For Amanda Haboush-Deloye, “Home Means Nevada” is more than the title of the state anthem. It’s a self-declaration that guides her life.

A triple Rebel alumna (‘02 BA, '06 MA, and '13 Ph.D. Psychology), a native Nevadan, and the executive director of the Nevada Institute For Children's Research & Policy (NICRP), Haboush-Deloye has experienced first hand the benefits of fostering strong relationships with her neighbors for the purpose of friendship and in mutual partnership to make a positive impact in the community that she calls home.

Seventeen years ago, while pursuing her doctoral degree in clinical psychology, Haboush-Deloye realized that she was more interested in research than clinical work. In the gap of time it took to switch programs, she found NICRP, which is within the UNLV School of Public Health. Though she didn’t know it at the time, this was the start of a career that would play to her strengths and give a voice to often overlooked communities in Nevada.

Haboush-Deloye and her team conduct research, evaluation, and advocacy to guide public policy and enhance the lives of Nevada’s children and families. NICRP partners with local organizations to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of their programs and determine how to make changes to ensure they are meeting the needs of the communities they serve. NICRP also is involved with various coalitions and groups to ensure she and her team understand the real life issues impacting families and children across the state.

NICRP, she says, connects the dots between what is happening within Nevada communities to what data shows in order to educate leaders and policymakers, helping them make informed decisions.

What areas of research does NICRP focus on?

We dabble in a lot of different areas, but I can break them into three broad themes.

• First, is education – concentrating on early childhood (prenatal to kinder) and out-of-school time programming (before school, after school, and summer). 
• Then, all areas of health including prenatal care, access to health care, childhood obesity, mental health, and sexual health.
• And, finally, we work in child safety with a focus on the prevention of child maltreatment and general injury prevention.

What are some of the policy changes that have been made because of the work done through NICRP?

We have three outreach programs under the center: the Nevada After School Network, Prevent Child Abuse Nevada, and the Nevada Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. All three of these are focused on outreach to the community to increase awareness about its particular issue. 

For example, through our work with the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, we were able to get it into law that it's required to report all lead blood level tests so that we can make sure we've got a good understanding of lead exposure in children in our community. While testing is currently only required for children under Medicaid, reporting is required for everyone. We were able to improve the legislation; not only is it required to report all lead testing results, but it is also required to report demographic indicators so that we can understand if there are disparities in testing or lead exposure to know if we need to do more specific intervention or prevention work in specific communities.

Another example of how we have helped shape policy through our work is a project done through Prevent Child Abuse Nevada. I was able to participate on the committee and help produce the 2020 Nevada Academic Content Standards (NVACS) for Health through the Nevada Department of Education.

This committee worked to revise the health standards for grades K-12 to include a standard on teaching personal safety to children as well as other content areas such as mental health, suicide prevention, sexual health and responsibility, and organ donation. Specifically, the content related to personal safety empowers students by teaching them about personal boundaries, healthy and safe relationships, and how to identify and access assistance when needed. While it should never be the sole responsibility of a child to protect themselves, we need to make sure that they are equipped with information. 

Tell me about the NICRP team.

Right now, we have about 29 staff members working on 25 to 26 different grant-funded projects. We try to hire staff that reflect the communities that we serve. Many staff members are multilingual, come from all different backgrounds, different cultures, have different sexual orientations, and different identities, which helps us get a good perspective on our projects as well as internal policy.

Most of our staff members also are students, so they're continuing their education. NICRP often serves as a stepping stone introducing them to other work happening with community partners and helping them find their place.

Is this the work you thought you would be doing when you were younger?

Yes and no. I found a paper from elementary school that said I wanted to be president; I definitely don't want to do that anymore, but the desire to do policy work has stuck. And then, somewhere, I found a timeline from high school where I said I was going to be a psychologist.

I've been very fortunate that a sense of giving back to the community has been instilled in me, and I really enjoy it. I’ve always desired to make system-level changes for the community. So, that's one of the things that I think I love about this job is that I don't have to pick between doing policy work or research work or community outreach – we do it all. I think that's also why I've stayed at the center as long as I have, because it provides those different types of opportunities to create change. 

In the last 20 years, what's the biggest change that you've seen in the city?

The growth of the city. I think despite the bigger that we grow, we're still a small community. And I think that's probably one of the things that I love about Nevada. In general, people say that locals are hard to find, but I find natives all the time. And a lot of the people that I meet in different parts of the state, I'm connected with them through something else.

So, it really gives you that sense that this really is a small community, the more you go out into coalition meetings, or even here at the university, the more you start to see the same people, because they're involved and they're just in many places. People don't think we have a sense of community here. But I think that we do. Maybe in some other towns you don't have to try as hard or you take it for granted.

Here, you just have to foster what you want. I know my neighbors, but I also went out and knocked on doors. If you want those types of connections, it's here. You may have to look a little bit harder than in other places, but I think a lot of people think it doesn't exist. And, I think it really does.

What is something people would be surprised to learn about you? 

First, I am a ballroom dancer. I have actually brought it into my work through one of our projects, but I have also taught ballroom for a longtime. I have an injury now, so I don’t really teach anymore, but I am helping a staff member with their wedding dance, and I help run a collegiate dancesport competition on campus.

Second, I love all things Disney. So, if I’m not here, I’m at Disneyland. It’s literally my happy place. 

What’s your favorite ride at Disneyland?

I don't have a favorite. I love the classics. I just like the feeling when you walk down Main Street.

If you won the lottery, what would you do?

I’d pay off my house and my personal splurge would be to get on the Disney jet. The private jet takes you around the world to all the Disney parks in 24 days.