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The Mailman Center for Child Development in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Miami located in the diverse community of Miami. Florida is the nation's 4th most populated state and has the largest child population under five years of age.

Miami is one of the major centers for this growth. Approximately 80% of the Miami-Dade County population is composed of individuals of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

The Mailman Center is an academic center that addresses concerns of individuals with developmental disabilities and children with special health care needs through research, clinical service, training for professionals and community members, and advocacy. It is housed in a 9-story building with nearly 115,000 square feet of office, clinical, training, conference, and laboratory space. It is located in Miami's busy University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center. Jackson Memorial Hospital is the largest part of the medical complex, with an 1800-bed inpatient facility, 400 of which are pediatric or newborn at the Holtz Center for Maternal and Child Health. The Mailman Center annually serves over 15,000 children, youths, and their families.

The Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami is an integral part of the School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics. The Center offers extensive research facilities for education and contains everything needed to fulfill its mission of research, training, and services to children with special needs and their families.

The staff at the Center give special care to identifying the concerns and priorities of each individual and family. The family and professional staff then work closely to decide those services that would best meet all family members' needs.

The Mailman Center for Child Development, located in Miami's busy University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, is a major resource for rapidly growing, multicultural South Florida.

The Mailman Center is located at 1601 N.W. 12th Avenue, Miami Florida 33136, on the corner of N.W. 16th Street and N.W. 12th Avenue. It is just east of the Civic Center Metrorail Station.

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For more detailed directions or a map click here.

The Mailman Center is designated as:

• Florida’s Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDD) by the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000* and supported by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities,

• The Maternal Child Health Bureau’s Leadership in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) training program in Florida,

• A major partner with the Florida Department of Health, Children’s Medical Services, (CMS) for service provision and training of health care professionals,

• A member of the Developmental Disabilities Research Centers Association, and

• A partner of the United Way of Miami-Dade County.

The combination of support from these federal and state agencies makes it possible for us to accomplish our overall mission, and enhance the mission of each supporting agency.

Activities that help address the concerns, independence, and integration of individuals with developmental disabilities and other special health care needs include:

• Training of graduate students in professional fields, community providers, consumers and a myriad of others both inside and outside the field of developmental disabilities.

   

• Direct services, including screening, diagnosis, and intervention for conditions associated with developmental delay and/or disability. These services also serve as the basis for clinical and research components of the Mailman Center.

   

• Technical assistance (e.g. professional consultation, editorial assistance, grant support, and assistance) to local, community and national groups in order to promote knowledge about state-of-the-art practices. Technical assistance is frequently provided to state agencies and policy groups and results in large-scale changes at the systems and public policy levels.

   

• Dissemination of new information about the field.

   

• Research (including basic, clinical, transitional, and public health/public policy) to develop new knowledge and skills and thus advance the field of developmental disabilities.

   

• University Centers for Excellence (UCEDDs) do not work in isolation. They accomplish their goals in collaboration with individuals with disabilities and their families and with a vast network of collaborating universities, agencies, and groups.

   

• A key to success of University Centers for Excellence (UCEDDs) are their location within a college or university. In the case of the Mailman Center, the UCEDD an integral part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics. It serves as the Human Development Section of the Department. While organizationally located in Pediatrics, the Mailman Center recognizes the commitment to life span issues for individuals with developmental disabilities. Special programs and agency linkages permit the Mailman Center to address life-span concerns.

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Last Updated: May 13, 2008

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