Douglas County
Family Living Program
Douglas County
Family living
Linda Wilcox
Family Living
Advisory Committee
2010
Impact
Report
Douglas County UW-Extension Office
1313 Belknap Street, Room 107
Superior, WI 54880-2781
Phone: (715) 395-1363 711 for Relay
Fax: (715) 395-1399
Email: linda.bruce@ces.uwex.edu
Website: http://douglas.uwex.edu/
An EEO/AA employer, University of Wisconsin Extension provides equal
opportunities in employment and programming, including Title IX
and American with Disabilities (ADA) requirements.
Science and the Young Thinker
In November, Bruce provided an
evening training for daycare providers in
Douglas County at the request of
Northwest Connection Family
Resources. Other family living
educators in surrounding counties
provided similar material as part a larger
coordinated effort to assist providers
with on-going professional development.
The workshop was designed to
encourage providers to think about how
they can offer science exploration to
children every day, stressing the
importance of hands-on learning vs.
watching an adult demonstrate.
As a result of the workshop, all of the
participants reported learning new
information that was relevant to them. In
addition, all planned on using the
activities they tried and the information
they learned with the children in their
care. The training was a great success,
and the providers have asked for similar
trainings in the future.
Douglas County Criminal Justice Team
Antisocial Behavior Seminar
In March the Criminal Justice Team
sponsored an Antisocial Behavior Seminar
held at WITC made possible in part by a
grant from the State of Wisconsin
Department of Justice. As co-chair of the
team, Bruce helped plan, coordinate, and
evaluate the seminar. Approximately 110
participants learned more about the
development of antisocial behavior, how
the brain functions in this development,
and treatments that work or don’t work
with antisocial behaviors. Childhood
oppositional defiance, adolescent conduct
disorder, and adult antisocial and
psychopathic personality progressions
were included in the discussions. Those
attending learned from Dr. David
Swenson, a Forensic Psychologist, how
critical early intervention and prevention
are, especially when working with youth,
and the importance of working with the
entire family whenever possible. Using
written evaluations, the most common
findings learned included “the need for
effective intervention in early childhood”,
“how an adolescent’s brain differs from an
adult’s”, and that “empathy training in
these situations can hinder, not help, and
that more corrective thinking training is
needed”. An educational forum is being
planned by Bruce to further discuss
research-based best practices and
effective programs for juvenile
delinquency prevention.
DOUGLAS COUNTY HCE
DOUGLAS COUNTY HCE QUILTATHON
In March, 35 volunteers associated with
Douglas County Home and Community
Educators (HCE) spent a day at the
Mariner Mall working on quilts as part of
their annual Quiltathon event. In past
years their efforts have generated
approximately 100 completed quilts.
This year, however, they broke their
own record with the women completing
190 beautiful quilts. These colorful
smaller-sized quilts are made for
children in crisis throughout Douglas
County, and are distributed through a
variety of local sources, including fire
departments, hospitals, police and
sheriff departments, ambulance
services, and the WIC program
(Women, Infants and Children).
The Quiltathon is just one excellent
example of how HCE volunteers provide
a valuable service to their communities.
There are currently four HCE clubs in
Douglas County and a total of
approximately 75 members.
Bruce serves as the UW-Extension
advisor for HCE. She provides
educational and leadership
resources and guidance to the groups
as needed
Financial Literacy Training
Financial instability is reported to be the
number one obstacle for someone
escaping domestic violence, and the
reason most often given by survivors for
why they stay or return to their abuser. At
the request of the Wisconsin Coalition
Against Domestic Violence (WCADV),
Bruce led a regional train-the-trainer
event for domestic violence shelter staff
working in northwest Wisconsin and
upper Michigan to help survivors become
more economically self-sufficient. Similar
trainings were held earlier this spring
across the state co-sponsored by UWExtension and WCADV.
Training content included benefits of
budgeting and goal setting; understanding
credit and using it wisely; accessing credit
reports and improving credit scores;
financial traps to avoid, such as payday or
car title loans; understanding spending
habits; and finding local community
resources.
All of the participants (100%) reported
feeling confident of their ability to help
their shelter clients develop more effective
spending and money management plans,
and to help others analyze their financial
situation and generate action strategies
as a result of this training.
WHAT WORKS WISCONSIN:
PREVENTING JUVENILE
DELINQUENCY FORUMS
Bruce co-facilitated a forum on Juvenile
Delinquency for over 85 participants,
which she also helped organize. A onepage summary of this very successful
event is available from her.
Wisconsin: Preventing Juvenile Delinquency
Forums
Food Preservation
Food
Preservation
/
Canning
Tomatoes - On October 12 Bruce taught
an evening class on how to safely can
tomatoes at the Superior Middle School
for a group of WIC (Women, Infants, and
Children)
mothers
using
tomatoes
donated
by
Northwest
Wisconsin
Community Services Agency (Community
Garden) and the Challenge Center (Bay
Produce). The women were instructed on
proper canning methods and were able to
safely process six quarts of tomatoes
each to bring home with them that night.
None of the women had any prior
experience with canning, and following
the class all reported feeling confident in
their new ability to properly can
tomatoes. This class was designed as a
pilot project with the intention of
expanding on additional food preservation
classes and topics next year.