Jennifer Hedges

Biography

Jennifer Hedges is a proud Booth UC alumni. She worked in the child welfare field as a front line protection worker in Ontario for nine years prior to accepting a full-time faculty position at Booth UC in 2012. Jennifer graduated with her MSW from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a concentration in mental health, health and disability. During that time she facilitated a study regarding the use of psychotropic medications with children and youth in foster care. She was also involved at her agency helping to develop and implement new policies regarding workplace violence.

Research Interest

Jennifer is currently involved in the following research projects: 1. Spatial Analysis of Child Welfare Constituents Exploring the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping to analyze the location of birth parents and children in foster care and the impact on service and reunification. 2. Social Work Students’ Experience of Vicarious Traumatization and Re-traumatization in Field Placement Examining the extent to which students experience vicarious trauma in field placements. 3. Using Competition, Role-Play and Community Support to Teach Interpersonal Skills Exploring pedagogical strategies for teaching introduction to communication skills.