School of Social Administration

The Center for Intervention and Practice Research (CIPR)

The creation of The Center for Intervention and Practice Research (CIPR), located in the basement of Ritter Hall Annex, was possible from the support of the Office of the Provost and Vice Provost for Research. Committed to promoting effective services through the development of evidenced-based strategies, the mission of CIPR is driven by three broad objectives, to: (a) promote better services through the development of evidenced-based interventions; (b) enhance students’ learning and mastery of practice skills, and (c) promote partnerships among multidisciplinary faculty of academicians, researchers, and community groups and organizations. Because of it’s location in the School of Social Administration, CIPR is well positioned to advance the integration of research, teaching, and practice.

The facilities of CIPR include several offices for research assistants and research project managers, a state of the art conference center, and a high technology practice skills development and interviewing laboratory. The practice skills development lab is designed to enhance students’ mastery of interpersonal skills while also serving as a laboratory to collect study data through individual and small group interviews.

Undergraduate and graduate students also benefit from the teaching resources CIPR offers by also having the opportunity to work with faculty on research projects in a central location.

Current research projects include:

• HIV Prevention with HIV+ Incarcerated Men: This feasibility study is testing the efficacy of a peer led group level intervention primarily targeting African American, Latino American and White HIV+ inmates in state correctional institutions. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Principal Investigator: Dr. Larry D. Icard Budget: 600,000
• Helping Families Reduce HIV in African American Youth:The objective of this six year study is to design and test and intervention to improve health promotion communications between inner city at-risk African American women and their children. Funded by National Institute of Mental Health Principal Investigator: Dr. Larry D. Icard Budget: 2.5 million
• African American Women Surviving All Problems---Effective Intervening: The objective of this exploratory study is to identify psychological, social, and cultural factors influencing and impeding the participation of low income African American women in health promotion programs. Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Principal Investigator: Dr. Larry D. Icard Budget: 150,000
• South Africa Adolescent Health Promotion Project: The major goal of this five year study is to test the efficacy of an intervention to dissuade South African adolescents from engaging in behaviors that incrase their risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV. Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. Principal Investigator: Dr. John B. Jemmott, III. Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. Co-Investigator: Dr. Larry D. Icard
• Church-Based Parent-Child HIV Prevention Project: This study seeks to test the efficacy of an abstinence-based intervention with parents and children in reducing the HIV-related sexual risk behaviors of inner-city African American adolescents. Funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health. Principal Investigator: Dr. Loretta Sweet Jemmott, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania. Co-Investigator: Dr. Larry D. Icard
• Adolescent Fathers’ Family Life Study: The aims of this study are to teach young fathers the skills to relate positively to and minimize relationship problems with adolescent mothers in order to reduce interparental conflict and increased parenting alliance. Funded by the Department of Health and Human Services. Principal Investigator: Dr. Jay Fagan