Northwest District FCS PAC SUMMARY – 2009 Page 1 of 5
Base Program Areas Number of NW
Counties Reporting
Family Economic Well-being
Family Budgeting in Declining Economic Times; Families need to stretch dollars; 9
Basic Budgeting; Teach people to live within their means/live with less; using resources
on hand to save money;
--Major, Texas, Woodward, Logan, Harper, Woods; Noble, Garfield, Ellis
Financial Education & Job Readiness for Youth; Teach youth to live within money they 6
have & not get in credit debt; prepare youth for employment—how to dress, fill out forms,
interview and what employers will expect; need for job shadowing & mentoring programs
to help teens determine career interests; economic literacy of youth concerning costs of
raising a family; financial literacy requirements by the State Dept. of Education.
--Grant, Harper, Dewey, Noble, Garfield, Blaine
Scam and Fraud Awareness; Identity Theft & Related Fraud--Grant, Texas, Logan, Garfield 4
Long Term Health Care Planning--Major, Grant, Ellis 3
Debit & Credit Cards; Wise Use of Credit—check cashing loans, interest rates, 3
hidden fees of credit cards, etc.; Credit Debt; credit card use by young people and adults
--Beaver, Dewey, Blaine
Priority topics listed below were sited in ONE or TWO NW Counties:
Estate Planning--Major, Woodward
Life Skills Education: banking, family finances/budgeting; interview training, etc.—Noble
Increasing costs of living—child care, education & health care—all on the increase—Woods
Medicare Programs including signing up & supplemental insurance—Alfalfa
Funeral Planning—Woodward
Care Giving (financially related issues)—Grant
Aging (financially related issues)—Grant
Lack of adult responsibility to provide basic needs of family (allow others to provide)—Kay
Needs vs. Wants—inability to determine the difference—Kay
“Donations” are down in all venues; ripple effect is being felt across the county—Kingfisher
Farm Income—Farm families are experiences reduction in income—Texas
Housing Costs—Challenges of home ownership/determining if & when ownership is affordable
--Logan
Green: Teach people to live using Green methods—Harper
Rebates, Incentives to purchase appliance & other items—are they a good thing?—Logan
Money Savings through weatherization programs, efficient handling of utility bills, etc—Blaine
Citizens unawareness of “non-food” services available (when assistance is needed)--Noble
Northwest District FCS PAC SUMMARY – 2009 Page 2 of 5
Base Program Areas Number of NW
Counties Reporting
Food, Nutrition & Health
Foods: (10)
Educational Programs on Food Preservation & Food Preparation/Basic Skills: 6
Canning, Baking, Cooking Nutritious Meals; How to Plan, Shop & Prepare Economical,
Healthy Meals; Time Saving Ways to cook healthy meals; Dispel myth that it costs
more to eat healthy; Money saving tips in the grocery store (4); teaching shopping,
preparing & serving meals for seniors & singles.
--Major, Texas, Woodward, Dewey, Blaine, Ellis
Food Pantries & DHS—residents need to be aware of pantries and resources offered; 2
increase awareness of food share programs in place & qualifications for DHS services
(those with reduced incomes are unaware of programs)--Texas, Noble
Food Safety--Woodward, Garfield 2
Organic vs. Non-organic Products--Logan
Eating Healthy via Portable Appliances/only Microwave & other Small Appliances to 1
prepare foods--Texas
Pending crisis for senior nutrition programs & related concerns over worsening 1
Conditions with next year’s budget--Kay
Nutrition: (12)
Healthy Living—diet & exercise; weight, heart & bone health; healthy eating choices; 9
teach how to make healthy meal and snack choices on a daily basis, for all ages;
develop ways for people to include foods of different cultures in their diets. Continue
to implement Healthy Living Program; Diet/Disease relationship
--Grant, Beaver, Woodward, Logan, Harper, Alfalfa, Woods, Blaine, Ellis
Basic Nutrition Education; teach people to include more Fruits & Vegetables in their diets 3
--Major, Texas, Harper
Childhood Nutrition: Poor eating habits in high school athletes; encourage eating 3
breakfast at home or school (for all school-age children & youth)--Grant, Logan, Dewey
Hunger (among families, particularly children)—Logan 1
Obesity: (10)
Childhood Obesity & Overweight (including “address through parenting programs”) 7
--Alfalfa, Grant, Harper, Woods, Blaine, Logan, Garfield
Adult Obesity & Overweight--Texas, Harper, Woods, Logan, Garfield 5
Diabetes Education; Diabetes & Obesity; Type II Diabetes; increased numbers
diagnosed with pre-diabetic condition. --Major, Woodward, Garfield, Blaine 4
Health: (10)
Heart Disease/Prevention & Death Rate--Major, Woodward, Harper 3
Physical Activity –need to increase--Major, Garfield, Blaine 3
H1N1 Education/Hand washing; Encourage businesses on use of hand washing & 2
sanitizer use for public in an effort to reduce the spread of flu/disease.--Beaver, Noble
Depression; Stress Management & Identifying &/or Recognizing Depression--know when 2
and where to get help; Grief and Stress Education needed to respond to increase in
activities in the “sandwich generation--Beaver, Dewey
Northwest District FCS PAC SUMMARY – 2009 Page 3 of 5
Food, Nutrition & Health/Health, continued
Encourage participation in community blood drives and other wellness activities.—Noble 1
Rural Health Care: Need an OBGYN—many Hispanic babies are being born at Kingfisher 1
Hospital under care of a general physician—not sure if Hispanic moms are getting
“well baby” and other services needed for new moms/babies.—Kingfisher 1
Use local health department—Grant 1
Cancer/Breast Cancer Awareness; Men’s Cancer Awareness—Garfield 1
Base Program Areas Number of NW
Counties Reporting
Family Resiliency
Parenting: (11)
Basic Parenting Skills, including parenting for Single Parents and Helicop Parents; 5
Responsible parenting; Parenting education needed—youth parents weren’t “guided”
as latch-key kids. --Major, Texas, Dewey, Noble, Blaine
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren--Woodward, Logan, Harper 3
Co-parenting; high number involved/related family challenges & issues--Kingfisher, Garfield 2
Encourage fathers’ involvement in families—Grant 1
Education: (5)
Drop-out rate/extremely high for teens/youth and parents do not place high value on
education—may be higher incidence among Native Americans.—Kay 1
GED Classes are needed—none are offered in Kingfisher County; Blaine and Garfield Co
are the nearest sites—career tech staff are asked several times each week, where GED
classes are offered. –Kingfisher 1
Lack of supervision of older elementary youth during after school hours—could be a
time for tutoring or individual study.—Kay 1
Young people need training in responsible decision making--Texas 1
Personal development program for pre-teens—Alfalfa 1
More “English as a second language” classes are needed.—Kingfisher 1
Driving skills—Grant 1
Substance Abuse: (4)
Underage drinking & drug use--Major
Due to drug abuse (especially meth), 10 -12 people, often unrelated, live in houses.
Drug abuse is creating more “couch homeless.” –Kingfisher 1
Drug Abuse/Meth: Drug abusing adults &/or parents are causing truancy in teens,
because youths’ basic needs of food, shelter and safe & adequate sleep are not
regularly being met. –Kingfisher 1
Need Narcotics Anonymous (have AA); need a place to meet regularly—already have
a NA facilitator lined up!—Kingfisher 1
Alcoholism and Substance Abuse/Addictions (“When the costs of substance abuse
goes up, the costs of providing services goes down.”)--Beaver, Woods 2
Northwest District FCS PAC SUMMARY – 2009 Page 4 of 5
Family Resiliency, continued/Other priority issues/concerns:
Teen Pregnancy/Teen Pregnancy Prevention (Not unusual for Native American females 4
to be sexually active by age 10) --Kay, Grant, Woodward, Blaine
Misuse of Technology: internet safety for children & adults, cell phones; texting bullying
messages or sending inappropriate messages &/or pictures; bullying, social media
network use and safety issues, abuse, misuse, “sexting” --Dewey, Garfield, Blaine 3
Senior Care/Care Giving increasing as aging population grows; adult issues pertaining to
seniors; Care of Alzheimer individuals or family loved ones; provide care to an elderly or
ill loved one. --Texas, Woodward, Ellis 3
Domestic Abuse: (child, spouse, & elder) in Hispanic & Anglo residents--Kingfisher, Garfield 2
Relationship Skills /Anger Management --Noble, Blaine 2
High risk behaviors in children & youth –Harper 1
Communication—encourage Family Meal Times—Logan 1
Multi-generational families need help living together –Noble 1
Divorce—High rate in Oklahoma –Logan 1
Care for Care Givers –Grant 1
Quality child care to fill gaps for employed parents –Kay 1
“Children in the Middle”—as numbers of non-English speaking immigrants increase—
children are used as “interpreters” for business and medical discussions. There are also
concerns about how to ensure immigrants are included in the upcoming census, as their
demand on services is noted. –Kingfisher 1
Big Brothers/Big Sisters (mentor) type program needed. --Noble 1
Too many citizens are unaware of services available; many new clients are needing to
Access services because of unemployment, reduction in income, etc. –Noble 1
Northwest District FCS PAC SUMMARY – 2009 Page 5 of 5
Base Program Areas Number of NW
Counties Reporting
Leadership & Family Policy
Leadership: (6)
Declining interest in leadership roles within OHCE and all other civic organizations.
--Logan, Dewey
Leadership Training needed for both youth and adults --Noble
Leadership—How to Get Involved --Major
PRIDE Program—A) Offer the program to interested citizens, AND
B) Train a core group of county-based trainers for on-going training of citizens --Kingfisher
Develop leadership skills in OHCE members --Grant
Volunteerism/Engagement: (5)
Opportunities for Volunteerism --Major
Volunteerism, especially by younger adults, is essential & vitally needed but lacking--Kingfisher
Engage youth “early” in “community”—as early as 2nd and 3rd grades; offer opportunities
for meaningful volunteer experiences; offer youth some group “challenges” for fun
competition –help them to adopt volunteering as a life-long personal activity. --Kingfisher
Utilize youth for volunteer positions such as assisting at nursing home social events--Alfalfa
Encourage participation in community projects and events --Grant
Declining interest in membership & participation in OHCE --Logan
Public/Family Policy: (4)
Hunger (among families, particularly children) --Logan
Public Venues--Communities seem to lack ability to discuss issues & differing viewpoints
in public forum without hostility, political tones, etc,; as a result the most creative, effective
solutions are not realized and issues continue. --Kay
National health care crisis—politics related to the actions of elected officials who are
benefitting financially by their actions related to the national health care debate were
discussed; laws in some states allow insurance companies to deny coverage to anyone
with “pre-existing” condition of domestic violence. --Kay
Need accurate 2010 US Census data: County’s financial rank is high enough that the county
seat often does not qualify for grants that could move communities in a positive direction.
Finding a way to include all immigrants in the upcoming census may help tell a more realistic
picture of county demographics, and may help the county qualify for more grants! --Kingfisher
Too many citizens need education on community services available to them and how to
become involved. --Noble
Several service organizations serve the same clients…but would better serve clients if
organizations were able to network monthly and review needs. --Noble
Other: (2)
Work with local official for emergency preparedness; general emergency preparedness;
--Grant, Beaver
Promote tourism in the county --Grant
Encourage patronage of county businesses --Grant