About the Center

Founded in 1979, Mt. Hope Family Center is dedicated to helping children and families improve their lives. Through treatment, prevention, research and training in the areas of human development, child maltreatment and mental disorders in children and families, we provide the resources parents and children need to build strong, healthy family and peer relationships.

While our prevention and intervention services improve family functioning, enhance coping skills and build competence in children, adolescents and parents - our research analyzes the efficacy of our treatments and studies the long-term impact of our services as well as the effects of social experiences and environmental influences on development. Mt. Hope Family Center supports the lifelong development of the individual, from infancy to adulthood.

At Mt. Hope Family Center, we focus on treating the child while helping parents develop the skills they need to understand child development, communicate more effectively, and resolve conflict in non-violent ways. We help to break the cycle of maltreatment while working with children and their families to strengthen the family relationship.

Poverty and violence, increases in drug and alcohol abuse, neighborhoods filled with crime and violence and the stress and isolation of inner city life have increased the need for the Center's services.

Dante Cicchetti, Ph.D., was Director of the Center from 1984 to 2005. He is the founding editor of the journal, Development and Psychopathology, and is author and co-author of numerous publications.

Sheree Toth, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Center.

The Center's staff of approximately eighty persons includes doctoral level psychology faculty, clinical social workers, research assistants, information analysts, and administrative personnel. A partial listing of staff with program affiliations is available on the contact page.

Descriptions of the Center's various intervention and research programs are available through the intervention and research links.

The Center is supported entirely through grants, gifts and contracts for services. Additional information on the Center's support is available on the support page.

The Center is a program of the Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology Department of the University of Rochester. The work of the Center is assisted by the efforts of an Advisory Board comprised of representatives of the greater Rochester community.

For additional information, please email us, or write to:

Mt. Hope Family Center

187 Edinburgh Street

Rochester, NY 14608