Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child & Family Development

The Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child & Family Development at Wayne State University has been improving the welfare of children and their families for nearly a century. Founded in 1920 as the Merrill-Palmer Institute, it served Detroit’s children through formalized, academic programs in child development – a discipline then in its infancy. Since then, the institute has trained generations of parents, teachers, students and researchers in issues related to infants, children and adolescents. The Institute remains at the cutting edge of research and training in child development, ever responsive to the pressures of modern society on urban families and young children.