The University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development is a public-private, regional resource and management facility that contributes to the welfare of children, youth, and families in greater Pittsburgh, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the nation, and around the world. The Office is a program of the School of Education. It is underwritten by The Howard Heinz Endowment, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the School of Education, and the University of Pittsburgh, and it receives funds for special projects from federal, state, and local governments; private foundations; and individual philanthropists. The Office of Child Development is led by its Co-Directors, Christina J. Groark and Robert B. McCall.
Constituencies
The Office is an intermediate organization serving:
- Local and state government policymakers, private foundations, and individual philanthropists
- Approximately 700 faculty and administrators at the University who have some interest in the applied issues of children, youth, and families
- More than 565 agencies delivering services to families
- Approximately 5,000 professionals in Western Pennsylvania committed to improving the welfare of children, youth, and families
Services
The office provides its constituencies with:
- Assistance with or management of funding applications for innovative, collaborative demonstration services, program evaluation, research and training, and other interdisciplinary projects
- Guidance in planning, developing, and implementing projects
- Management of collaborative projects
- Balanced, nonpartisan, research-based information on service needs and program effectiveness communicated in a clear and useful format
- Strategic planning and systems analysis
- Publicly-collected indicators of the health, education, welfare, and demographics of children and families in and around Pittsburgh
- A variety of collaborative program evaluation services and technical assistance
- Training and technical assistance to community and University professionals to meet changing program needs
- Sponsorship of interdisciplinary colloquia, luncheon discussion groups, workshops, conferences, study groups, self-help networks, and interdisciplinary academic courses; the publication of a newsletter, special reports on applied issues, policy briefing papers, guides, and directories; and the timely distribution of funding notices
Operating Style
Several themes characterize the Office's style of operation:
- The Office is independent administratively and financially from its constituencies, permitting it to manage collaborations in a balanced manner without conflict of interest
- The Office partners with all stakeholders to insure mutual benefit and responsibility
- The Office blends scholarship with the skills of community professionals to accomplish projects that neither group could perform as well alone
- The Office is responsive to University and community needs and funding opportunities to guarantee that its projects are timely and useful
- The Office attempts to operate within the time constraints of its constituencies, which are often limited
