MSU Extension 4-H Healthy Youth

About Us

Michigan 4-H Children and Youth Institute (CYI) offers crisis management initiatives to youth, adult volunteers, families, and staff members, who are impacted by community violence and/or natural disasters.

Michigan 4-H offers various forms of crisis support, however, it does not supersede other community entities or crisis response services.

The goal of Michigan 4-H’s crisis response is to promote resilience and operate as secondary aid within crisis situations. As a result, 4-H community members, youth, families, and staff members can become educated on pre/post-vention measures to combat the effects that occur from community violence and/or natural disasters.

Resilience Initiatives

• Resource Management. The Crisis Response Team offers support within resource management, providing links to extension articles, fact sheets, or community organizations that can streamline immediate guidance following crisis situations.

• Workshops. The Crisis Response Team offers one-time workshops on emotional wellness topics for schools and/or youth organizations across Michigan. Participants can range from students to staff members in various settings. Common topics include (but not limited to) the following:

• • Mindfulness Based Practices
  • Stress Management
  • Bullying Prevention

• Listening Posts. Listening posts are a two-way conversation between individuals who are emotionally expressing their feelings, and the listener, who is offering support and validation. The Crisis Response team can work with your schools/communities to set up a listening post following community violence, to allow individuals to start the process of emotional healing.

• Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Training. QPR training is a suicide prevention course that educates participants to recognize the warning signs of suicide and provides steps to question, persuade, and refer people who are at risk for suicide for help. The Crisis Response Team has a certified QPR instructor, that can train individuals, teams, or organizations across the state.

Contact Information

For more information about Michigan 4H’s Crisis Response Team or resilience initiatives, please contact msue.cyicrisisresponse@msu.edu or:

Darien Wilkerson

wilker67@msu.edu