[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 21, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 9890]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3856]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

National Institute of Food and Agriculture


Solicitation of Input From Stakeholders Regarding the Smith-Lever 
3(d) Children, Youth, and Families at Risk Sustainable Community 
Projects

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for stakeholder input.

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SUMMARY: Section 7403 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 
(Pub. L. 110-246) (FCEA) amended section 3(d) of the Smith-Lever Act (7 
U.S.C. 343(d)) to provide the opportunity for 1862 and 1890 Land-Grant 
Institutions, including Tuskegee University and West Virginia State 
University to compete for section 3(d) funds. Section 7417 of FCEA also 
provided the University of the District of Columbia the opportunity to 
compete for section 3(d) funds. The Children, Youth, and Families at 
Risk (CYFAR) Sustainable Community Projects is among the Extension 
programs funded under this authority. The National Institute of Food 
and Agriculture (NIFA) plans to consider stakeholder input received 
from written comments in developing future competitive RFAs for this 
program.

DATES: Webinars will be held on Thursday, February 22, 2012 from 2 p.m. 
to 3:30 p.m. Eastern time and Friday, March 9, 2012 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 
p.m. Eastern time. All comments not otherwise presented or submitted 
for the record at the meeting must be submitted by close of business 
Friday, March 30, 2012 to assure consideration in the next RFA.
    Instructions: To register for the February 22, 2012 webinar, please 
use the link provided: cyfarstakeholderinput2.eventbrite.com. To 
register for the March 9, 2012 webinar, please use the link provided: 
cyfarstakeholderinput3.eventbrite.com. You may submit comments, 
identified by NIFA-2012-0005 by any of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    Email: [email protected]. Include NIFA-2012-0005 in the subject 
line of the message.
    Fax: 202-720-9366.
    Mail: Paper, disk or CD-ROM submissions should be submitted to 
Division of Youth and 4-H, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 
U.S. Department of Agriculture; STOP 2225, 1400 Independence Avenue 
SW., Washington, DC 20250-2225.
    Hand Delivery/Courier: Division of Youth and 4-H, National 
Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Room 
4316, Waterfront Centre, 800 9th Street SW., Washington, DC 20024.
    All submissions received must include the agency name and the 
identifier NIFA-2012-0005. All comments received will be posted to 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bonita Williams (202)720-3566, (FAX) 
202.720.9366, [email protected] or Lindsey Jewell (202) 720-6962, 
(FAX) 202.720.9366, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Reservations for oral comments will be 
confirmed on a first-come, first-serve basis during the listening 
session. All comments and the official transcript of the meeting, when 
they become available, may be reviewed on the NIFA Web page for six 
months.

Background and Purpose

    The mission of the CYFAR Program is to marshal resources of Land-
Grant and Cooperative Extension Systems, so that, in collaboration with 
other organizations, they can develop and deliver educational programs 
that equip youth who are at risk for not meeting basic human needs with 
the skills they need to lead positive, productive, and contributing 
lives. Through an annual congressional appropriation for the CYFAR 
Program, NIFA allocates funding to land-grant university Extension 
services for community-based programs for at-risk children and their 
families. NIFA is seeking stakeholder input regarding CYFAR's structure 
of the professional development and technical support program for 
fiscal year 2013. The focus of the webinar will be to address the 
following questions:

    1. What should change about CYFAR, if anything?
    2. What specific audiences should CYFAR target within at-risk 
populations?
    3. Are there audiences for which CYFAR could have greater 
impact?
    4. CYFERnet.org, are you using this, if so, please explain how?
    5. CYFERnetSEARCH.org, are you using this, if so, please explain 
how?
    6. How should the role of the CYFAR liaison be changed, if at 
all?
    7. Have the capacity building workshops been effective, please 
explain?
    8. Should we have a CYFAR liaison who is responsible 
specifically for capacity building, please explain?
    9. CYFAR Conference, how effective has the CYFAR Conference been 
for your professional development in working with at-risk 
populations?
    10. What percentage of the CYFAR funds should go to building the 
capacity of the system to serve at-risk audiences vs. building the 
capacity of the grantees?

    Stakeholders' comments provided on the questions above will provide 
guidance to NIFA in restructuring the program and assisting NIFA 
leadership in more fully addressing stakeholder needs.

Implementation Plans

    NIFA plans to consider stakeholder input received from this public 
meeting as well as other written comments in developing the FY 2013 
program guidelines. NIFA anticipates
    releasing the FY 2013 Request for Applications (RFA) by winter 
2012.

    Done at Washington, DC, this 10th day of February, 2012.
Chavonda Jacobs-Young,
Acting Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2012-3856 Filed 2-17-12; 8:45 am]
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