Robert Hernandez aims to educate and engage in practice-driven research to address critical areas of society that continue to hinder communities from flourishing. His areas of interest include vulnerable youth populations, adolescent social issues, adolescent gang intervention, strength-based/resiliency and youth empowerment models of practice. In particular, Professor Hernandez's work examines risk and protective factors within communities that are associated with vulnerable youth populations residing in trauma exposed communities.
His focus is on advancing marginalized populations through a wide-range of practice approaches addressing violence-related trauma through violence reduction, prevention, intervention, diversion and reentry strategies. His area of emphasis is exploring violence related-trauma due to urbanization and rapid development and its impact on healthy youth development as well as the implications on urban communities as a whole. Professor Hernandez is the current chair of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Council for Los Angeles Congressional District 29. In addition, je is the founder and board chair of Visionary Youth Los Angeles (VYLA), a nonprofit organization centered around youth voices for change.
In 2014 and 2023, Professor Hernandez was awarded the highly-acclaimed Jane Adams Award from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, presented to the instructor of the year as voted by the students. In 2014, he was awarded Most Influential Professor of Color by the Asian Pacific American Student Assembly and Academic Culture Assembly.