Newsletter, November 2024

CCF Student Recruitment Attracts Hundreds of Undergraduates

To support our expansion, CCF intends to train hundreds of undergraduate students over the next few years. Our recent recruitment efforts attracted over 100 students and we're thrilled to have met so many enthusiastic undergraduates who are eager to get involved in our applied work! During our Fall info session, students learned about the exciting internship opportunities available at CCF, from contributing to community outreach programs like Play With Me and Grow With Me, to gaining hands-on experience in research. Our goal at CCF is to help students grow and develop the skills they need to become successful contributors in their fields.

Grow With Me Screening Fair Held at Bachman Lake Together Family Center

Our Grow With Me team recently partnered with Bachman Lake Together to provide developmental screenings for young children. Our dedicated students and team conducted developmental screenings, offering families valuable insights into their children's developmental progress. Additionally, some of our partnering CCF research labs were present to share information on their ongoing studies. We are grateful to Bachman Lake Together and everyone for helping us create a meaningful experience for the families we serve! See more photos on our Instagram feed!

Robinson Family Student Research Awardees

This year, CCF established the Robinson Family Professorship student research awards to utilize the funding provided by the professorship to support student research. Congratulations to PhD students McKenzie Cullinan and Melissa Heinrich for winning the inaugural awards to support participant recruitment for their research.

McKenzie Cullinan

McKenzie is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing and is a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist. She studies how specific speech cues can support word learning in autistic children, with a particular interest in whether autistic children’s strength in saying word forms can help them understand word meanings.

Melissa Heinrich

Melissa is PhD student in the Department of Psychology. In her research, she aims to understand how adolescent girls develop positive and negative body image as well as the role that mothers can play in their daughters' body image. She is excited to discover novel approaches that will inform future research and clinicians to help adolescent girls feel great about themselves!

Support CCF Expansion with Your Gift to our Impact Campaign

CCF’s strategic plan for the next five years includes doubling the number of sites where we offer Play With Me and training more than 200 students per year in all aspects of CCF’s operations. Our five-year plan includes expansion into the African American and Mandarin-speaking communities, as well as integrating clinically specific interventions, such as services for children with autism and music therapies.

How can you help?

Support CCF with your gift today! Your gift provides:

$5 – Supplies for program activities.

$25 – One gift set for parents.

$50 – Two sets of developmentally-appropriate toys.

$100 – Two imaginative play sets.

$200 – Materials for program sites including shelving, storage and mats.

$400 – New speakers for all program sites.

$500 – Entertainment for our annual family celebration in June.

$1,000 – Food for all Play With Me program families during data collection.

Help us reach our $4,000 goal!

DONATE HERE

Join CCF at United Way’s Food & Health Resources Fair this Saturday!

CCF is joining United Way of Metropolitan Dallas this weekend for their Food & Health Resources Fair. CCF students and research labs will be in attendance to connect with families, share information about our resources and community outreach programs, and support the well-being of families and children in North Texas.

From the Director

Our Impact UTD Fundraising Campaign is now underway, and we need your support to help us reach our ambitious goal! Your generous contribution will expand our free community outreach programs, bringing vital developmental services to underserved communities that would otherwise lack access to these essential resources.

Every donation will enable us to extend our services into new communities, create paid internship opportunities for students in the Play With Me program, and train future developmental specialists who will serve these communities for years to come.

Thank you for being a part of this transformative journey!

-Mandy Maguire, PhD, Robinson Family Professor, Director, Center for Children and Families, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences

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