Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
Western Region Agricultural Stress Assistance III (WRASAP III) builds on the 2020/2023 program activities for WRASAP II,continuing to outreach to the network of partnerships in the 13 States and 4 Territories of Western Region while increasingoutreach to new audiences WRASAP III goals track those of the USDA.WRASAP III will continue to network with programs like AgrAbility promotores while outreaching to new audiences byembedding behavioral health competencies into existing service delivery. The program will also embed farm stress and mentalhealth information into existing Extension based programs such as Livestock Advisors Program.Web-based Interactive Geographical Services Map (WIGSM): The project team will ensure the regional clearinghouse is publiclyavailable but will work with in-house staff and contractors to create a Web-based Interactive Geographical Services Map(WIGSM). The WIGSM will improve accessibility of the existing clearinghouse by providing a graphical search interface on thewebsite via an interactive map. Investigators and Coordinators will educate partners on program activity, results of surveys,resources developed, findings of evaluator and future plans at conferences and partner meetings. Program highlights will bepublished to the website.Range of Services offered for farmers and farm workers including the existing Farm Aid Resource Hotline with extended hours,and WRASAP III adds AgriSafe Crisis Hotline in WA, MT, and CO with the intent of bringing more States online to this valuableservice with future funding opportunities. Rural Peer Assistance Network, peer support groups, promotores outreach, mentalhealth intervention curriculum development and QPR/MHFA trainings will also be offered. WRASAP III will also offer expandedoutreach to Tribal, Faith based and LGBTQIA+ communities. Based on the Land Grant mission and having Extension offices in all 13 States and 4 Territories of the west, this program addsto Extension's capacity to provide direct and culturally appropriate resources to farming communities, acknowledging the diversity of the region and the changing needs of farmers and farm workers. The WRASAP III evaluator will review quarterly to inform delivery throughout one year program duration.Target Audience: All farmers/ranchers/farm workers in Western Region, including historicallyunderserved, veteran, aging, Tribal, Faith based, LGBTQIA+ and those with disabilities.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
Goal 1. Continue growth of WRASAP network throughout the Western Region; invite new stakeholders, align with existingnetworks, and develop best practices for building state networks.Activity 1.A. UC Davis will host quarterly Network meetings to facilitate building and connecting the expandingWRASAP network. Activity 1.B. UC Davis will maintain social media channels in Spanish and English with informationrelevant to developing and extending network.Activity 1.C. Network in Western Region states and territories to connect stakeholderssuch as land-grant universities with information, education, training and support to educate ag workers, producers and theirfamilies about mental health resources and programs.Activity 1.D. Facilitate at least one statewide collaborative gathering in each state of CO, WY, NM for stakeholders to gather togrow collaborations and unified efforts around agricultural focused behavioral health and well-being programs.Activity 1.E. Explore the feasibility of creating a training program for Faith Leaders based on the Land Logic Model.Activity 1.F. Extend WRASAP reach into the LGBTQIA population of farmers by seeking out partnerships with theQueer Farmer's network and national Young Farmer's coalition chapters in the Western Region.Activity 1.G. Reach out to Farmer Veteran Coalition to strengthen WRASAP outreach toVeteran Farmers.Activity 1.H. Followup with communities that participated in previous mental health community development discussions in IDand determine next steps.Activity 1.I. WSU Skagit County extension will expand farm stress and suicide prevention awareness outreach through theexisting extension Livestock Advisors program.Goal 2:Continue to expand clearinghouse of resources initiated in FY2019 WRASAP and further developed in FY2020WRASAP II. Activity 2.A. Upgrade online Clearinghouse at farmstress.us to include Web-based Interactive GeographicalServices Map (WIGSM) an interactive map that displays Clearinghouse data.Activity 2.B. Continue to expand Clearinghouse by adding new resources as they arediscovered Goal 3: Educate internal and external partners on program activities and how toaccess resources. Activity 3.B. UC Davis will host or attend 3 workshops or outreach eventswith farm stress presentations to disseminate WRASAP baseline survey results back to relevant communities.Activity 3.C. University of Arizona will raise awareness of resources for ag stress and suicide prevention in Tribal communitiesin AZ by participating in local and regional meetings.Activity 3.D. University of Arizona will expand tribal resources by collecting information about existing local resources andunmet resource needs and share with other partners at regional and national meetings.Activity 3.E. Colorado State University will provide workshops with stress-assistance information and resources, evidencebasedprograms, referrals, and promotion of new AgriSafe crisis line.Activity 3.F. Rocky Mountain Farmers Union will continue outreach through workshops, trainings, and conferences to hostagriculture stress and behavioral health focused talks and discussions.Activity 3.G. Rocky Mountain Farmers Union will partner with University of Hawaii to strengthen and continue the outreach anddevelopment of AgWell's Agriculture Peer Support training.Activity 3.H. Utah State University will develop an online, self-guided mental health literacy program for youth living in ruralcommunities.Activity 3.I. WSU will build outreach to faith leaders by engaging the current connections with the Interfaith Sustainable FoodCollaborative as well as reaching out to other rural faith leaders by attending and presenting at pastor's conferences and otherstate and regional gatherings of faith leaders.Activity 3.J. Univ of Idaho will develop a short film that tells the story of farm stress in ID. They will also promote and advertisethe short film and other mental health resources offered by U of ID.Goal 4: Provide a range of services and targeted outreach for farmers or people working with farmers to address stressors andbehavioral health.Activity 4.A. Continue extended services of Farm Aid's farmer resource call line to meet needs of WesternRegion.Activity 4.B. Add AgriSafe 24/7 crisis hotline help lines in WA, MT, and COActivity 4.C. Provide a series of community outreach campaigns, peer support groups and educational trainings throughoutReport Date 07/03/2024 Page 2 of 5United States Department of AgricultureProject InitiationAccession No. 1031593 Project No. WN.N13969220as appropriate. 12 large scale outreach efforts will address stigma, build behavioral health competencies, offer support forstress-affected agricultural communities and increase resilience of rural communities. Training related to prevention andtreatment of opioid use disorder added in WA, OR, ID and AK.? Activities 4.C.1, 4.C.2,4.C.3 Oregon State University (OSU)· Offer QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) trainings in English and Spanish · Train additionalQPR instructors throughout the state · Offer QPR trainings for Farm Service Agency and NRCS personnel in ORActivities 4.C.4, 4.C.5 University of Hawai'i · Recruit and train 25 individuals to serve as ag mental health advisors · Providemental healthvouchers to Hawai'i ag community · Continue Seeds of Wellbeing Project to develop resiliency and mental health resources forHawai'i ag producers · Collaborate with ag mentors to offer workshops in ag community on stress management & resiliency,including those impacted by Maui fire disasterActivities 4.C.6, 4.C.7 Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) · Train additional ag service agents & professionals in COMET(Changing Our Mental and Emotional Trajectory) for CO, WY, NM, in both English (100) and Spanish (30) · Offer peer supportevents like 12 Pizza4Producers events, 50 Coffee and Connection events for farmers, ranchers, ag workers, across CO, WY,NM · Partner with 4H, FFA, NFU (National Farmers Union) to expand your agricultural stress and well-being curriculumActivities 4.C.8, 4.C.9 Utah State University (USU) · Provide training and technical assistance based on expertise in areas ofmental health among aging adults, individuals with autism, rural youth · Disseminate evidence-based programming to a widevariety of employer, professional, and consumer stakeholders within rural communities across Utah and the Western RegionActivities 4.C.10, 4.C.11 University of Guam (UG)· Host suicide prevention training (QPR, Safe Talk, MHFA) for staff members· Translate relevant materials to languages commonly used among Guam's farming population; promote and distribute resourcematerials, trainings, and crisis contact informationActivities 4.C.12 Washington State University (WSU) · Provide training to rural communities in WA, OR, ID, AK, including tribalcommunities, to help them prevent and treat opioid use disorder. Training includes MHFA training to build capacity for crisisintervention
Project Methods
Performance Assessment Oversight. The Learning and Performance Research Center (LPRC) atWashington State University will work with the PIs to provide consultative, evaluative, and analyticalsupport in relation to the project through a rigorous and comprehensive Performance Monitoring andEvaluation Plan (PMEP) for the project. Dr. Brian French, Professor and Director of the LPRC will leadan LPRC team (Dr. Chad Gotch, Professor and a graduate research assistant) to provide anassessment of the inputs and outcomes of the proposed initiatives.PMEP includes formative measures to assess progress toward attaining the goals and objectives of theproposed project. Such continuous monitoring and evaluation of the project operations will allow foreffective internal self-monitoring and planning and will: (a) ensure that the project is demonstratingresults under the objectives of the project and (b) assist FRSAN's performance monitoring. Additionally,PMEP will include summative measures to assess project impact at the individual level. Two keyindicators that will be used to measure project impact and performance are: (a) farmers' and ranchers'connection and use of USDA programs such as the Agriculture Mediation Program, and (b) farmers' andranchers' connection to other government programs and resources. These indicators are unique to thecontext and program environment and will be key components of impact. Data will be collected twice ayear throughout the project in quantitative form and will consider applying a growth model to modelresource use variability across groups and programs.