The Schubert Center for Child Studies experienced a productive academic year, engaging in dialogue, providing education, conducting research, and influencing policy changes to enhance child well-being under the leadership of Dr. Anastasia Dimitropoulos. Research Director Dr. Sonia Minnes led our research initiatives, collaborating with community and on-campus partners. Her contributions included managing another year of our program evaluation collaboration with Open Doors Academy (ODA), further refining the Schubert Research Fellows program, and introducing the Welter-Muzic Research Support opportunity for undergraduate students.
Throughout the 2022-2023 period, our Policy Director, Gabriella Celeste, was instrumental in advocating for and supporting children, youth, and their families through collaboration with various committees and advisory boards. Notable achievements included the passage of HB 45, which secured $150 million in funding for lead poisoning prevention, and leading the Ohio Lead-Free Kids Coalition. The center's work in youth justice emphasized best practices, the treatment of young people in correctional facilities, and the expansion of community-based alternatives to detention. Celeste's involvement in the Mental Health Response Advisory Committee addressed police-youth interactions and the overuse of restraints on Black girls. The center also contributed to child wellness initiatives, including establishing a county-wide medically coordinated child protection team and promoting non-police care response interventions for children in crisis. Furthermore, she submitted written testimony in support of the Strong Foundations Act HB7, which promotes well-being, safe housing, and early childhood development.
Last spring, we hosted our fifth annual Kessler-Freedheim lecture featuring Dr. Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Courtney Sale Ross University Professor of Globalization and Education at NYU Steinhardt. He discussed the impact of childhood disparities on adult outcomes and proposed policy changes to enhance opportunities for children. His lecture also covered COVID-19, early disparities, and new research on unconditional cash transfers.
Students at CWRU continue to develop as leaders in child research and policy. This year, our Mann Child Policy externs were placed at the Public Children Services Association PCSAO and the Cuyahoga County Public Defender Juvenile Division. It was also the third year of the Schubert Research Fellows program, launched in 2021 in collaboration with the Emerging Scholars Program (ESP) to increase research opportunities for underrepresented students in the social sciences. This program provides research training, professional development, and support during a semester-long research placement in a CWRU lab. Additionally, Alexandra Piedra, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in clinical psychology, was selected as the 2022-2023 Freedheim Award Fellowship recipient for her promising research focused on improving interventions for child anxiety, particularly how patient contextual factors can be used to tailor treatments or make them more accessible.
As the 2022-2023 academic year concluded, we mourned the passing of our Founding Director, Dr. Donald Freedheim, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Case Western Reserve University. We deeply honor and appreciate his immeasurable contributions, his remarkable dedication, and visionary leadership, which have laid the foundation of our center. His legacy continues to inspire our commitment to excellence in improving the lives of children through research and advocacy.