For the past 20 years, the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools has worked to impact lives by conducting, supporting and sharing high-quality research in the social, behavioral and educational sciences.

And there are no plans to slow down.

Since its inception in 2004, the center has fostered relationships and partnerships in research, practice and policy to find solutions to complex challenges facing children, youth, families, schools and communities — both rural and urban — and especially among those who are most vulnerable.

Nearly 200 people gathered Nov. 19 at the Champions Club to celebrate the center’s 20-year anniversary and the vibrant the center’s community that has grown since 2004. The event featured a presentation by Mark Greenberg, founding director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State University.

Other speakers included Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, president of the University of Nebraska system and UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett.

In his presentation, “Watering the Seeds of Compassion,” Greenberg emphasized the need to build a more caring and compassionate world for future generations. He highlighted how families, schools and communities can work together to nurture compassion, kindness and prosocial behavior in children — essential qualities that support their healthy development and lead to positive life outcomes.

Watch Greenberg’s presentation online. 

Susan Sheridan, the center’s founding director, said that while she is proud of the center’s accomplishments in the past 20 years, she is most excited about the center’s next chapter. Future directions for the center include advancing systems, policies and research-practice-policy partnerships to ensure its solutions are accessible, practical and relevant for the communities they serve.

“With every passing year, the vital role that the center plays in Nebraska schools, agencies and communities becomes more and more crystallized,” Sheridan said. “Now, two decades in, we remain steadfast in addressing challenges, fostering new ideas and promoting collaborations among researchers, families, educators, administrators and policymakers with the shared goal of empowering children, youth, families and schools to dream big and achieve to their fullest potentials.”

In the past two decades, the center has emerged as a leading university-wide interdisciplinary research center in terms of productivity and impact. During the past 20 years, the center has:

• Housed nearly 400 funded research grants, totaling more than $148 million;
• Completed studies involving more than 314,000 children and adolescents;
• Collaborated with more than 28,000 educators, spread across nearly 3,300 schools and early childhood settings;
• Conducted research activities in all 93 counties across Nebraska;
• Fostered a diverse, interdisciplinary research network of nearly 100 faculty across Nebraska’s four campuses;
• Hosted more than 100 conferences, events and workshops to share knowledge and foster connections; 
• Partnered with more than 150 rural communities in Nebraska and across the U.S.; and 
• Extended its global reach to 12 countries.

Discover more about the center’s key impacts, signature research programs, historical timeline and more on its 20th anniversary website. 

“Its research footprint is impressive,” Bennett said. “In the future, I am certain CYFS will continue to be a driving force in addressing societal challenges, forging interdisciplinary collaboration and pushing Nebraska forward as a leader in the social, behavioral and educational sciences.”

Gold said the center’s work has been, and will continue to be, crucial to Nebraskans.

“There is no question that the challenges we face in education are as profound as they have ever been,” Gold said. “CYFS remains uniquely positioned to continue to generate research and new advancements to provide answers to the difficult questions and solutions to the toughest problems.”

Center for Research on Children Youth Families and Schools