Child and Family Research Center

The Child & Family Research Center provides a learning laboratory which supports the education and training of students in the department college and other units on campus. The center also serves as a research site for investigations that focus on particular aspects of infancy, toddlerhood, preschool or family development. The Child and Family Research Center was the first early childhood program in the state to be accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs and has long served as a model for best practices in northern Nevada.

Support for quality improvement in early childhood programs is an important piece of the Child and Family Research Center mission. Programs in the center that focus on capacity building and quality include Campus Child Care Connections, the Family Care Contract Network, the Early Childhood Resource Library, and Early Head Start.

Campus Child Care Connections provides information about choosing quality child care and assists campus families in finding care. The Family Care Contract Network provides training, technical assistance and support to 24 family child care providers and is the only such network in Northern Nevada. The Early Childhood Resource Library contains developmentally appropriate toys, books, equipment and parent education materials that are available on loan to community child care providers and families. Early Head Start provides intensive and comprehensive child development and family support services to low-income families with children under the age of three and pregnant women.