After School Programs


The Florida After School Enrichment Project is funded through the USDA/Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service's Children, Youth and Families At-Risk (CYFAR) national initiative. The project is managed from within UF's Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences. Florida's project consists of two new after school programs in Bradford County and in Polk County. In addition, CYFAR staff support Extension educators around the state involved in the 4-H After School national initiative. Please visit the links below for more information or to contact us.

The CYFAR Program is based on research on effective programs for at-risk youth and families and on the human ecological principle of working across the lifespan in the context of the family and community. To assure that critical needs of children and families are met, CYFAR supports comprehensive, intensive, community-based programs developed with active citizen participation in all phases. CYFAR promotes building resiliency and protective factors in youth, families, and communities. CYFAR supports collaboration—forming lasting partnerships to achieve greater outcomes and to provide a support base for sustaining programs for those at risk. CYFAR also promotes the use of technology to improve programs, provide efficient access to educational resources, and provide essential technological skills for youth and adults in at-risk environments.

4-H After School is a national initiative that provides extraordinary learning opportunities to young people across America. 4-H After School aims to use the expertise and resources of Cooperative Extension to support existing after school programs of all types. Florida Extension is involved in the initiative by supporting Extension educators in any county that are interested in working with existing after school programs. If you manage an after school program and want to request assistance, or if you are an Extension professional wanting to get involved in after school programming, please contact us for more information.

To learn more about our programs, please call or e-mail:

Dr. Jerry Culen
State Project Director
(352) 273-3525
grculen@ufl.edu

Dr. Rose Barnett
State Project Evaluator
(352) 273-3519
rbarnet@ufl.edu

Kate H. Fletcher
State Project Coordinator
(352) 273-3517
khfletch@ufl.edu

Nicole Walker
Community Project Director (Polk)
(863) 519-8677 x110
naw@ufl.edu

Deborah Nistler
Community Project Director (Bradford)
(904) 966-6224
nistlerd@ufl.edu