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The Extension Services-237: Everything You Need to Know

Matthew Olson and Andrew Toelle

Overview of the ES-237

What is the ES-237?

The Extension Services-237 (ES-237) is a report of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension that consists of statistics for youth ages 5–18 participating in UF/IFAS Extension youth programs and for the volunteers providing service to these programs. Family Nutrition Programs (FNP) are the only youth Extension programs that are exempt from ES-237 reporting. In Florida, an annual ES-237 report is completed for each UF/IFAS Extension county office based on total 4-H enrollments entered into 4-H Online. County reports are compiled into a single state report and used for additional reporting needs.

Why is the ES-237 important?

UF/IFAS Extension is the public outreach arm of the University of Florida. This accurate information on UF/IFAS 4-H programs is necessary to tell our story to stakeholders, including funders at federal, state, and local levels.

What programs are reported on the ES-237?

All UF/IFAS Extension personnel (faculty, staff, volunteers, etc.) who conduct programs, regardless of their programmatic appointment, with youth ages 5–18 report those programs to the ES-237. Programs are reported regardless of educational contact time.

4-H Online and the ES-237

UF/IFAS Extension personnel use 4-H Online (v2.4honline.com), a web-based 4-H enrollment system. 4-H Online is designed so that the ES-237 data automatically populates in each county’s report as member, volunteer, and group enrollments are entered.

UF requires that all programs where UF/IFAS Extension personnel have Care, Custody, or Control of the minors in attendance must collect individual program registrations through 4-H Online. If UF/IFAS Extension personnel do not have Care, Custody, or Control, those programs may be reported in 4-H online through a group enrollment. County-based UF/IFAS Extension personnel will report programs through their county office. Work with your CED for what this process looks like in your county. Personnel not associated with a county, such as state Extension specialists, should contact the state 4-H information coordinator for access to 4-H Online ES-237 reporting.

How do I access my county ES-237?

Log into 4-H Online as a county manager. Click on Standard Reports in the navigation pane. Select the report called ES237 (All Reports), set the program year to the target year you want the report for, and click Download PDF.

Ways to use the ES-237

The ES-237 is a tool that can compare multiple years of enrollment statistics. This allows faculty to identify increases or decreases in membership, volunteer participation, project enrollment numbers, and other trends in participation. This document is important in evaluating the participation and interests of a county’s youth development program.

ES-237 Section 1: 4-H Delivery Modes

UF/IFAS Extension personnel use a variety of methods to deliver programming to youth. Table 1 lists the delivery modes reported to the ES-237. This table shows how youth participation is reported for each delivery mode in 4-H Online, either through an “individual youth enrollment,” “individual event registration,” or a “group enrollment.” For example, youth participating in organized 4-H clubs can only be reported through individual youth enrollments; youth participating in camps can only be reported through individual event registration; and youth participating in a site visit, such as a school enrichment program or guest speaker, can be reported through a group enrollment. A youth is reported to one of the delivery modes listed in Table 1 when they participate in a UF/IFAS Extension program.

The delivery mode section of the ES-237 counts youth only. A youth may be counted more than once in this section. For example, a youth can be counted in a 4-H club delivery mode for their year-long participation in a 4-H community club. This youth will also be reported to the overnight camping delivery mode when they attend a 4-H residential camp. When a youth participates in a second program during the same program year, they are considered a duplicate.

Table 2 provides a description of the different ES-237 delivery modes. These are the national definitions that should be used to report youth participation on the ES-237 report.

ES-237 Sections 2 and 3: School Grade, Gender, Place of Residence, Ethnicity, and Race

When reporting youth to a delivery mode, 4-H Online asks for school grade, gender, place of residence, race, and ethnicity for each youth. Duplicates are not included in these sections of the ES-237 report. Using the earlier example of the club member who attends overnight camp, this youth is counted in both delivery modes but is only counted once in the grade, gender, place of residence, race, and ethnicity sections of the ES-237. Since the youth is a club member, information is pulled from his or her member enrollment profile and added to these sections of the ES-237 report. When reporting this youth to the camp group enrollment, he or she would be counted as a duplicate. Tables 3, 4, and 5 provide more information about place of residence, ethnicity, and race definitions.

ES-237 Section 4: Volunteers

The ES-237 report defines a volunteer as an adult or youth who provides unpaid support for youth Extension programs. The only volunteer-related information reported to the ES-237 is the number of youth volunteers and the number of adult volunteers in the current program year. There are two ways volunteers are reported to the ES-237 by 4-H Online. The first is through individual volunteer member profiles. If a youth or adult has an active member profile and has selected that he or she is a volunteer, 4-H Online includes them in the ES-237 volunteer count. The second way to report volunteers is through a group enrollment. Only volunteers who do not have individual profiles in 4-H Online should be reported through a group enrollment. Also, a volunteer should not be counted on more than one group enrollment in the same program year. There is no way to remove duplicate/repeat volunteers on a group enrollment.

ES-237 Section 5: Projects

Projects are the planned sequence of age-appropriate and research-based learning opportunities youth experience when participating in one or more of the ES-237 delivery modes. At least one project must be assigned to a youth enrollment, and they should add all the projects that they are actively participating in. Once the youth enrollment is approved in 4-H Online, the youth’s project is added to the overall project count. Projects can also be reported through group enrollments.

ES-237 Reporting Timeline

Annual county ES-237 reports for the ending 4-H year are due September 15. The Florida 4-H year is September 1 to August 31. When entering a group enrollment between August 1 and September 15, counties will be able to set the program year that the group enrollment corresponds to.

Further Information

Contact Florida 4-H state headquarters for further information about the ES-237 report. For the 4-H Online enrollment system, contact the state 4-H information management coordinator.

Resources

Kahler, J. (2013). Instructions for completing the state 4-H enrollment report. Washington DC: NIFA National 4-H Headquarters

Norman, M. N., and Jordan, J. (2012). Understanding 4-H youth development delivery. 4-H FS101.5. Gainesville: University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Archived at https://ufdc.ufl.edu/IR00006365/00001/pdf

United States Census Bureau (2002). About the topic of race. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/topics/population/race/about.html.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). (n.d.). 4-H overview. USDA Research, Education & Economics Information System. Retrieved February 8, 2024, from https://reeis.usda.gov/reports-and-documents/4-h-reports/overview

Table 1. Delivery Modes for 4-H Youth Programs.

Delivery Modes

Individual Youth Enrollment

Event Registration**

Group Enrollment

Organized 4-H Clubs

(Community, In-School, or After-School)

YES

NO

NO

Special Interest/Short Term Programs

NO

YES

YES

Overnight and Day Camping Programs

NO

YES

YES

School Enrichment Programs

NO

NO

YES

Individual Study/Mentoring/Family Learning Program*

YES

NO

NO

Site-Based Programs (non-club, After-School, Military)

NO

NO***

YES

Instructional TV/Video/Web Programs

NO

YES

YES

*For Individual Study/Mentoring/Family Learning Programs, you will set this up as a club for your county and set the delivery mode as “Individual Study/Mentoring/Family Learning Program.”

**4-H Online is the only platform that is approved by UF to comply with the UF Youth Protection Policy and collect event registrations. 4-H Online will allow us to collect event registration without requiring that families create a youth member enrollment. Once your event is complete, you will be able to easily create a group enrollment through 4-H Online for the event.

***If UF/IFAS Extension personnel have Care, Custody, or Control of the youth at the site-based program, you must collect individual event registrations through 4-H Online. If another entity has Care, Custody, or Control, you may report as a group enrollment.

Table 2. 4-H Youth Delivery Mode Definitions.

Delivery Mode

Definition

Organized 4-H Community Clubs

Club members meet as a group on a regular schedule under the direction of an adult volunteer with a planned program. Clubs typically have elected officers and a set of rules approved by membership to govern the club, or for very young groups, other developmentally appropriate structures and operating processes. Community clubs typically meet in the evenings or on weekends and offer multiple self-chosen learning experiences and activities.

Organized 4-H In-School Clubs

Club members meet as a group on a regular schedule under the direction of an adult volunteer with a planned program. In-school clubs meet during school hours and have officers and planned activities beyond school enrichment. In-school clubs meet at a specific school and only youth at that school may enroll in the club. Club members only participate in 4-H programs at that school. The youth and adult staff identify themselves as 4-H members and volunteers. They may have officers and elements of a club structure.

*In-school club members may be required to join an organized community club to participate in activities or programs outside of the in-school club.

Organized 4-H After-School Clubs

Club members meet as a group on a regular schedule under the direction of an adult volunteer with a planned program. 4-H Afterschool clubs are organized within after-school programs administered by UF/IFAS Extension personnel or other organizations (i.e., other youth development organizations, housing authorities, faith-based groups, etc.). After-school clubs meet at a specific school and only youth at that school may enroll in the club. Club members only participate in 4-H programs at that school. The youth and adult staff identify themselves as 4-H members and volunteers. They may have officers and elements of a club structure.

*After-school club members may be required to join an organized community club to participate in activities or programs outside of the in-school club.

Special Interest or Short-Term Program

Special interest and short-term programs include groups of youth meeting for a special learning experience that involves direct teaching by Extension staff or trained volunteers, including teachers. Programs are not part of the school curriculum and not restricted to members of 4-H clubs.

Overnight Camping Programs

Youth taking part in an Extension-planned educational experience of group living. Overnight camping includes being away from home at least one night (resident, primitive, or travel camping).

Day Camping Programs

Day camping consists of multiple-day programs in the out-of-doors with youth returning home each evening.

School Enrichment

School-aged youth receive a well-planned sequence of learning experiences during regular school hours.

Individual Study

Independent members must have a 4-H agent-approved plan of work for the 4-H year and meet with a mentor a minimum of 4 times during the program year. Progress toward goals should be submitted to the 4-H office. Counties may elect to allow youth to continue independent membership based on completed work or extenuating circumstances.

Site-Based Programs Using 4-H Curricula/Staff Training (School-age care)

Site-based programs are offered to youth outside of school hours, usually in a school, other community center, or at a military base youth center. The site-based program must be supported by Extension through training the after-school staff, infusing 4-H curricula into the program, and/or other significant support such as conducting needs assessments, evaluations, and/or resource development. The primary purpose of the program is to provide care, as well as developmental and educational experiences for children and youth while parents are working or unavailable.

Instructional Multimedia Programs

Extension-produced learning experiences offered to youth via broadcast or closed-circuit television, including satellite transmission, or video replays of such series. May also include instruction delivered by internet.

Table 3. Place of Residence Definitions.

Place of Residence

Definition

Farm

Participants who live in rural territory from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were sold or would have been sold in the reporting year.

Towns of under 10,000 & rural non-farm

Participants who live in towns of under 10,000 population in rural, non-farm, open country situations.

Towns and cities (10,000–50,000) & their suburbs

Participants who live within the immediate built-up areas surrounding such towns and cities, even though they might live beyond the immediate city limits.

Suburbs of cities of over 50,000

Participants who live in the urbanized and contiguous suburbs and towns surrounding a city of over 50,000.

Central cities of over 50,000

Participants who live within the boundaries of metropolitan cities of over 50,000 population.

Table 4. Ethnicity Definitions

Ethnicity

Definition

Hispanic

A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

Non-Hispanic

All others.

Table 5. Race Definitions

Race

Definition

White

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.

Black or African American

A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

American Indian or Alaskan Native

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central, and South America, and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment.

Asian

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, of the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, Micronesia, the Northern Marianas, or other Pacific islands.