targeted to adults (e.g., a child attends an ANR program with their parent), you do NOT need to retroactively register the program.
  • If it is reasonable to expect that minors may attend a youth program that is targeted to an adult audience, include this statement at registration or on promotional material for the program: “Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.”

Things that we are doing well with Youth Protection compliance:

  • Reporting Incidents – accident, injury, behavioral, etc. Whenever possible, please complete the incident report within the Ideal-Logic portal (from the Campus Home dashboard). You have two options on the dashboard: 4-H Accident Report Form (accident related to 4-H programming) and Incident Report Form (any other incident related to any youth programming).
  • Registering our participation in school-based programs. When Purdue Extension staff and/or volunteers present to a group of students in school, we will register the program as a noncustodial program. Registration can be completed by school corporation. If you will presenting at multiple school buildings within a corporation, please list each building when asked to “select session location(s)”: select “Offsite”, then you can type in multiple building names and addresses. 

Aspects of Youth Protection compliance that we can improve upon:

  • If we are registering a youth program, then the primary sponsor of the program IS a unit or division of the university. College of Ag, College of Health & Human Sciences, and 4-H are the most common responses.
  • Timeliness of registration of youth programs in Ideal-Logic is crucial. We understand that some programs happen at the last minute. However, many we know about well in advance. Please make every effort to have the youth program registered in Ideal-Logic at least 30 days prior to the time that youth registration opens. This is especially critical if BoilerBase is going to be used to register youth to attend the youth program.
  • If Purdue Extension (staff and/or volunteers) will take custody of the youth at ANY time during the youth program, it will be registered as a custodial program, and will require advance youth program registration (via 4-H Online or BoilerBase).
  • Ensure that Purdue Extension professionals and volunteers have completed the appropriate youth protection trainings. The most common missing training at this point is the program director training, which is required for anyone listed as a session contact for the youth program. The program director training is available at https://www.purdue.edu/ethics/ed-training/youth.php, and takes about 30 minutes to complete.

New Extension portal

  • A new Purdue Extension portal within Ideal-Logic is under development and expected to be available early this fall. Once this portal is ready for use, additional training will be held.
  • If you have programs that are scheduled to begin on or after Oct. 1, you may wish to hold off on registering them in Ideal-Logic until the new portal is ready. This will prevent you from needing to enter them a second time in the new portal. 4-H educators, please also wait to register your 2024-2025 annual county 4-H Program until the new portal is ready.

Thank you for your continued assistance!

educator reporting expectations

All Purdue Extension educators are expected to report monthly on their work.

Educators report by the 5th business day of the month via the:

  • Communiqué to the area director (progress toward goals, planning and marketing activities, needs assessments, and other efforts), and
  • Elements’ LEARNING EVENTS (Education programs/workshops delivered to the public in person or via technology. This includes method of delivery, sessions, minutes, contacts, keywords, multistate collaboration, demographics, outcomes, PARP, CCH, and CCA/CEU credits, etc.)

Also, as appropriate, when data are in hand, educators are to report IMPACT STATEMENTS about program evaluations, outcomes, and impacts in Elements. These narrative stories tell the success of Extension programs.

Both the metrics documented in learning events and the stories shared in impact statements are used to generate the annual report to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) as required by federal legislation. Accurate and timely reporting by all educators ensures that the federal funding for Purdue Extension salaries and programming continues into the future.

Data entered in learning events and impact statements are also compiled for university requests from Purdue’s President and the Office of the Vice President for Engagement. Elements data are used for sharing stories for the annual Extension Impact report https://extension.purdue.edu/about/about-us.html, social media, Extension’s website, and other marketing efforts.

Elements instructions and resources for educators are located on the College of Agriculture’s website: https://ag.purdue.edu/department/arge/elements/extension-educator-data.html

Email COAelements@purdue.edu with questions or for assistance.

experience the state fair with our new website and social media toolkit

This year, Purdue Extension is enhancing its presence at the State Fair with a newly launched website. This site will offer comprehensive information on activities at the fair, including event details, social media updates, and videos. Expect it to become even more interactive and informative as the fair progresses. 

To help you stay engaged, a social media toolkit is available for sharing updates on your own platforms. The toolkit includes:

  • Ready-to-use social media posts
  • Promotional links and materials
  • Daily activity highlights
  • Social media tips and best practices

Throughout the fair, Purdue Extension will be featured in several key locations. A map on the Purdue at the State Fair website highlights the top six spots to visit. Additionally, the website's social media page will provide daily updates on hands-on demonstrations happening outside the Purdue Extension buildings.

Be sure to check out the upcoming "People at the Fairway" videos, which will feature interviews with prominent figures and friends of Purdue Extension attending the fair.

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