Research Programs
The applied research of the Fitz Center provides a valuable resource to the area’s human services programs, neighborhoods, and other non-profits in the region. The researchers have helped establish community priorities, write needed grant proposals, and evaluate ongoing projects. The evaluation reports have improved the accountability and efficiency of numerous social service, educational, and cultural projects in an era of scarce resources. Professional expertise in data collection and analyses, social service delivery systems, and neighborhood trend analysis has been provided to groups as diverse as a retirement home and the county child protection agency.
Much of our research has been focused on social service programs in Dayton and the surrounding area. Some of these programs have been designed to ameliorate difficulties faced by young parents, some to reduce family violence, some to improve the educational systems’ ability to meet the challenges of teaching students with few supportive resources at home, and still others to help adolescents avoid a range of health-risking behaviors. Center research focuses on accurately assessing the impact of human services programming on the lives of some of the most vulnerable in our communities. Center staff members have worked with local groups to reduce the chances of family violence and child maltreatment, homelessness, adolescent pregnancy, and improve school readiness.
In addition to the research and evaluation services provided to human services groups in the Dayton area, Fitz Center researchers work with the Association of Marianist Universities to accurately measure and understand the extent and range of college students’ engagement in civil society on this and the other Marianist campuses. Each year the involvement of undergraduate students in service, service-learning, and other forms of civic engagement is tracked and their opinions and attitudes about the meaning and impact of these activities is carefully considered.
The Center has a long history of working with private groups such as Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley, Elizabeth’s New Life Center, Inc., Womanline, and Erma's House Family Visitation Center. Governmental groups such as the Montgomery County Office of Children and Families First as well Dayton Public Schools have used the research and evaluation services of the Center. Funding has been received from government sources including the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families and Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs; Montgomery County Job and Family Services, the State of Ohio, and private foundations.
Family and Children First Council Research Division
Serving as the lead collaborative for health and human services in Montgomery County, the FCFC collects data on the health and well-being of the county and its residents. The Center's Family and Children First Research Division has had the lead responsibility for producing the Montgomery County Family and Children First Council's hallmark publication - a series of annual Reports to the Community on Outcomes and Indicators. This effort has put Montgomery County in the forefront of communities attempting to implement "Results-Based Accountability." FCFC has also provided support regarding issues as diverse as low birth weight, early childhood development, infants and toddlers at risk for - or with - developmental delays or disabilities, school readiness, child fatalities (with particular emphases on child suicides and layover deaths), juvenile sex offenders, teen pregnancy, and the needs of the frail elderly. The FCFC Research Division is housed within the Fitz Center to enable interaction with University students, faculty, and staff.
Visit the FCFC Community Indicators >>
Fitz Center Scholarship, Applied Research and Evaluation
The research of the Fitz Center focuses on families in economic distress, young families, child maltreatment, and the interfaces among work, family, schools, community, and religion. Portions of this work have been published in a number of professional journals, texts, and monographs. Researchers provide expertise to support a range of community projects, collaborate on the design of grant proposals, and find better ways to identify and strengthen positive program impacts. They have served on a number of grant review teams and have been actively involved in the development of effective human service programs to support fragile families and to help young people learn all the skills they need for today's complicated world. Much research has been focused on social service programs designed to ameliorate a range of difficulties faced by families throughout the region and to find new strategies for effective evaluation of those social service programs.Various methods to support very young parents in their attempts to improve their child's life-chances at the same time they are attempting to gain self-sufficiency are explored. Other research is designed to find effective ways to help empower young people, to postpone early parenthood through sexual abstinence, and to reduce other adolescent risk-taking behaviors. Researchers of the Fitz Center have also been involved in the efforts of a number of social service agencies to decrease the chances of family violence, child maltreatment, and violence within the schools. They have worked closely on program development, grant writing, and evaluation for service providers such as Catholic Social Services of the Miami Valley, Dayton Public Schools, Elizabeth's New Life Center, and Montgomery County Department of Job and Family Services.
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