The Susan Hirt Hagen Center for Community Outreach, Research, and Evaluation (CORE) is located at Penn State Behrend and is an outreach effort of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Through the generosity of Susan H. Hagen, CORE was established in 1998 to provide research, evaluation, and proposal development services to teen pregnancy prevention providers. The Center has broadened the original focus of teen pregnancy prevention to encompass positive youth development.

CORE is dedicated to achieving excellence in client services through an ongoing commitment to education, research, and the community.

In 2019, CORE was a recipient of a $6.3 million gift that will preserve and expand the Federal House at Penn State Behrend. View CORE's new home and learn more.

Three female students attend a CORE event.

Community Outreach

CORE makes a concerted effort to create a culture of hope for youth in Erie County. To achieve this, we help facilitate positive relationships between youth, peers, and adults by partnering with schools and education sites each academic year.

Student Explaining Research

Research and Evaluation

Our evaluation team is composed of research assistants, statisticians, qualitative and quantitative researchers, psychologists, and sociologists. As an eclectic team, we are able to assess various projects from an array of perspectives. As a result, we leave no stone unturned. CORE often collaborates with local organizations and schools. We examine and promote the best practices and evidence based interventions.

Students participate at a CORE event.

Get Involved

There are many ways to get involved with or work with CORE.

CORE Office

About Us

CORE was established in 1998 to provide research, evaluation, and proposal development services to teen pregnancy prevention providers. The Center has broadened the original focus of teen pregnancy prevention to encompass healthy youth development. CORE is dedicated to achieving excellence in client services through an ongoing commitment to education, research, and the Erie community.

Students play a game with colorful balls at a CORE event.

Events

CORE offers many events throughout the year—from trainings to networking.

Learn More
A student draws a diagram at a CORE event.

Resources

We know it “takes a village” to raise well-rounded and healthy children. Feel free to visit our resource pages to get informed and educated on how you can help promote positive youth development.

“Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” ~Aristotle