A team of Bermudians are studying US initiatives for healthy families on a whirlwind tour of the East Coast.

The Year of the Family is the theme for the third Voluntary Visitor (VolVis) exchange programme to the United States. Launched by the US Consulate three years ago, VolVis aims to facilitate learning and the sharing of ideas between Bermudians and their US professional counterparts.

VolVis is part of the State Department's International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) and all costs are borne by the Department, with local sponsors US Air and AON Group Ltd. donating the airfares.

The team this year are studying programmes aimed at producing healthy children and families, with an emphasis on those at risk. They will travel from Washington D.C. to New York City, Syracuse and Ithaca, New York, for ten days of intensive meetings with a cross-section of US experts.

The trip includes visits to the National Fatherhood Initiative, The Fishing School, the Harlem Children's Zone, the Ackerman Institute for the Family and the Culture of Lawfulness Program. The team will also drop in at the New York Office of Children and Family Services to discover how the Search Institute's '40 Development Assets Program' works in the field.

A spokesman for the American Consulate General said: "This has particular relevance as Bermuda's own Youth Development Plan is founded on the idea of the 40 building blocks for healthy child development."

On their return on November 5, the VolVis team will aim to incorporate the latest ideas into their own programmes. They will also join the 2005 and 2006 teams as State Department Alumni, enabling them to participate in discussion forums and online chats with guest experts, research grant opportunities and access to the latest research in their fields.

US Consul General Gregory W. Slayton said: "It is exciting for us at the Consulate to have been awarded State Department funds to continue our VolVis exchange program. It is an indication that Washington views our program as fully successful. It is also a signal that the previous Bermuda teams made a good impression on Washington and on program leaders.

"We hope and expect to be given the resources in the future to continue this important program."

This year's VolVis team is being led by Wayne Carey, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social Rehabilitation, and consists of: Gina Hurst-Maybury, Director of Court Services; Social Worker Miriam Mitchell of the Department of Child and Family Services; Komlah Foggo-Wilson, Acting Support Service Manager with the Bermuda Housing Corporation; and Carlton Simmons, President of Youth on the Move.