CBR Community Organizations & Research Needs

Below are some of the organizations that have contacted the CSC in the past with research questions and needs.  Each organization is interested in collaborating with faculty or students. If you are interested in posting your organization's research needs or would like to work with any of these organizations, please contact Naomi Penney at npenney@nd.edu.

Environmental Projects

Education Projects

Family Services Projects

Health-Related Projects

Other Projects

ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS

St. Adalbert Catholic Church

Located on South Bend's west side, St. Adalbert's is a Catholic parish with a predominantly Latino population. They also operate a pre-K through 8th grade school on the premises.

Research Requests:

• Environmental Projects:
  • Conduct building needs energy assessment and cost analysis to in order to become a "green" church
  • Develop plan for converting abandoned lot adjacent to Sample St. into community garden

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

EDUCATION PROJECTS

Forever Learning Institute

For over 30 years, Forever Learning Institute has offered classes and a lecture series to South Bend students ages fifty and over, hoping to "improve the quality and dignity of thier lives through continuing intellectual challenge, spiritual reflection, and social interaction."

Research Requests:

• Survey the South Bend area for potential community volunteers to teach classes, finally creating a reference guide for the organization
• Create a community-wide survey to determine what types of classes interest most seniors, how much of a deterrent fees pose for activities such as trips to Chicago museums, and how often seniors would be likely to attend classes
• Develop and run a fundraising campaign

South Bend Center for the Homeless

The Center for the Homeless has provided more than 700,000 safe nights and over 1.5 million meals to more than 25,000 men, women and children since its opening in December 1988; its focus is on providing not just life-saving, but life-changing services to each of its guests.  The Center's innovative service model offers homeless families and individuals an on-site structured, step-by-step process to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency.  This revolutionary program relies on partnerships with every sector of the community and has been endorsed by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Research Requests:

• Develop ideas concerning the creation of a school within the Center which builds upon their current pre-school services and Montessori program.
• Establish a focus group study to examine the reasons why guests do not take advantage of GED opportunities within the Center.  The data, possibly in the form of a survey, could then be used to implement appropriate adult education services to meet client needs.

Perley Primary Center

Perley Primary Center, located in South Bend's Northeast Neighborhood, educates 285 students in kindergarten through fourth grade.  Perley's mission is to provide a nurturing environment based on a diverse community of learners promoting creative and responsible citizens.

Research Requests:

• Teachers/instuction:
  • What teacher characteristics and instructional strategies are associated with high expectations?
  • Comare the impact of remediation versus enrichment methods of instruction.
• Student Learning:
  • There are gender differences in ISTEP scores (67% F; 30% M).  How do we reach boys?  Through single sex classrooms?
• Other issues:
  • Develop new avenues of raising school funding
  • Analyze NCLB report card and evaluate its impact on a high-poverty school

Jefferson Intermediate Center

Jefferson Intermediate Center serves students in grades five through eight.  The program is designed to meet the academic, social, emotional, and physical needs of the students.  The four year program also permits increased staff awareness and identification of student needs during critical development stages.

Research Requests:

• Teachers:
  • What instructional strategies are effective for working with students in poverty?  How do they learn?
  • What are effective ways of facilitating change?
  • How do we connect with kids in ways that promote learning?
  • What are successful teachers doing?
• Student Learning:
  • How do you help students who are just surviving or are unmotivated?
  • Why do test scores decline in African-American males?
  • Do we need a special program or facility for high-risk students to promote the value of being educated?
  • How important are male role models/mentors and other connections with adults?
  • How do we build accurate perceptions of what college demands? 
  • Why are Africa-American males more frequently placed in EH classes (emotionally handicapped) because of discipline problems?
• Parental Involvement:
  • How do we increase parental involvement when present strategies are not working?  Is it a middle school issue or a South Bend issue?

Marshall Intermediate Center

The Marshall Intermediate Center serves students in grades five through eight and is part of the South Bend Community School Corporation.

Research Requests:

• Student Learning:
  • How do we help students who are being left behind by the district-wide curriculum?
  • How do we reach students so they master information and pass proficiency tests?
  • Students don't do homwork--do teachers assign it?
  • Do they have enough homework?  How do you promote homework success?
• Parent Involvement:
  • How do we help parents feel more welcome and valued members in the school with socioeconomic and ethnicity differences?
  • How do we increase participation?
• Teachers:
  • How can the school get teachers to use research-based strategies in their instruction?
  • How can a teacher maintain the pace of curriculum when students don't learn it and lose their opportunity to get it?
  • How do teachers bridge cultural differences between themselves and their students?
  • How does the school deal with the disparities between contracts for elementary teachers and intermediate teachers?
  • What is the influence of teacher perspectives on student success--i.e., negative talk about "those kids"?
• Other issues:
  • Investigate the effectiveness of ENL programs.
  • What is the impact of tutoring programs available next year through vouchers to parents?
  • What is optimal classroom setup for learning?
  • What is the effectiveness of study hall groups or reading groups which fill the time between 7:15-7:45 a.m.?

Clay High School

Clay High School is a fine arts magnet school with the mission of providing the academics, technology, activities, and guidance necessary for its students to become successful, independent and responsible citizens.  Currently under open enrollment 1450 students attend Clay High School.

Research Requests:

• Student issues:
  • Investigate possible causes for the increase in violence among girls as well as increased acts of racism and bullying among the general student population of Clay.
  • How do we increase academic achievement?
  • How effective is peer mentoring of juniors/seniors with freshman?
  • How do you improve the graduation rate, currently at 50 percent?
• Instructional environment
  • Track effects of a new federal grant initiative for freshman students called Small Learning Communities.

Take Ten Program

Operating out of the Robinson Community Learning Center for the past 5 years, the skills-based violence prevention program trains over 100 college student and community volunteers to implement an age appropriate conflict resolution curriculum in 16 South Bend  schools and 4 community centers, working with youth grades pre-K to 12.

Research Requests:

• School-wide program evaluation, implementing surveys for students grades K-12, and interviewing teachers, administrators, and parents, 2-3 times during the school year, beginning in October; Program evaluation includes longitudinal impact on attitudes and behaviors of students as well as the effects on the teachers and volunteers involved with the administration of the program.
• Program evaluation data analysis (600+ student and teacher surveys and interviews)
• Basic assessment of summer and fall Take Ten Comic Book Project; interviews with 20 children ages 9-17
• Comic Book impact evaluation on 18 student participants
• Assess student progress in comparison with other providers in the community.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FAMILY SERVICES PROJECTS

The Family Justice Center and Saint Mary’s College Social Work Project:

Research on Assessing New Domestic Violence Program in Saint Joseph County 

As conceptualized by St. Mary’s student Connie Adams, this project partners St. Mary’s faculty and students with Notre Dame faculty and students and the staff at the St. Joseph County Family Justice Center. Opened in February of 2007, The Family Justice Center of St. Joseph County is an innovative collaboration of social service, medical, criminal justice, and civil legal providers whose expertise offers victims of domestic violence and their families multiple options to restore their lives. It is one of only 15 sites of its kind in the United States and this project provides many opportunities for students to engage in community-based research that will make a difference in St. Joseph and neighboring counties.

Research Requests:

• Develop and conduct client surveys to determine gaps in service needs

• Develop a marketing plan to assist in the FJC's fundraising activities

• Develop and conduct provider surveys to determine coalition effectiveness and gaps in coordination that the FJC can fulfill

Family Services of Elkhart

Family Services of Elkhart County, Inc., is a multi-program agency serving individuals and families living or working in Elkhart County. Founded in 1948, local citizens perceived a need for an organization to counsel families and individuals and help improve their social, economic, and living conditions.

Research Requests:

Long-term multi-stage project

• Phase I: Determine the approximate size of the population of homeless youths in Elkhart County and provide a literature review to establish the 'state of the art' in providing services for homeless youths, specifically researching what other cities, of similar size and demographic make-up, are doing.

• Phase II: Establish a process to interview homeless youths to find out the types of services that would be most helpful to them

• Phase III: Help to use the above information to help create a program to address youth needs and to generate a community awareness campaign to fund future youth-oriented projects

Family & Children's Center Counseling Services

The Family and Children's Center Counseling Services' team consists of the area's most skilled and caring social workers, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, case workers, family support specialists and case managers.  The mission of the Family & Children's Center Counseling Services is to empower individuals and families by promoting human growth and dignity and by preventing abuse through advocacy, education, counseling, and supportive services.

Research Requests:

• Sex Offender Database (SOMM) - there is currently no systematic way of tracking the progress of offender.
• Adolescent Sex Offenders - This project needs a monitoring and evalutation program created to set and track outcome measures for the intensive outpatient program used in lieu of a residential treatment program.  There is also a need to develop a tracking system/program for juvenile offenders once they leave the system.  In particular, discovering how adolescent offenders make the transition to adulthood. 
• Post Partum depression - This program is just beginning so there is a need to put evaluative measures in place now during the program planning stage.

St. Adalbert Catholic Church

Located on South Bend's west side, St. Adalbert's is a Catholic parish with a predominantly Latino population. They also operate a pre-K through 8th grade school on the premises.

Research Requests:

• Family financial management:
• How do people in poverty make financial decisions?  What programs or information in areas such as budgeting, financial planning, rent-to-own traps, or payday loans would support fiscal management? 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HEALTH-RELATED PROJECTS

United Health Services

United Health Services promotes the vitality of idividual lives through education, direct services, and advocacy.  Committed to the health of the community, they deliver high quality innovative programs, encourage personal responsibility for wellness and seek collaborative solutions to emerging health needs.  United Health Services is the regional coordinator for a Center for Disease Control (CDC) program aimed at increasing breast cancer screenings for lower-income women.

Research Requests:

• Initiate program to identify the under-served women in St. Joseph County.  Questions include:  Who are the rarely or never screened women?  Where do they live?  What are the barriers to getting screened?
• Conduct a literature review with the Diabetes Association and Education Center to address the current knowledge of diabetes and its effects on health in the region. 
• Conduct an effectiveness evaluation with the Diabetes Association identifying differences in patient outcomes in regard to the self-management training protocols and practices that clients receive.
• Evaluate the Early Language Development Program and its Speech Therapy Center.  Questions include:  Does speech therapy lead to increased academic achievement in later years?  What was the outcome of the care sought and provided?
• Develop markting plan to present services to general public.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OTHER PROJECTS

South Bend Center for the Homeless

The Center for the Homeless has provided more than 700,000 safe nights and over 1.5 million meals to more than 25,000 men, women and children since its opening in December 1988; its focus is on providing not just life-saving, but life-changing services to each of its guests.  The Center's innovative service model offers homeless families and individuals an on-site structured, step-by-step process to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency.  This revolutionary program relies on partnerships with every sector of the community and has been endorsed by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Research Requests:

• Create a tracking system to identify if one population of clients is turned away more frequently than another during the intake process.  This information will help improve their services.
• Conduct a feasibility study to assess the current outreach services to the guests and determine if the Center's services should be offered to guests who do not stay at the Center long enough to complete the regular program.
• Conduct a literature review examining current trends and best practices in the treatment of homeless populations.  Specifically, the "Housing First" trend in services, which seeks housing first before dealing with the causes of homelessness, needs further examination.