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The origins of the Schubert Center for Child Studies are rooted in the Mental Development Center (MDC), an interdisciplinary clinical facility founded in 1959 at Case Western Reserve University, for the evaluation and treatment of children with mental retardation and developmental problems, and their families. Under the direction of Jane W. Kessler, Ph.D., professor of psychology, the MDC was the first university-based center for mental retardation and developmental disabilities in the United States. Over the years, the MDC served hundreds of families in the northeastern Ohio area.
In 1994, after the MDC left the university to become part of the Murtis H. Taylor Multi-Service Center, the Schubert Center for Child Development was established and named for Cleveland philanthropists Leland and Helen Schubert to honor their tireless support of the MDC and of child welfare, social justice, and education. In 1997, the Schubert Center for Child Development was designated as a unit of Case Western Reserve University's College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Donald Freedheim, Professor of Psychology and one of the original staff members of the MDC, was appointed as the first director.
A generous gift from the Cora Unger Brisky Endowment supplemented Schubert Center funds for research and programs in the areas of child development, mental retardation or mental illness. The Dorothea Wright Hamilton Endowment Fund also made a generous grant for the center's start-up.
A major goal of the center was to facilitate links among basic research, applied research, and the community. In addition, it hoped to aid in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the field and in the communication of ideas from the field to the researchers. The first mission statement for the center was as follows:
The Schubert Center for Child Development builds on existing faculty strengths and traditions at Case Western Reserve University, and on the potential for furthering connections in behavioral science between the university and the Cleveland community. The center encourages research in child development and sponsors conferences, lectures, and symposia to disseminate new findings in the field.
Initially, the director consulted with a number of organizations around the country, including the University of Pittsburgh Child Development Center and the Child Center at the University of Nebraska. In addition, about twenty other university centers with interests in children were contacted for information and insight on organization and operation.
One of the director's first tasks was to appoint an advisory committee consisting of university, community, and nationally known leaders in the field to help evaluate and advise on research proposals and program activities.
During its first five years of operation, the center fulfilled its mission through conferences, colloquia, participation in community projects, and by awarding grants to Case faculty involved in child and adolescent research. The center also established a communications network among interested university and community members through an annual newsletter and development of a web site.
These activities are continuing into the future, along with an enhanced mission. Building on a strong foundation locally, the Schubert Center for Child Studies (renamed in 2006) has expanded its scope to include national and international projects and programs. The Center is part of a larger consortium of university-based child policy centers, and has multiple international ties. The Center promotes research and educational initiatives that pursue important new frontiers in the study of children and childhood worldwide.
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