The University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development (OCD) began through the leadership of Mark S. Strauss, Department of Psychology, and Carl N. Johnson, Program of Child Development and Child Care in the School of Social Work. Since 1986, OCD has planned, funded, implemented, and operated applied, innovative programs to serve children, youth, and families primarily in the greater Pittsburgh area but increasingly in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and beyond. What started out as a grassroots coalition has evolved into a facilitative and administrative unit that, among other things, promotes partnering efforts between the University and community human-service providers. In part, these efforts have been made possible through start-up funding from the Buhl Foundation and the Howard Heinz Endowment, additional grants from the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Richard King Mellon Foundation and support from the the University of Pittsburgh.