College of Education and Human Development

School of Social Work

Jeff Waid

  • Pronouns: he, him, his

  • Associate Professor

  • Office Hours

    Friday 9-11 and by appointment

Jeff Waid

Areas of interest

Child Maltreatment Prevention, Family Navigation, Health and Social Equity, Intervention and Services Research, Prevention Science

Degrees

PhD, Portland State University
MSW, University of Pittsburgh

Biography

My scholarship focuses on the role of health equity and mental health promotion in the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. I also conduct research on resilience-building strategies with youth and sibling groups in out-of-home care. I have a broad background in intervention and services research and practice with children and families who were at-risk or involved with the child welfare system, and I have worked as Principal or Co-Investigator on several university, foundation, and federally funded research grants. I am trained in clinical trials methodology, program evaluation, mixed-methods research, and multivariate and advanced statistical analysis. From 2015-2022 I led an international multi-site intervention study with siblings separated by out-of-home care. More recently, I developed an adaptive just-in-time telephone and web-mediated family navigator intervention for families of children at-risk of mental illness, child maltreatment, and other adverse childhood experiences. Across projects, my work aims to improve the health and well-being of children and families, and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying how interventions work, for whom, and under what conditions.

Publications

Child Maltreatment Prevention / Family Navigation / Health Equity Research 

Asterisk(*) indicates student author.

Waid, J., *Tomfohrde, O., *Kutlzer, C. Connecting and engaging with health and social care: Exploring the core components of a telephone and web-mediated family navigation prevention service. Child & Family Social Work. Advance Online Publication. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12985

Waid, J., *Tomfohrde, O., & *Kutzler, C. Promoting health and social equity through family navigation to prevention and early intervention services. BMC Public Health, 22, e1972. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-14320-4. 

Waid, J., *Santalauria, J., LaLiberte, T., & Piescher, K. (2021). A latent class analysis of modifiable risk factors associated with maltreatment re-reporting and recurrence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 120, 105249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105249

Waid, J. & Choy-Brown, M. (2021). Moving upstream: the Family First Prevention Services Act and reimagining opportunities for prevention in child welfare practice. Children and Youth Services Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106098

Child Welfare / Foster Care / Sibling Intervention Research 

Asterisk(*) indicates student author.

Waid, J. & Wojciak A. (2022). What makes summer camp therapeutic for siblings separated by foster care? Associations from counselor ratings of program implementation to youth-reported outcomes. Developmental Child Welfare. Advance Online Publication. doi: 10.1177/25161032221093409

Waid, J., Kothari, B., *Dahlgren, J., McBeath, B. & Bank L. (2021). Exploring mechanisms of change in a dyadic relationship intervention for siblings in foster care. Child & Family Social Work. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12833

Waid, J. (2021). Estimating the relational well-being of siblings separated out-of-home care. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 15, 299-317. doi: 10.1080/15548732.2020.1717715

Waid, J. & Alewine, E. (2018). An exploration of family challenges and service needs during the post-adoption period. Children and Youth Services Review, 91, 213-220. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.06.017

Presentations

Local

Waid, J., *Tomfohrde, O., & *Kutzler, C. (2021, November). The Minnesota Family Navigation Project: preliminary insights from a proof-of-concept study. Presentation to the Family Prevention, Intervention, and Supports Workgroup, Minnesota Governor’s Advisory Council on Children’s Mental Health.

National

Waid, J., *Tomfohrde, O., & *Kutzler, C. (May, 2022). Development and feasibility of a family navigation prevention service. In J. Waid (Chair), Reducing health and social inequality through family navigation to prevention and early intervention services. Symposium submitted to the Society of Prevention Research Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.

Waid, J. (2019, May). A latent profile analysis of foster youth well-being: Translating complex phenomena to inform child welfare programs and services. Paper presented at the Society for Prevention Research Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.

International 

Waid, J. (2018, July). Simulated assessments as a learning tool in graduate social work education. Paper presented at the Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education, and Social Development, Dublin, Ireland.

Waid, J. (2017, July). Positive youth development programs: A strategy to promote social development and social cohesion. Paper presented at the International Consortium for Social Development, Zagreb, Croatia.