Mandel School opens new center for research on children with emotional, developmental problems
Center on Intervention for Children and Families provides students with hands-on clinical learning opportunities
December 8, 2004 | For more information: Jeff Bendix (216)-368-6070
 The Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences has long been known for its research into the causes and effects of emotional and developmental disabilities in young children. Now it is taking a major step towards integrating this research with “hands on” clinical treatment methods.
The Mandel School has established the Center on Intervention for Children and Families (CICF), which includes state-of-the art facilities for allowing students to observe, and learn to conduct, interventions to help parents interact more effectively with children who are at risk for emotional or developmental problems. The center contains several rooms stocked with toys and games and which are equipped with one-way mirrors allowing students to observe interventions with parents and children. In addition, one of the treatment rooms has a camera which can be used to broadcast live interventions to audiences of students in an adjacent classroom.
Gerald Mahoney, the Verna Houck Motto Professor for Families and Communities and CICF co-director, explained that the center’s purpose is to conduct research on child development and mental health services for children 14 and younger. “What’s really unique about this program is that it brings together training and clinical research,” Mahoney said. “The center provides a way for students to obtain the experience of working intensively with families and see the issues that they struggle with.”
He added that most of the children brought to the center will be between two and four and will either be adopted, experiencing some form of mental health problem, or have an autism spectrum disorder.
Mahoney said parents coming to the center will learn to use “Responsive Teaching” strategies that he previously developed. Among these are “take one turn and wait,” in which the parent says or does something and waits for the child to respond before going on to the next action, and “follow my child’s lead.” “These are techniques which parents can easily incorporate into their everyday routines with their children,” Mahoney said.
Two research grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education are funding the work. One is a four-year, $700,000 grant to study young adopted children and the other is a three-year, $540,000 grant early childhood mental health disorders.
Families participating in the research are being referred mostly through adoption agencies, pediatricians and psychiatrists. The families are told in advance that they are being observed and videotaped and sign consent forms before coming to the center. Mahoney said he expects about 80 families will take part in the projects this year.
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