The Center is a non-profit organization and currently the largest shareholder of Total Child Health Inc. As the initial developer of CHADIS, the Center seeks to improve the lives of children and families through research, training and support for parents and healthcare providers through the primary care application of child development expertise. Specifically, the Center's goals was to develop a mechanism for using the pediatric check-up visit as a window into the social, emotional and behavioral health of the child and his/her family.

The Center was established to conduct research integrating child development knowledge into primary pediatric care and to disseminate this knowledge in practical form nationally. Further, the Center was designed to serve as a multidisciplinary training site for all participants in the Child healthcare industry.

A major focus of the Center is the demonstration "laboratory," which is located within a "typical" pediatric practice associated with Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. The Laboratory provides the chance to study "routine" pediatric visits and capitalize on opportunities to learn about child/family development and provide guidance for its enhancement. An ongoing parent group provides continual focus group feedback.

Additionally, The Center acts as a training site for the residency rotation in developmental and behavioral pediatrics for The Johns Hopkins Hospital Department of Pediatrics.