Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)

WHAT INFORMATION IS COLLECTED?
The Nutrition Education Evaluation and Reporting System (NEERS) is an integrated database system that
stores information on: 1) adult program participants, their family structure and dietary practices; 2) youth
group participants; and 3) staff.

ADULT DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
The Adult Switchboard is used to collect basic demographic and program status data about the adult
participants. The only required fields are: Name (or other unique identifier); city and state or zip code;
race; ethnicity; gender; residence (central city, farm, etc); subgroup; lesson type; ID code and name of
educator providing the lessons; program status (active, educational objective, etc.); and entry and exit
date.
The additional, optional data fields on this switchboard consist of participant’s address, phone number,
age and racial subcategory; pregnancy check box; nursing check box; household income; public
assistance received at entry and exit; number of children by age; number of others in household; highest
grade completed; number of lessons; number of contacts; and program status. Personally identifiable
information is not transmitted to the state or federal levels and NEERS is password protected to keep
participant information secure.
There is also the option to verify the adult’s address. States may use this option to gather information on
the adult’s congressional district, metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and latitude and longitude
coordinates. This is possible through a contract CSREES has with Melissa Data Corp to provide a Data
Quality Web Service for EFNEP. Using this service raises no security concerns. The actual data entered
at the county level is not transferred or stored anywhere. A data string is sent via a secure https: server
(not a website) and is 'bounced' against Melissa Data Corp's USPS dataset to verify the location
information. This data can be used to illustrate program reach and impact in a targeted way.

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NUTRITION DATA – DIET RECALLS (Adult only)
The data fields on the Nutrition Switchboard are used to enter food recalls, prepare diagnostic reports for
participants, and prepare the diet summary reports of the participants. States/territories are provided 3
different options for providing data for this component: Computerized Nutrient Analysis, Food Group
Serving Input, and External Nutrient Analysis. If Computerized Nutrient Analysis is chosen, entry of
meal items is required. Entry of a meal item consists of entering, searching for and selecting the meal
item from the MyPyramid Foods Database and then entering the meal type (midmorning meal, noontime
meal or snack, etc.), portion size, and the number of portions. The system computes the nutrient, food
group and Healthy Eating Index values automatically. If Food Group Serving Input is chosen, food group
tabulations are done externally and the totals for the day are entered. If External Nutrient Analysis is
used, all nutrient and food group values are entered manually, based on tabulations done externally. This
method is also used to convert any dietary data which was entered in the previous version of the system,
ERS, to the new format. The underlying databases that support this module are MyPyramid data files,
which include more extensive lists of foods and more nutrients than the previous version. Output reports
reflect the MyPyramid recommendations. The screen shots below illustrate external analysis.

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BEHAVIOR CHANGE DATA
The Behavior Checklist Switchboard is used to capture data on behavior change between entry and exit
from the program. When this feature is used for adult participants, states must ask the participant 10 core
questions. Each question includes five response options: Do Not Do, Seldom, Sometimes, Most of the
Time, or Almost Always, (No Response or Not Applicable is also permitted). If a State chooses, it can
collect additional information from participants by selecting any question from an approximately 200
item database which was developed for the states to support their sharing of additional questions with
each other. The additional questions are of four types: 4-Choice, 5-Choice, Logical, or Numeric.

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STAFF DATA
The Staff Switchboard captures basic information about the professionals, paraprofessionals and
volunteers associated with the program. The only required fields are the ID; gender; ethnicity; and race.
The additional data fields on the this switchboard consist of: address, city, state and zip code; telephone
number; annual hours spent with adults by program; annual hours spent with youth; and for volunteers age code (adult or youth), the ID/name of the paraprofessional he/she worked with, and his/her role(s).
Personally identifiable information is not transmitted to the state or federal levels.

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YOUTH DEMOGRAPHIC & IMPACT DATA
The Youth Group Switchboard captures basic demographic data about the youth participants reached as a
group. The only required fields are: group ID; program type; delivery method; city and state or zip code;
group leaders; and start and end dates. The additional data fields on this switchboard consist of group
name; name; address; phone number; number of meetings, number of contact hours, number of youth in
other 4-H programs; and number of youth by gender, grade, residence (central city, farm, etc), ethnicity,
race and racial subcategory. There are additional data fields to capture data on youth impacts. These
impacts include the percentage of youth who improved knowledge or behavior related to one or more of
four outcome areas: food choice; essentials of nutrition; food preparation/food safety; and food resource
management. As with the adults, there is the option to verify the youth group’s location. If a state
wishes, it can use this option to gather information on the youth group’s congressional district,
metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and latitude and longitude coordinates. As discussed in the Adult
Switchboard section, CSREES has a contract with Melissa Data Corp to provide a Data Quality Web
Service for EFNEP. As stated previously, using this service has absolutely no security concerns (see
section on the Adult Switchboard for additional information). Personally identifiable information is not
transmitted to the state or federal levels.

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INTERAGENCY COOPERATION DATA
The Interagency Cooperation screen is used to capture data on collaborations and other sources of
funding. Optional fields include: number of WIC offices and number of WIC offices served; number of
Food Stamp offices and number of Food Stamp offices served; number of agreements; number of
coalitions; amount of grant dollars, contribution and other dollars and their source of funds.

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TEMPLATE FOR NATIONAL DATA SET (DRAFT)
SYSTEM DATA
Number of Reporting Institutions: X
Reporting Period: 10/01/XXXX – 09/30/XXXX

ADULT DATA
Total Adults: X
Total Other Family Members: X
# Pregnant: X # Nursing: X
Status:
# Active Adults: X
# Graduates: X
# of Months in Program (Graduates): X
Mean # Lessons: X
Mean # Contacts: X
Other

#
# with no Children and not Pregnant or Nursing
# Public Assistance at Entry

Residence
Farm
Towns under 10,000 and rural non-farms
Towns & cities 10,000 to 50,000 and their suburbs
Suburbs of cities over 50,000
Central cities over 50,000
Race
White
African American
American Indian or Alaska Native
Asian
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Multiple Races Identified
Not Provided
Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino
Not Hispanic nor Latino
Not Provided
Poverty
< or = 50% of poverty
51 – 75% of poverty
76 – 100% of poverty
101 – 185% of poverty
Income not provided

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%

RECALL DATA
# Both Recalls: X
% of Graduates with Recalls: X
Entry

Exit

Change

Grains
Fruits
Vegetables
Milk
Meats
# with Positive Change in
1 or more Food Group: X;
Physical Activity: X;
Total Cost Savings: $XX
Average Cost Savings: $XX

CHECKLIST DATA
# with Both Checklists: X
% of Graduates with Checklists: X
# Improvement in 1 or More
FRM Practice: X;
N Practice:
X;
FS Practice:
X;

%: X
%: X

n=X
n=X

# with all Zeros: X

%: X
%: X
%: X

Desirable Practices (80% or higher)
Entry

Exit

Change

Food Resource Management
Nutrition Practices
Food Safety
All 3 (FRM, NP, FS)

YOUTH DATA
# of Youth Groups: X
Total # of Youth: X
Mean # Months: X
Mean # Meetings: X

Mean # Contact Hours: X

Residence

#
Farm
Towns under 10,000 and rural non-farms
Towns & cities 10,000 to 50,000 and their suburbs
Suburbs of cities over 50,000
Central cities over 50,000

Race
White
African American
American Indian or Alaska Native
Asian
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
Multiple Races Identified
Not Provided

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%

Ethnicity
Hispanic or Latino
Not Hispanic nor Latino
Not Provided
Youth Impact Indicators:
# Improved
Now eat a variety of food
Increased their knowledge of the essentials of human nutrition
Increased their ability to select low-cost, nutritious foods
Improved their practices in food preparation and safety
Youth Delivery Mode:
4-H Club Membership: X
4-H Special Interest/Short-Term Program: X
4-H Camping Programs: X
School Enrichment Programs: X
After-School Programs Using 4-H Curricula/Staff Training: X
Instructional TV/Video/Web Programs: X
Youth Grade:
Pre-K, 2yrs: X
Pre-K, 3yrs: X
Pre-K, 4yrs: X
Kindergarten: X
Grade 1: X
Grade 2: X
Grade 3: X
Grade 4: X
Grade 5: X
Grade 6: X
Grade 7: X
Grade 8: X
Grade 9: X
Grade 10: X
Grade 11: X
Grade 12: X
Special Education: X

STAFF DATA
# Professionals: X
FTE: X
# Paraprofessionals: X FTE: X
# Volunteers: X
FTE: X

INTERAGENCY DATA
# of Reporting Units: X
# WIC Offices: X
# Served: X
# Food Stamp Offices: X
# Served: X
# Agreements and Coalitions: X
Total Dollars: X

% Served: X
% Served: X

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% Improvement