Housing is a basic need. The National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP), Land Use Planning Community of Practice held a virtual forum in December 2021 on the national housing crisis. The session revealed common challenges communities face when addressing these issues locally. As a follow-up to that session, this…

Forest landowners are an important target audience for many state Extension programs. Acknowledging the differences and associations between landownership values, characteristics, and educational preferences of forest landowners should lead to improvement of educational programs and ensuring that educational needs are being met. Through an…

Housing education is critical in the context of today's economy. !is article details the current need for rental education for both consumers and practitioners. We discuss the importance of housing education resources for Extension educators across the United States, describe the updated curriculum RentWise, and provide information related to…

As beef industry trends have evolved, beef producers are looking for value-added beef practices and marketing strategies. To ensure that a new value-added beef Extension program framework at Iowa State University aligns with beef producers' needs, a needs assessment instrument was created. We developed a needs assessment tool focused on program…

Due to the nature of Extension, work across counties differs because efforts are grounded in the needs of a community and intentional programming helps address these needs. A common competency required for entry-stage Extension professionals is program development, which includes planning, design, implementation, and evaluation. Understanding a…

The Tri-Learner model of Extension Collaboration offers an innovative approach to address community needs and advance research by convening faculty from academic research, statewide Extension, and community-embedded Extension. This article describes development of a new Tri-Learner Model through an early childhood resilience project, with data…

Conducting needs assessments serves as a valuable way for Extension educators to ensure that they are designing programs that meet community needs. We developed a needs assessment tool kit that educators across urban, suburban, and rural communities can use to answer the question "What are the youth development needs in my county?"…

Following a daylong symposium featuring tax-oriented presentations, attendees participated in facilitated roundtable discussions centered on identification of educational needs and challenges associated with the symposium subject matter. Participants discussed their educational needs; challenges related to local, state, and federal tax laws; and…

Extension personnel are tasked with ensuring that 4-H volunteers have competencies identified in the Volunteer Research and Knowledge Competency (VRKC) Taxonomy, 4-H youth development's foundational volunteer skills framework. The VRKC Codebook is a qualitative analysis tool for accurately identifying VRKC-aligned needs expressed in volunteer…

This study is a needs assessment of Extension staff in the state of Iowa to implement inclusive programming for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Electronic surveys were completed by Extension staff on their attitudes and beliefs toward people with IDD, inclusive programming, and training needs. Results showed…

We conducted a needs assessment to identify watershed science training needs for locally elected directors of Nebraska's 23 natural resources districts (NRDs). We interviewed NRD staff and surveyed NRD directors to determine training needs and identify relevant topics and preferred delivery formats. We found that training would be valuable;…

The current study fills a gap in the current literature by measuring current CES personnel and stakeholders' attitudes toward the use of Podcasts as a tool for information dissemination. By identifying perceived barriers to podcasts by CES personnel and how receptive CES stakeholders are to CES-based podcasts, this study helps to identify…

4-H academics responded to the COVID pandemic by rapidly adapting CDC and other resources for virtual delivery. A statewide epidemiology project was taught to 48 youth with the goal of minimizing fears and confusion, increasing prevention measures, leveraging current topics for education, and bolstering the social-emotional health of youth…

About 20% of the U.S. population identifies as Latine. To engage these audiences, many Extension nutrition education programs have translated curricula and other resources into Spanish. Culturally responsive programs need to move beyond translation and address critical issues and needs specific to Latine audiences. We conducted focus groups with…

Needs assessment in Extension is typically a quantitative process whereby the highest number of votes is deemed to indicate the greatest need. However, this process does not help specialists and county agents know the best response to carry out. A different process is needed to ensure that we in Extension are executing the right responses. In…