A UConn Cooperative Extension System program has been selected to be part of a national video about community-based programs targeting youth and families at risk. The Hartford School-age Child Care Project was chosen by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service as one of a few sites included in the video.

The video, which is being filmed by a crew from Iowa State University, is scheduled to be completed for a showing at the Children, Youth and Families at Risk conference in Tucson, Ariz., in March 1998. The aim of the video is to create support for Children, Youth and Families at Risk programs by describing their benefits and illustrating their impact.

The sites in the video were chosen based on the documented impact of these programs, involvement of citizens and integration into community, use of technology and sense of hope. Connecticut is one of five such sites.

UConn's child care project was developed in 1991 using federal funds through the CYFAR initiative. UConn faculty and staff, volunteers, youths, parents and others who are actively involved in these projects were interviewed on October 20.

"This project has been a success and continues to help families even though the federal dollars no longer exist," said Carole Eller, extension educator and principal investigator for the project's grant. "We were able to work with the local communities and enable them to take charge and provide before and after school care for their children."

Usha Palaniswamy