The Sanford Institute of Public Policy and the Department of Psychology will launch a new entity next semester tentatively named The Center for Child Policy and Youth.
The idea for such a center originated two years ago from a proposal to expand the Program in Education into an independent center. That proposal then "evolved into a broad-based center for child policy," said Phil Cook, chair of the Sanford Institute and a professor of public policy.
After more than 20 drafts of the original proposal, a group of faculty and administrators spearheaded by William Chafe, dean of Trinity College and dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences, has come to an agreement on the direction that the center will take.
"The departure point," Chafe said, "is my belief that there is no more important social issue facing the country and the world than to ensure that children have the maximum opportunity to become effective citizens."
The goal of such a center became a reality this fall when the University hired Ken Dodge of Vanderbilt University as director. At Vanderbilt, Dodge is the Alexander Heard Distinguished Service professor of psychology and psychiatry and director of the Clinical Training Program.
According to Dodge-who has drafted a mission statement-the center will perform four main functions: research, debate, public service and teaching. Through the "debate and dissemination" function, the center would provide legal briefs and opinions for state legislators and would translate those findings for public consumption.
Also, the center will provide public services to the Durham community and the state of North Carolina through consultation and will assist pre-existing University tutoring programs.
Dodge began one such research project that could be incorporated into the center. Along with Professor of Psychology John Coie, Dodge co-founded the FAST Track program, a large-scale intervention program for at-risk children which operates at four sites around the country.
In addition, the center will focus on teaching University students. Although Dodge will not teach in the spring, he eventually expects to teach both graduate and undergraduate students.
Philip Costanzo, chair of the Department of Psychology for social and health sciences, saw a special niche for undergraduate students while planning the center.
"A lot of students come to me and say they really want to be with kids," he said. "A number of them say they'd like to make a difference. Hopefully, this will help undergraduates make a difference and build careers that make a difference."
Dodge received his Ph.D. from Duke in 1978 and served as a visiting scholar in the psychology department from 1983-1985. He explained that combining public policy and psychology is essential in studying issues such as the effect of welfare reform or divorce laws on children.
"This will bring together the strong Duke faculty who do research with the strong faculty in public policy," Dodge said. "It's generally very unusual to put such a faculty team together."
Chafe is optimistic about the role the center can play at the University.
"It's a big change-hopefully it's going to be one of the most visible and productive," Chafe said. "In the best of all worlds, people when they think of child policy will think about Duke."
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