Omowunmi Olaleye, MSW

Omowunmi Olaleye is a Lecturer in the Department of Social Work at Colorado State University Pueblo and a doctoral candidate in Social Welfare at the University of Kansas. Her scholarly work focuses on childhood stressors, childhood adversity, child maltreatment prevention, child well-being, family functioning, and culturally responsive interventions for children and families. Through cross-national multicultural research, she examines how children perceive and express stressors within their families, communities, and sociocultural contexts.

Her dissertation research, A Cross-National Multicultural Analysis: Developing a Multicultural Theoretical Framework of Context-Based Stressors Grounded in the Experiences of Children from the United States and Nigeria, seeks to expand understanding of childhood stressors beyond traditional frameworks by incorporating children's lived experiences and language across diverse multi-site cultural settings.  

Olaleye’s experiences span across child welfare practice, direct social work service delivery, prevention services, community-based research, program administration, program evaluation, nonprofit development, and leadership. Her research and practice activities have included evaluating Family First Prevention Services initiatives, developing community well-being assessment frameworks, examining child abuse prevention strategies, and advancing evidence-informed approaches to supporting vulnerable children and families. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a child welfare social worker at the Department of Human Resources (DHR) in the United States. She is also the founder/CEO of Chance and Choice Support Initiative for Vulnerable Children, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting vulnerable children and strengthening family systems in Nigeria.

Her work is guided by a commitment to improving child and family outcomes through culturally responsive research, prevention-focused interventions, and collaborative partnerships between communities and service providers.

• Childhood stressors
• Childhood adversity
• Child maltreatment prevention
• Child welfare and family preservation services
• Child and family well-being
• Cross-national and international social work research
• Cross-national Multicultural theory development
• Prevention and early intervention services

• Graduate Student Advisory Board Representative (GSAB) search committee
• Graduate Student Advisory Board Representative, University of Kansas School of Social Welfare
• Fee Review Committee Member, University of Kansas Student Senate'
• Member, Dean's Student Advisory Board, University of Kansas School of Social Welfare
• Volunteer, FIFA World Cup 2026 (Arrival and Departure Role)
• Member of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)
• Member of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR)
• Member of the African Studies Association (ASA)

Published

Olaleye, O. (2025). Using the Multiple Streams Analysis Framework to Understand the Impact of Refugee Policy on Refugee Children: A Cross-National Perspective. Social Sciences, 14(11), 664.

Byers, K., Barton, J., Cizek, M., Kadavasal, P. V., Tasnim, N., Diaz, A., Brown, A. R., & Olaleye, O. (2024). Family First: Early Success and Future Directions. University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research.

Bagwell-Gray, M., Jen, S., Grube, W., Mendenhall, A. N., Olaleye, O., & Sattler, P. L. (2023). A Qualitative Exploration of Caregivers' Experiences with the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) Parenting Program. Infant Mental Health Journal.

Manuscripts under review

Olaleye, O., (2026). Conceptual Analysis of the Child, Childhood, and Family Dysfunctionality: A Cross-cultural Perspective between Nigeria and the United States.

Manuscripts in Progress

Olaleye, O., & Andom, F. (2026). Child Maltreatment Prevention Interventions in African Countries: A Scoping Review.