The Center for Social Policy & Community Development was founded in 1969. Its origins, as with Temple University's, are rooted in Russell Conwell's vision of providing working people an opportunity to reach a fuller life by succeeding in higher education. Originally, CSPCD was attached to the university president's office, as a mechanism for reaching out into the community and assuring a two-way flow of resources, information and good will. Within a few years, CSPCD became a department of the newly formed School of Social Administration. It now serves as a learning lab for students and faculty, a source for demonstration and research projects and funding.Today, its mission is to serve as a bridge between the social concerns of communities and the academic and service goals of Temple University. The Center continues to train community leaders, research important public issues, and bring its experience to national forums and journals.
CSPCD has surpassed its original mandate of reaching our region, to reach the Commonwealth and the nation through technical assistance and training of child welfare professionals, individual programming for youths at risk and adults needing employment skills, and the publication of an international journal. CSPCD's major focus is to build and strengthen the capacity of communities to meet social, economic and educational challenges. CSPCD encourages multi-disciplinary efforts in strategic planning, provides leadership in addressing policy issues, develops educational and training programs, and provides research opportunities for the academic community.
The major source of funding continues to be external grants. These have come primarily from federal, state and city government sources. Recently, the Center has increasingly received funding from private foundations as well.
