The John E. Christensen Community Chair in Child Welfare is associated with an endowed fund established at the University of Nebraska Foundation with a gift from the Weitz Family Foundation of Omaha. This position plays an important role in UNO’s mission as a leader in community engagement and child and adolescent welfare.
Overview
The special focus of the John E. Christensen Community Chair in Child Welfare, an endowed faculty position, held by Heidi Rueda, PhD, is child welfare education and administration within the context of social work practice and to best serve youth and families in Nebraska. Dr. Rueda leads research and programmatic efforts as it relates to issues of child welfare and development by focusing on children, families, and community-based organizations that serve at-risk families and their children. Additionally, the chair promotes research and scholarly activities that examine ways to capitalize on strengths and assets of human beings in ways that enhance education, families, and/or relationships with special emphasis on underserved cultures and people.
Dr. Rueda's research is specifically related to adolescent dating, sexual health, and dating violence as well as adolescent well-being. Many of Dr. Rueda's projects include community-based participatory research methods. In her role, she provides service to the university, community and to the profession. This includes community trainings, consultation services, peer reviews for journals, and community board and advisory group membership. Dr. Rueda actively disseminates her research at local and national conferences.
Current Projects
Latinx RESPECTs: Using Theatre to Prevent Dating ViolenceRole: Principal Investigator
• Community-based participatory research in partnership with RESPECT, Omaha, a community-based organization that utilizes theatre to build healthy relationships among youth in Nebraska. This project solicits the experiences and viewpoints of Latinx youth living in Omaha and rural areas of the state in order to adapt a dating violence play for enhanced cultural relevancy.
Fragile Families & Child Wellbeing Study
Role: Secondary Data Analysis
• Research utilizing a longitudinal data set of children at ages 1, 3, 5, 9, and 15 aimed at understanding the how early family transitions (study 1) and aggressive parenting (study 2) affect adolescent dating behaviors.
“Mind Matters”: Building Resiliencies through Improving Brain Health
Role: Principal Investigator
• Community-based participatory research supported by the Dibble Institute assessing the feasibility and acceptability of a resiliency-building program for youth who have experienced trauma. The program under evaluation is derived from the latest in neuroscientific research and is based in mindfulness for nervous system regulation.
Mexican American Teen Relationships Study (MATR)
Role: Investigator
• Mixed methods study sampling Mexican American youth, teachers, and social service professionals. The broad aims of this study are to understand the lived dating experiences of youth, as well as the perspectives of service providers in order to prevent dating violence and foster healthy partnering experiences.
Publications
Click here to access a comprehensive list of Dr. Rueda's publications through Digital Commons. DigitalCommons@UNO is a digital showcase of the research and scholarly output of the members of the University of Nebraska at Omaha community. The DigitalCommons@UNO repository is administered by the UNO Libraries and serves as a digital repository for these materials.