The 4-H Youth Development program is the youth education component of the University of California's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperative Extension. 4-H is an organization for youth, ages 5-19, that promotes hands-on learning and is based on parent and volunteer participation.

4-H welcomes all youth (and adult volunteers) from all backgrounds in all locales (rural and urban) regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, medical condition or disability. 4-H Youth Development stresses project learning and family values and keeps youth in productive learning activities as a deterrent to gangs. 4-H Clubs are one of the most popular and visible parts of the overall 4-H program.

A 4-H Club is run by youth with the help of trained adult volunteers acting as advisors. Each Club offers one or more projects. Projects are the heart of 4-H's hands-on learning. Each project focuses on a topic — anything from art to zoology. By using 4-H projects as important means for achievement and growth, members build skills they can use the rest of their lives.

4-H educational experiences are built around life skills that center on positive self esteem, communication and decision making. 4-H projects, activities, and events help participants become contributing, productive, self-directed members of a forward-moving society. 4-H reaches over 5,500 Orange County youth annually. It serves special interest groups like Migrant Education, Paws for Independence (Guide Dogs For The Blind), mentally and/or physically disabled youth.