Intervention

A major goal of the D&P Lab is to translate our developmenal research findings into effective prevention and intervention strategies for at-risk children and families. To that end, we have been testing a brief, home-based intervention for maltreated preschool-aged chlidren and their mothers. READ MORE

Practicum in Child Maltreatment & Foster Care

Members of the D&P lab are also dedicated to providing service to children and families in the South Bend community.  Service opportunities are available for undergraduate students through Dr. Valentino’s Practicum in Child Maltreatment course.   This course, generally offered during the Fall semester, is intended to expose advanced undergraduate Psychology students to the child welfare system and the effects of child maltreatment and foster care on child development. 

In this course each student is paired with a child who is currently placed in foster care because of substantiated child maltreatment.  The student serves as a mentor to this child, and spends 1-2 hours with the child twice weekly in the child’s foster home.   The in-class portion of the course includes discussion of current research on child maltreatment, foster care, child development, and developmental psychopathology.  Class time is also devoted to training on mandated reporting, and learning about the child welfare system.  The practicum portion of the course is designed to give students hands on experience with children in custody of the Department of Child Services in South Bend. 

Additional course information and the course application can be found HERE or by contacting Prof. Valentino.