The Verizon Foundation has awarded a grant to support a project that will provide services to help children living in violent families. The project is a collaboration between Dr. Renee McDonald, a Dept. of Psychology faculty member, and Family Compass, a local social services agency that provides child abuse prevention and parenting services.

There are two goals to the project. One is to transfer the intervention from the university to the community, so that Dallas is better able to offer evidence-based services for family violence prevention and child mental health. The second is to conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the program as delivered by a community agency. This grant will provide tangible help to families affected by domestic violence and child abuse.