Acadia Parish
Family and Consumer Sciences
Advisory Committee Meeting
February 11, 2009
The Acadia Parish Family and Consumer Sciences Advisory Committee met on Wednesday, February 11, 2009, at the Acadia Extension Office at 9:00 a.m. Adrianne Vidrine, extension agent, Family and Consumer Sciences, welcomed the group and explained that the committee’s function was to identify and prioritize issues and opportunities in Acadia Parish, activate resources and legitimize Extension Service programs.
Those present were:
- Nikki LeMaire, LSU AgCenter extension agent specializing in child care & parenting programs
- Melanie Choate, Acadia Office of Family Support manager
- Antoinette Pete, Acadia Parish School Board
- Barbara Miller, Dept. of Health and Hospitals
- Norma Washington, Acadia Parish Head Start
- May Rose Bourgeois, Assist Agency
- Sergeant Jimmy Broussard, Crowley Police Department
- Pat Miers, Louisiana Technical College
- Janis Coignard, Extra Mile Program
- Brian Cormier, Acadia Parish Truancy Officer
- Sondra Myers, Acadia Parish Head Start
- Barrett Courville, Acadia Parish chairman, LSU AgCenter
- Paula Stewart, administrative coordinator, recording minutes
She discussed the three areas of FCS, which are Family Development including parenting and child care by Nikki LeMaire; Family Resource Management by Adrianne Vidrine; and Nutrition, Diet and Health by Mandy Armentor.
Adrianne gave an overview of the AgCenter educational programs currently being presented to the community: FNP, Babysitting Workshop, Child Care Provider Training, First Time Home Buyer classes, among others.
Nikki LeMaire discussed some of the classes she offers such as Child Care -- Basic Parenting classes; general parenting classes for different ages.
Mandy Armentor, Registered Dietician with the LSU AgCenter, wasn’t present, but Adrianne did inform everyone of her area of specialization, which is food & nutrition and diabetes classes in this parish.
Barrett Courville thanked everyone for attending this advisory meeting and spoke on the upcoming tax renewal for our office and that of the parish Rice Arena and encouraged support for us to continue offering our educational services to the citizens of Acadia Parish.
All participants were provided with a packet of information including programs the LSU AgCenter provides as well as parish statistics.
Adrianne stated she’d like to bring her educational programs across the parish and asked committee members for potential meeting sites in various locations of the parish.
The committee gave suggestions of opportunities and issues the LSU AgCenter, in partnership with other parish and state agencies, could address to meet the needs of citizens in Acadia Parish. The list is as follows:
· Stretching Your Food Dollar program, with emphasis in the title “food stamp” to attract more low-income families and younger parents buying groceries for their children.
· Provide information for parents about how their lifestyles and actions affect their children starting at a very early age.
· Environmental factors that influence young minds to take the wrong road in life -- drug dealers, etc. Try to educate them on the consequences of that lifestyle and direct them towards a more positive lifestyle.
· Get information out that there are grants available for assistance at the technical college. Have young, at-risk students go to the school to see firsthand the opportunities available and the child-care assistance available for them to get the training.
· Reinforce factors in young children to make the right choices in life:
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Self-Esteem
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Positive Reinforcement
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Early Intervention
· Encourage young parents to attend these positive lifestyle-changing classes by offering babysitting available on site by the certified babysitters who have been taught through this office.
· Offer more First Time Home Buyer classes. One Head Start parent who took this class in the past has since bought their first home.
After the discussion, everyone was given a chance to write down priority needs to be addressed in the near future and are as follows:
1. Nutrition and Budgeting
2. Parenting at an Early Age Classes on: Self-Esteem; Respect; Education; Have Role Models.
3. Introduce older at-risk teens to the Technical College and the programs/assistance available.
4. Educational Program for the Parents:
Basic Computer Skills
Internet Safety (learning to check the child’s computer for inappropriate activity Example: MySpace, etc.
Brian Cormier asked for everyone’s assistance in supporting the TASC program as it may be cut out due to the budget crisis. He encouraged everyone to call their congressman to voice their opinion.
Adrianne proposed meeting back in six months to check on the status of these suggestions. She thanked everyone for attending and giving suggestions. Meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.