College of Public Affairs and Community Service Inquiry Awards

Part of the mission of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service is to conduct research, especially as it relates to concerns of our local and statewide constituencies. The CPACS Inquiry Awards is one catalyst of the College to assure this mission is fulfilled.  

CPACS Inquiry Awards are intended to support research of any methodology that explores the nature, scope, concerns and/or solutions to issues of public interest with a focus on examining or demonstrating how such inquiry can positively impact the public(s) researched. For this award the public(s) researched must be relevant to Nebraska and/or our neighbor states.

The principal investigator must be a CPACS faculty or staff member. UNO students, faculty in other departments or other universities may be co-investigators. Proposals that involve organizations external to the university as partners in either the conduct of the research or in the implementation of the findings are highly encouraged.

The results of each study is presented in the community or on campus. 

The funding is from an allocation from the CPACS Dean to the Urban Policy Research fund in the Center for Public Affairs Research. The director of CPAR and the associate dean of CPACS award and administer these grants. The program began in Fall 2014 and was formerly titled Urban Research Awards. 

A comprehensive list of each of the reports is available here. 

2018-2019 Grantees

Domestic Violence among Refugee Women in Nebraska: An Investigation and Response to Local Needs - Jieru Bai (Grace Abbott School of Social Work)

Interlocal Collaboration and Local Government Fiscal Outcomes - Carol Ebdon and Craig Maher (School of Public Administration)

The Role of Specialty Courts in Addressing Human Trafficking Cases: A Policy Evaluation - Teresa C. Kulig (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice)

Examining Context, Case Processes, and Outcomes of Incidents of Sexual Misconduct Reported to Title IX Coordinators at Nebraska Institutions of Higher Education - Tara N. Richards (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice)

Contextual Influences of Neighborhood Disadvantage on Physical and Mental Health: An Examination of Genetic Susceptibility and Resilience in a Nationally Representative Study - Joseph A. Schwartz (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice)

The Midlands LGBT Needs Assessment: Wave II - Liam Heerten-Rodriguez (Grace Abbott School of Social Work)

Exploring National Child Welfare Data for Nebraska Level Community Impact - Aaron Banman (Grace Abbott School of Social Work)

2017-2018 Grantees

Volunteer Programming Impact on Urban Nebraska Nursing Home Quality of Care - Christopher Kelly (Department of Gerontology)

Policy Transparency Following an Officer Involved Shooting Captured by Body-Work Camera: A Randomized Experiment - Justin Nix (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice)

Literacy by Degrees and UNO Postsecondary Prison Education Project Evaluation - Daniel Wuebben (Goodrich Scholarship Program)

Advocacy and Lobbying of Nebraska Nonprofit Organizations - Jodi Benenson (School of Public Administration)

Gender, Personality, and Career Motivation in Policing - Samantha Clinkinbeard (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice)

2016-2017 Grantees

Evaluation of Long-Term Care Workforce/Community Partnerships Model - Lyn Holley (Department of Gerontology)

Social Support and the Impact of Head Injuries on Delinquency in an Urban Sample of Adjudicated Youth: Applications for the Douglas County Department of Corrections - Joe Schwartz (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice)

The Hispanic/Latino Community and Access to Healthcare in the Greater Omaha Area - Christine Reed (School of Public Administration)

An Urban Educational Challenge: Students of Color, Mindset, and Achievement - Barbara Hewins-Maroney (Goodrich Scholarship Program)

Comparison of Experiences of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in an Education/Support Program: A Mixed Methods Approach - Nancy Kelley (Grace Abbott School of Social Work)

Assessment of Methamphetamine Use among Refugee Youth in Omaha: Examining Multiple Stakeholders Perspectives - Lisa Sample (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice) 

2015-2016 Grantees

Study of Food Policy Networks in Omaha, Nebraska - Bryce Hoflund, associate professor (School of Public Administration) and Megan McGuffey, graduate student (School of Public Administration)

Public Perceptions of Urban Infrastructure - Daniel Wuebben, assistant professor (Goodrich Scholarship Program)

Examining Nebraska’s Local Finance Picture - Craig Maher, professor (School of Public Administration)

Social Media for Emergency Management: Promoting Inter-organizational Collaboration - DeeDee Bennett, assistant professor (School of Public Administration), Yu-Che Chen, associate professor (School of Public Administration), Jooho Lee, assistant professor (School of Public Administration) and two doctoral students (School of Public Administration)

Juvenile Reentry Mentoring Program - Anne Hobbs, director (Juvenile Justice Institute) and Sara Moore, graduate student (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice)

Runaway Survey - Jennifer Miller, research coordinator (Nebraska Center for Justice Research), Johanna Peterson, research coordinator (Nebraska Center for Justice Research), and student worker

Viral Videos of Police Use of Force: Exploring Police Officer Responses - Colleen Kadleck, associate professor (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice) and graduate student worker

Assessing Methamphetamine Use Among Refugee Youth in Omaha - Lisa Sample, professor (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice) and Karen Rolf, associate professor (Grace Abbott School of Social Work) and doctoral student (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice)

2014-2015 Grantees

Stuff in the City: University Government Partnership to Build Hoarding Intervention Capacity - Christiana Bratiotis, assistant professor (Grace Abbott School of Social Work) and Larry Burks, assistant city manager, City of Bellevue

Variability in the Implementation of State-Wide Law across Urban Environments: A Case Study Using Sex Offender Law as an Example - Lisa Sample, professor (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (SCCJ) and Emily Rader, doctoral student

Douglas County Adult Drug Court Evaluation Follow-up - William Wakefield, professor (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice), Ben Gibbs (Ball State University) and graduate research assistant (School of Criminology and Criminal Justice)

Racial Disproportionality of Foster Care Outcomes in Omaha and Sarpy County - Claudette Grinnell-Davis, assistant professor (Grace Abbott School of Social Work) and Karen Abrams

The Hispanic/Latino Community and Access to Healthcare in the Greater Omaha Area - Carl Ameringer, professor (School of Public Administration), Christine Reed, professor (School of Public Administration), and Bryce Hoflund, associate professor (School of Public Administration), doctoral student (School of Public Administration) and two bilingual translators

Access Denied: Mapping Inequality for Urban (Black) Omaha - Franchell Abdalla, grants specialist (College of Public Affairs and Community Service)

Smart Urban Cities/Communities: Leveraging Information and Communication Technologies for Improving Local Public Services - Yu-Che Chen, associate professor (School of Public Administration), Jooho Lee, assistant professor (School of Public Administration) and Robert Blair, associate professor (School of Public Administration), two doctoral students (School of Public Administration)