Major Programming Directions:

Major programming efforts continue to be targeted at responding to issues that emerged in our long range planning process of 1999 - the Texas Community Futures Forum. This process identified issues associated with community and economic development as very important to residents of Texas who participated in the process. The process was also unique in that it involved other agencies and organizations thus developing partnerships in responding to the complex and critical issues surfaced.

Within the broad area of community and economic development, issues associated with employment and the economy (e.g. jobs, income, tax base) as well as quality of life issues (e.g. services, safety, environment) were preeminent. Two Response Teams have been formed consisting of specialists, agents and representatives of other agencies/organizations to address these issues. These teams are identifying programming resources and planning/conducting training to support county programming in these areas. However, other major issue areas identified are also directly related to community resource development such as leadership, health, etc. Thus, community development is very much visible and of concern to Extension and its partners throughout the state.

To this end, a diverse committee is being established to assess community development programming and ways to ensure its implementation in counties and communities where these issues have been identified by residents (almost all).

Resources:

Program Specialist position in Far West Texas established jointly with one county using split funding. Otherwise, essentially unchanged except continued reallocation of effort to community development programming on the part of existing faculty due to importance of CRD issues as noted above.

Other Items of Interest:

Texas hosted the Southern Region CD Institute and was able to get a good number of faculty participating. Information/skills gained will be immediately applied in an urban setting via an upcoming Urban Programs Conference and in a rural setting with a joint TCFF Response Team/Rolling Plains District training that will serve as a pilot/model for the rest of the state. The State of Texas in a recently concluded legislative session, responding to the same complex of issues identified by TCFF reshuffled state agencies to create on Office of Rural Affairs incorporating the nonentitlement CDBG program and the Office of Rural Health Initiatives. Agency name change to Texas Cooperative Extension.