Reentry
A – K
Laura Abrams, UCLA
PROFESSOR AND CHAIR
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
Email: abrams@luskin.ucla.edu
Website: https://luskin.ucla.edu/person/laura-abrams
Professor Abrams’ scholarship focuses on improving the well being of youth and young adults with histories of incarceration. Her ethnographic studies have examined youths’ experiences of criminality, risk, and institutions seeking to reshape their identities through both therapeutic and punitive practices. These themes are presented in her 2013 book (co-authored with Ben Anderson-Nathe) Compassionate Confinement: A Year in the Life of Unit C, (Rutgers University Press). Her most recent book (co-authored with Diane Terry), Everyday Desistance: The Transition to Adulthood Among Formerly Incarcerated Youth (Rutgers University Press, 2017), examines how formerly incarcerated young men and women navigate reentry and the transition to adulthood in the context of urban Los Angeles. Dr. Abrams is also the lead editor of a 2016 multidisciplinary volume on the role of volunteers and non-profits in changing lives and promoting more humane conditions in prisons and jails: The Voluntary Sector in Prisons: Encouraging Personal and Institutional Change (Palgrave, 2016).
Elizabeth Allen
Email: eallensocialphd@gmail.com
Website: http://www.drelizabethallen.org/
I bring more than 25 years of clinical experience with justice-involved women and other marginalized groups. I am tenaciously committed to smart decarceration research, policy, and practice and throughout my career aimed to embrace what academia together with activism can offer change-agents and guide and support radical social change.
My dissertation research was an inquiry into redemptive narratives and the distance process for justIce-involved women with the goal of adding to the knowledge base of desistance, advocating for policies and interventions that support the process of distance and promoting a unifying framework to bridge micro and macro approaches with vulnerable and marginalized populations. Currently, I am a PI on a CBPR project using Photovoice with the urban youth with the lived experience of parental incarceration.
The synthesis of my clinical and research experience prepares me for the dual role of researcher and policy-maker and utilizing evidence to advance policy and practice. My research interests are vast and include the intersection of micro and macro issues amplified within criminal justice systems including racial, gender and economic justice and human rights.
D. Michael Applegarth, University of Buffalo
Assistant Professor, UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO
Email: dapplega@buffalo.edu
Website: https://socialwork.buffalo.edu/faculty-research/full-time-faculty/michael-applegarth.html
About: Through his research, Dr. Michael Applegarth aims to increase our understanding of how mental illness and criminal legal involvement are connected for both juveniles and adults. His research aims to increase knowledge and inform policy surrounding strategies to prevent criminal legal involvement through diversion and community responses, provide treatment for those incarcerated, and increase the effectiveness of reentry services.
His dissertation focused on better understanding the connection between mental illness and recidivism for individuals on parole. Other research streams have examined how mental health and the juvenile justice system intersect around issues of family reintegration and the health needs of detained youth. Applegarth previously held research fellowships with both the National Institute of Justice and Rand Corp., in which he studied and co-authored reports on recidivism and the effectiveness of various support programs in reducing crime among at-risk and justice-involved youth.
Tina Barr, UNC Pembroke
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT PEMBROKE
Email: tina.barr@uncp.edu
Website: https://www.uncp.edu/profile/tina-barr
My relevant research centers on issues related to wrongful conviction, including reentry, psychosocial effects, and compensation.
Stacey Barrenger, Northeast Ohio Medical University
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, NORTHEAST OHIO MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
Email: sbarrenger@neomed.edu
Website: https://www.neomed.edu/directory-profile/barrenger-stacey-78249/
About: Stacey L. Barrenger, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Silver School of Social Work at New York University. Dr. Barrenger’s work focuses on the intersection of mental illness and other social problems (criminal justice involvement, substance use, homelessness, & poverty). She has examined the production of risk for recidivism among men with mental illnesses leaving prison. She is interested in implementation research that considers the community or structural factors that can impact the effectiveness of empirically supported treatments in high-risk environments. Her current research explores pathways to recovery and desistance from crime for peer specialists with criminal justice histories and the prison health care experiences of those with mental illnesses who were formerly incarcerated.
Kristin Bolton, UNC Wilmington
Assistant Professor, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT WILMINGTON
Email: boltonk@uncw.edu
Website: https://uncw.edu/chhs/swk/about/bio/kristinbolton.html
About: Dr. Kristin W. Bolton is an Associate Professor and MSW Program Coordinator in the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Her research interests include: youth violence prevention, re-entry services, healthy psychological development, and the evidence base of solution focused brief therapy with violent and non-violent offenders.
Janae Bonsu, UIC
Doctoral Candidate, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
Email: jbonsu2@uic.edu
About: I am a doctoral candidate at Jane Addams College of Social Work, activist, and restorative justice practitioner. My work is based in an intersectional and structural analysis. My current work interrogates the intersection of gender-based violence, policing, and survivor empowerment; building and sustaining models of transformative justice; and policies that directly impact incarcerated people and their families.
Brita Bookser, UC Berkeley
Doctoral Candidate, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
Email: britabookser@berkeley.edu
Website: https://socialwelfare.berkeley.edu/people/phd-students
About: Brita A. Bookser’s research interests include early care and education, education policy, carceral logics in education, feminist anti-carceral studies, womanism, and critical race theory. Her research-praxis agenda is facilitated by varied agency partnerships that explore policies and pedagogies for inclusion and civic engagement. Bookser’s qualitatively-driven mixed-method dissertation explores a typology of exclusionary discipline measures in preschools and examines how structural factors influence exclusionary tactics in early care and education settings.
Charlotte Lyn Bright, University of Maryland
Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Education, University of Maryland
Email: cbright@ssw.umaryland.edu
My research focuses on populations and services within the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, with specific interests in gender, trauma, and implementation of best practices.
Pajarita Charles, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Associate Professor, SANDRA ROSENBAUM SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Email: paja.charles@wisc.edu
Website: https://socwork.wisc.edu/staff/pajarita-charles-mpa-msw-phd/
About: Pajarita Charles is an Associate Professor at the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work and an affiliate of the Institute for Research on Poverty, the Center for Law, Society, and Justice, and the Justice Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research centers on the development, implementation, and testing of family-focused preventive interventions to promote positive outcomes for children and families affected by the criminal-legal system. Dr. Charles’ efforts foster research, practice, and public sector partnerships to build capacity for reform and the reduction of the footprint of the criminal-legal system. She is a co-leader of the national Promote Smart Decarceration grand challenge network for the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and frequently collaborates with local and state organizations to provide expertise and guidance on issues pertinent to families impacted by the criminal-legal system.
Christino Chavez, New York University
Adjunct Professor, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Email: cnc350@nyu.edu
Website: https://socialwork.nyu.edu/faculty-and-research/our-faculty/adjuncts/bios-a-c.html#chavez
About: My research interests and professional experience revolve around criminal and juvenile justice, gang violence and membership, racism in justice, restorative justice practices, mental health and trauma, policies and legislations regarding criminal justice, and immigration.
Dominique Courts, UCONN
Graduate Student, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
Email: Dominique.Courts@uconn.edu
Website: https://ssw.uconn.edu/person/c-l-dominique-courts-ma-mft/#
About: After graduating from NYU with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology with a concentration in Social and Cultural Analysis, Dominique Courts, MA, MFT, earned a clinical master’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies with a specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy at UCONN. Following her work as a therapist, Dominique is now a Crandall-Cordero fellow at The UCONN School of Social Work and invested in affecting change on an institutional and systems level.
As a doctoral student, she is particularly interested in using a reproductive and healing justice framework to understand the healing process for people, who live with intersecting marginalized identities, especially lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and queer individuals of color. The lack of visibility and research around LGBTQ people of color led her to be passionate about conducting mixed-methods and participatory action research to explore various aspects of their lived experiences. Ultimately, Dominique desires to amplify the voices of marginalized populations in her research and use collaborative and empowering research methods and accessible dissemination techniques.
Throughout the CT community, Dominique also facilitates workshops and groups focused on relationships, LGBTQ identities and other topics related to social justice and healing. She centers the lived experiences and needs of the individuals at the intersections of race, sexuality, gender and ability in her research, teaching, clinical and community work and advocacy.
Varsha DuBose, LCSW, Southern Connecticut State University
Doctoral Student & Teaching Assistant, SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY
Email: Dubosev1@southernct.edu
About: Varsha Dubose is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 10 years of practice experience and legal and mental health settings. Varsha is currently a doctoral student and teaching assistant at Southern Connecticut State University. Varsha has practical experience working with justice-involved veterans with significant mental health and substance use disorders. One of the theoretical approaches that Varsha is focusing her research on is critical race theory. Varsha is interested in addressing the intersections of racial oppression and social injustices that are prevalent in the United States judicial system. Varsha’s teaching interests are in areas related to veterans, race/oppression, mental health and substance use disorders within the criminal justice systems.
Jennifer Erwin, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Assistant Professor, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY EDWARDSVILLE
Email: jeerwin@siue.edu
Website: https://www.siue.edu/artsandsciences/social-work/faculty-staff/erwin.shtml
About: My research focus has primarily explored adult mental health courts. Additional research interests include examining the experiences of adults with mental illness who are involved with the criminal justice system and the role of peer support in treatment courts.
Liz Espinoza, College of Saint Rose
VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COLLEGE OF SAINT ROSE
Email: espinozl@strose.edu
Liz Espinoza has forensic social work experience at state government level in NY.
Amanda Geller, University of California at Irvine
Associate Professor, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT IRVINE
Email: amanda.geller@uci.edu
Website: https://amandagellerphd.com/
About: The focus of my research is twofold: examining the causes and effects of incarceration for men and their families, and examining racial disparities in the administration of justice.
Matthew Gilmour, Florida State University
DOCTORAL STUDENT, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
Email: mgilmour@fsu.edu
Website: https://csw.fsu.edu/person/matthew-gilmour
My current research interests are focused on correctional and criminal justice system policies and reform, particularly inmate medical and mental health care, inmate rights, privatization of correctional/criminal justice services, reentry and rehabilitation. I am also interested in the utilization of research in advocacy work as it relates to social justice in general, particularly racial disparities and other issues involving the oppression of marginalized populations.
Ivan Godfrey, SUNY Ulster
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, SUNY ULSTER
Email: Godfreyi@sunyulster.edu
Website: http://sunyulster.edu
I have participated in a recent research study about the value of post secondary education for incarcerated persons. My teaching interest and expertise is in Alternative to Incarceration & Reentry strategies and iniatives
Lauri Goldkind, Fordham University
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
Email: goldkind@fordham.edu
Website: https://www.fordham.edu/info/24281/gss_full-time_faculty_profiles/11298/lauri_goldkind
Dr. Goldkind has a longstanding interest and practice background in nonprofit leadership, capacity building and organizational development. Her practice experience has been centered in the youth development, education and juvenile justice realms. Prior to joining the faculty at Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service, she served as the Director of the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services’ (CASES) School Connection Center, a public school admissions office for youth exiting the justice system. She was instrumental in developing the Center’s operational infrastructure, including creating and maintaining all data systems and documenting the Center’s progress. She also helped craft policy and develop data management applications at Community Prep High School, a school for young people transitioning back to their communities from the juvenile justice system. Before that she held program planning and fund raising positions at agencies serving young people in New York City, including the Posse Foundation, where she was the first director of development.
Dr. Goldkind’s current research work centers on the intersection of the juvenile justice and public education system’s impact on urban youth. She is presently conducting a national study of school social workers exploring their role in the school re-entry process of juvenile justice youth. Dr. Goldkind is also interested in domestic trafficking issues and is partnering with the Girls Education Mentoring Services (GEMS) to document their programmatic model and highlight the complex and unexplored issues of girls who are commercially sexually exploited.
Aaron Gottlieb, UIC
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, JANE ADDAMS COLLEGE OF SOCIAL WORK, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
Email: agott19@uic.edu
Website: https://socialwork.uic.edu/facultyandstaff/aaron-gottlieb/
Dr. Gottlieb’s research focuses on the causes and consequences of mass incarceration in the United States and how to effectively reduce U.S. reliance on incarceration. His scholarship has been published in leading social work, criminology, and sociology journals.
Woojae Han, Soongsil University
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SOONGSIL UNIVERSITY
Email: whan@ssu.ac.kr
Woojae Han is an assistant professor of School of Social Work at Soongsil University in Korea. His research focuses on alternative court system, community rehabilitation for offenders with mental illness, and behavioral health disparities for populations at risk.
Debra Hrouda, Northeast Ohio Medical University
DIRECTOR OF PRACTICE IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION, NORTHEAST OHIO MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
Email: dhrouda@neomed.edu
Focus on the implementation of evidence-based, best, and emerging practices for people along the continuum of justice involvement.
Russ Immarigeon
EDITOR
Email: russimmarigeon@fairpoint.net
Editor of national publications on community corrections, alternatives to prison, and offender programming. Editor of 4 books on crime desistance, prisoner reentry, and women and girls in the criminal justice system. Independent researcher on the overuse of incarceration for women and others, and of cash bail in pretrial settings.
Leah Jacobs, University of Pittsburgh
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
Email: leahjacobs@pitt.edu
Website: https://www.socialwork.pitt.edu/people/leah-jacobs
My research interests include: socio-structural risk factors for criminal justice involvement; the role of neighborhood qualities in contributing to arrests among people with mental health and substance use problems; the provision of mental health and substance abuse treatment in jails; and reentry programs that seek to decrease recidivism among individuals with mental health and substance abuse problems.
Jennifer Kellman Fritz, Eastern Michigan University
DIRECTOR AND PROFESSOR, EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Email: jkellman@emich.edu
Website: https://www.emich.edu/chhs/social-work/faculty/j_kellman-fritz.php
Erin Kerrison, UC Berkeley
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
Email: kerrison@berkeley.edu
Website: http://socialwelfare.berkeley.edu/faculty/erin-kerrison
My research and teaching interests extend from a legal epidemiological framework, wherein law and legal institutions operate as social determinants of health. Specifically, through varied agency partnerships, my mixed-method research agenda investigates the impact that compounded structural disadvantage, concentrated poverty and state supervision has on service delivery, substance abuse, violence and other health outcomes for individuals and communities marked by criminal justice intervention.
Peter A. Kindle, University of South Dakota
PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA
Email: Peter.Kindle@usd.edu
Website: https://sites.google.com/a/usd.edu/peter-a-kindle-p/
I taught inside a Texas prison for six years while completing my doctorate in social work, then spent over a year volunteering with the Second Chance Program of the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission before locating my current faculty position in South Dakota. I am expecting to conduct a program evaluation for the Carver County jail’s new mental health program over the next two years.
Jean Kjellstrand, University of Oregon
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
Email: jeank@uoregon.edu
Website: https://education.uoregon.edu/people/faculty/jeank
Dr. Jean Kjellstrand, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Human Services at the University of Oregon, focuses on parental incarceration. Specifically, she examines how parental incarceration impacts child development, and how to support children and their parents both during and after incarceration. Her goal is to create effective interventions that are affordable, acceptable, and sustainable within existing delivery systems. Before entering academics, Dr. Kjellstrand was a licensed social worker for over 15 years. During this period, she developed and coordinated several individual, group, and community interventions to support and empower children and families in high-risk circumstances.
Karen Kolivoski, Howard University
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, HOWARD UNIVERSITY
Email: karen.kolivoski@howard.edu
Website: https://www.karenkolivoski.com and https://twitter.com/KKolivoski
My research interests focus on crossover youth, specifically on understanding how factors in children and youths’ experiences within the child welfare system impact subsequent juvenile and criminal justice system involvement. I am especially interested in understanding the role of out of home placements within the child welfare system, youths’ relationships and perceptions of their child welfare caseworkers, and sibling and family influences as related to criminal justice outcomes. I also have interest and experience in transfer of youths to the adult system and juvenile life without parole, including the misconduct/experiences of youth in prisons. In regards to teaching, I teach in the criminal justice field of practice specialization in the MSW program at Howard University.
Liat Kriegel, Washington State University
RESEARCH ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY, BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INNOVATIONS
Email: liat.kriegel@gmail.com
Website: https://www.bhinnovations.org/
I am broadly interested in the intersection of the behavioral health and criminal justice systems. My research explores the roles of public space and public space interactions in the community reentry of individuals with mental illness leaving prison. I am interested in understanding both conceptions and use of public space as well as the different types of connections people make in those spaces, with an eye toward understanding social and spatial indicators of recidivism, community integration, social isolation, and ontological security. I am also involved in research focused on opioid use prevention, treatment and recovery in rural communities.
Lewis Lee, University of Alabama
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
Email: lhlee@ua.edu
Website: https://socialwork.ua.edu/blog/social-theme-staff/lee-lewis-phd/
Dr. Lewis Hyukseung Lee has experience working with incarcerated adults and with youth who have come in contact with the criminal justice system. Prior to joining Pitt’s doctoral program, he worked as the Assistant Director for the Korean Community Center in Englewood, New Jersey, where he provided community services for immigrant minorities. His research interests include social policy in the criminal justice system, criminal desistance, mental health disparities and service use, substance use, community-based participatory research, macro practice.
Jill Levenson, Barry University
PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL WORK, BARRY UNIVERSITY
Email: jlevenson@barry.edu
Website: https://www.barry.edu/social-work/faculty/bios/jlevenson.html
I study the effectiveness of sexual offender registries in reducing recidivism, as well as the impact of registration on offenders and communities. My research fits in the larger context of collateral sanctions of criminal sentencing and its impact on employment, housing, social support, psychosocial risk factors, and successful reintegration. I also study the relationship between childhood adversity and adult criminality, and the need for trauma-informed treatment and re-entry services for offenders.
George Leibowitz, Stony Brook University
PROFESSOR, STONY BROOK, UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WELFARE
Email: George.Leibowitz@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Website: https://socialwelfare.stonybrookmedicine.edu/faculty-staff/leibowitz
For the past 20 years, I have been working as an interdisciplinary researcher, forensic evaluator, national consultant and trainer in the related fields of adolescent delinquency, addictions, sexually harmful behavior among youth, and adult sexually offending behavior. I am interested in research on sex offender registry reform, restorative justice, and compassionate release laws. I am also a member of the National Association of Forensic Social Work recently co-authored the following textbook: Maschi, T. & Leibowitz, G.S. (Eds.) (2018). Forensic social work: Psychosocial and legal issues across diverse populations and settings (2nd Ed.). New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Caroline Long, University of Maryland
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Email: cburry@ssw.umaryland.edu
I have a child welfare background and an ongoing interest in parental incarceration, particularly maternal incarcerated, and the children of incarcerated parents. Additionally, I have a focus on smart decarceration and alternative sentencing.
Kelli J. Marks, Madonna University
BSW PROGRAM DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, MADONNA UNIVERSITY
Email: kmarks@madonna.edu
Dr. Kelli Marks is the BSW Program Director in Social Work. Kelli joined the full time faculty of Madonna University in 2016 and has a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Michigan (2000) with an emphasis in interpersonal practice and children and youth and received her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Oakland University in 2015. Her research focused on the importance of student engagement of academic outcomes, concentrating on minority male achievement.
Kelli worked previously in juvenile justice before entering adult corrections and was employed as a corrections officer with female inmates for several years; she also has 15 years of experience working with adult felons in Oakland County.
Susan McCarter, UNC Charlotte
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHARLOTTE
Email: smccarter@uncc.edu
Website: https://pages.uncc.edu/smccar17/
Dr. McCarter’s career began as a juvenile probation officer, inner-city mental health counselor, and policy analyst and advocate in Virginia. For over 20 years she has served as a Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Scholar (now Racial and Ethnic Disparities (RED)) and a forensic practitioner. Nationally, Dr. McCarter serves as an expert juvenile justice forensic witness, on the board of the National Organization of Forensic Social Work, and chairs the Society of Social Work and Research’s Criminal and Juvenile Justice Interest Group. Regionally, she co-chairs the NC RED Subcommittee and the Charlotte Racial Justice Consortium (funded by the AAC&U and dedicated to truth, racial healing and transformation), and serves on the leadership team for Race Matters for Juvenile Justice as well as their Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) Team. Dr. McCarter currently facilitates the UNC Charlotte Racial Equity Skill Building Caucus and leads multiple funded research studies examining the School-to-Prison Pipeline (STPP), Juvenile Diversion, and Racial Equity.
Branden McLeod, UIC
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, JANE ADDAMS SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
Email: bmcleod7@uic.edu
Website: https://socialwork.uic.edu/profiles/branden-a-mcleod/
My research examines the intersection between fatherhood and the criminal justice system. I endeavor unpack how the criminal justice system potentially attenuates the role of fathers and the factors that mitigate, sustain, and strengthen paternal involvement and family well-being. I teach social welfare, social policy analysis and advocacy, and research methods.
Louisiana Medina, USC
LCSW, USC
Email: louisiana.medina@gmail.com
Eyitayo Onifade, Clark Atlanta University
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY
Email: eonifade@cau.edu
Jaimie Page Brill, Texas A&M University, Commerce
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY COMMERCE
Email: jaimiepage.brill@tamuc.edu
Website: https://www.tamuc.edu/academics/cvSyllabi/cv/BrillJaimie.pdf
Dr. Page Brill works with Exonerees who have been wrongfully convicted/incarcerated. In addition to community macro practice, she conducts research around wrongful conviction. She teaches an array of social work courses, including Social Work and the Law.
Oluwayomi Paseda, MSW, LMSW, University of Georgia
DOCTORAL STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
Email: oluwayomi@uga.edu
My research interests include reentry programs, interventions, and services for women transitioning from incarceration to the community.
Ashley Pennell, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
LMSW, ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE
Email: awalke68@vols.utk.edu
Ashley Pennell is a Licensed Master Social Worker in Knoxville, TN. She is an adjunct instructor at the University of Tennessee teaching bachelors and masters level forensic social work courses. Her work experience is primarily in social work in public defense settings, jail based therapy, victim advocacy, and re-entry services. She is particularly interested in the intersection of trauma, poverty, and incarceration.
Clark Peters, University of Missouri
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
Email: peterscm@missouri.edu
Mark Plassmeyer, University of Arkansas
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
Email: mpplassm@uark.edu
My research broadly focuses on the criminal justice system with an emphasis on drug policy and policies that impact people with criminal histories.
I teach social welfare policy and political advocacy courses that focus on local, national, and global economic and social issues while making sure to emphasize the role of drug policy and criminal justice policy in exacerbating these issues. I also helped develop a drug policy class that will be part of our new substance use minor. Lastly, I advocate for increased involvement in the political process for social workers and the socially and economically marginalized communities they serve, particularly people who use drugs and/or have criminal histories.
Taylor Reed, UCLA
MSW/PHD STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
Email: taylorashlyn@ucla.edu
I’m particularly interested in how environmental factors that are at play once individuals are no longer incarcerated affect the success of reentry programs, and how re-entry programs address these exposures. The focus of my research will center around identifying success and weaknesses in existing re-entry programs and highlighting data-backed modifications to these programs to bolster a successful transition back into society. My research will also include studying minority youth in urban neighborhoods and how exposure to violence (both frequency and type) affect their incarceration rates. This work can hopefully be adapted to study other social and environmental factors in order to better understand which experiences are most associated with juvenile incarceration. My work will allow for policy makers and stakeholders to comprehensively understand what occurs in these neighborhoods and identify vulnerable areas that can serve as intervention points to help protect these at-risk youth.
Jacoba Rock, Juniata College
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, JUNIATA COLLEGE
Email: rock@juniata.edu
Website: https://www.juniata.edu/academics/departments/sociology/faculty.php
Jacoba Rock is an Assistant Professor of Social Work and Criminal Justice and the B.S.W. Program Director at Juniata College. She received her Master of Social Work degree, with a clinical concentration in work with High-Risk Youth in 2010, and a graduate certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution in 2008, both from the University of Denver. She received her doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies, with a doctoral minor in Criminology, from Pennsylvania State University in 2021. Dr. Rock’s research focuses on the developmental consequences of childhood trauma, including biological, cognitive, and social contributions, for individuals involved in the juvenile and criminal justice systems, and related intervention opportunities for incarcerated juveniles and young adults. She leads an assessment and intervention study at a Department of Corrections facility which houses young adult offenders, testing the use of a staff empathy training and implementation of a mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral intervention. Prior research has focused on restorative practices in juvenile correctional facilities, and systemic disparities in response to parole violations. Dr. Rock maintains social work licensure in both Colorado and Pennsylvania, where she continues to assess a small number of clients serving life without parole sentences for crimes convicted as juveniles, and provide court testimony in these cases; this work began in 2012, following the Miller v. Alabama Supreme Court ruling which held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juveniles. Her work has focused on collaborating with attorneys and other criminal justice advocates to encourage the use of social science research which supports resentencing efforts and service access for incarcerated young people. Before 2012, Dr. Rock worked for several years in the child welfare system, as an assessment specialist and caseworker. Between her undergraduate and graduate training, she was also the program coordinator for a restorative justice program based at a police department. She went on to facilitate psychoeducational groups for young adult offenders, primarily those with substance use and anger management related needs. Dr. Rock’s courses include program evaluation, clinical practice courses, cognitive behavioral therapy, group treatment, restorative approaches, child and adolescent trauma, adolescent development, social welfare policy, and juvenile delinquency and youth violence. Dr. Rock serves on the HEAL-PA Trauma Consultation team, Pennsylvania Re-Entry Council, and the Pennsylvania Office of Advocacy and Reform 21st Century Solutions think tank. She also serves Juniata College through participation on the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Council, Bias Response Team, General Education Committee, Health Professions Committee, and Baker Institute board.
Allison Salisbury, UIUC
PHD STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Email: aas6@illinois.edu
Allison Salisbury (she/her/hers), MSW, is a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, School of Social Work. Her research interests include criminal justice content in the social work curriculum.
Kim Stauss, University of Arkansas
PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS – SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Email: kstauss@uark.edu
I have collaborated on the development of letter-writing program to help incarcerated parents reconnect with their children. We have completed research on this program and tried to disseminate this program in both community and departmental correctional facilities.
Megan Schlegel, San Jose State University
LECTURER, SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY
Email: megan.schlegel@sjsu.edu
Website: https://www.sjsu.edu/justicestudies/our-department/faculty-and-staff/schlegel-m/index.html
James R. Shannon, University of Maryland
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Email: jshannon@umbc.edu
Currently teaching in the undergraduate policy sequence at the University of Maryland Baltimore County School of Social Work, I have been asked by administrative staff to consider designing a policy course bridging social welfare policy with criminal justice policy. Prior to retiring from the Mongomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation after more than twenty five years of service, I had routinely supervised social work interns, undergrads and grads, in the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation. Most of my work was in Reentry at the Montgomery County Pre-Release Center.
Amy Smoyer, Southern Connecticut State University
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY
Email: smoyera1@southernct.edu
Website: www.amysmoyer.com
My program of research examines the structural determinants of health and health disparities. Specifically, I seek to build knowledge about the lived experience of incarceration, parole, and probation in order to better understand the impact of correctional systems on individual and community health. I am particularly interested in women’s experiences with these systems. In terms of outcomes, my work has focused primarily on HIV care and prevention and food-related wellness.
Kim Stauss, University of Arkansas
PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS – SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Email: kstauss@uark.edu
I have collaborated on the development of letter-writing program to help incarcerated parents reconnect with their children. We have completed research on this program and tried to disseminate this program in both community and departmental correctional facilities.
Hiroki Toi, Toyo University
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, TOYO UNIVERSITY
Email: hirokitoi.sw@gmail.com
Website: http://ris.toyo.ac.jp/profile/en.49ce7e9f9582deae7ed49a595b30efe8.html
Hiroki Toi is an Assistant Professor at Toyo University in Japan where he teaches criminal justice and social work for undergraduate students. Hiroki’s research primarily focuses on better understanding the professional values and conflict among forensic social workers. Hiroki worked as a research assistant for the Connecticut State Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and has practiced in forensic psychiatric hospital, prison hospital, and also served as a social work advisor at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office.
Stephen Tripodi, Florida State University
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DOCTORAL PROGRAM DIRECTOR, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Email: stripodi@fsu.edu
Website: https://csw.fsu.edu/person/stephen-tripodi
Stephen Tripodi’s most recent projects include analyzing the influence of childhood victimization on adult mental health/substance use problems for incarcerated women and ultimately researching its relationship with recidivism. Stephen has recently completed a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of Seeking Safety with women prisoners on PTSD symptoms, depression, and cravings to use alcohol and/or drugs. Seeking Safety is a trauma-focused, cognitive-behavioral substance abuse intervention. Stephen and his interdisciplinary research team are currently writing grant proposals to expand this RCT to include several prisons and jails throughout North Carolina and Idaho.
Mel Wilson, NASW
SENIOR POLICY CONSULTANT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS
Email: mwilson.NASW@socialworkers.org
My interest and experience with criminal justice and social work includes being active in criminal justice policy and legislative actions via my affiliation with – NASW, the Justice Roundtable , the Justice Reform Taskforce, and the Criminal Justice Behavioral Health Work Group. I have also written several NASW Social Justice Briefs on topics including bail reform, racial profiling, drug policy, and juvenile justice issues.
Alexandra Wimberly, University of Maryland
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
Email: awimberly@ssw.umaryland.edu
Website: https://www.ssw.umaryland.edu/academics/faculty/alexandra-wimberly/
Alexandra researches interventions for individuals with substance use problems and associated challenges such as criminal justice involvement and HIV risk. She is interested in complementary health approaches to improve stress coping as a pathway to reduced substance use. For example, she designed and implemented an RCT testing the effect of a yoga intervention on stress, substance use and HIV outcomes for individuals in reentry from prison or jail. Alexandra also researches interventions that recognize the chronic nature of substance use disorders, particularly continuing care.
Lilane Windsor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
DIRECTOR FOR FACULTY RESEARCH, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Email: lwindsor@illinois.edu
Website: www.newarkccb.org
Liliane Cambraia Windsor, Ph.D., MSW is the Director of Faculty Research and Associate Professor at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, School of Social Work. Her research focuses on the application of critical consciousness theory to the development of multi-level interventions designed to reduce health inequalities related to substance use disorders, including HIV infection and incarceration in marginalized communities. Dr. Windsor follows community based participatory research (CBPR) principles and utilizes a variety of scientific methodologies including ethnography, randomized experimental controlled trials, measurement development, meta-analysis, and online survey. Dr. Windsor is the founder and chair of the Newark Community Collaborative Board, a group of researchers, service providers, and consumers developed Community Wise, a multilevel intervention designed to reduce substance use frequency, criminal offending, and health risk behaviors. Dr. Windsor has overseen numerous research studies in the United States and in Brazil. Currently, she is principal investigator of the Community Wise Optimization study (R01 funded by NIMHD) and its administrative supplements. Dr. Windsor is also a co-investigator in the Social Action in Rural Communities Study, an Avant Guarde research award from NIDA to Dr. Dolores Albarracin. Finally, Dr. Windsor is a RWJ Health Policy fellow at the National Academy of Medicine. Her teaching interests include research methods, social justice, and substance use disorders. Born and raised in Brazil, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from FCH-FUMEC, Brazil in 1998. She moved to Texas in 2000 to pursue her Master of Science and doctoral degrees in Social Work from The University of Texas at Austin.
Hidenori Yamatani, Pittsburgh University
ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH PITTSBURGH UNIVERSITY, PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL WORK
Email: hzy@pitt.edu
Website: http://crsp.pitt.edu/person/hidenori-yamatani-phd-msw
As the Pitt School of Social Work’s associate dean for research, Yamatani oversees sponsored research, training, and service projects; provides proposal-development assistance for external funding; promotes interdisciplinary research projects; enhances scholarly research and activities; and facilitates faculty mentoring. A full professor, his research specialties include organizational development, strategic planning, program optimization and evaluation, and community research. Yamatani directs Pitt’s Community Enhancement Research Network (CERN), which promotes community development through collaborative applied social work research. CERN includes faculty from the social work school and other Pitt units as well as non-Pitt researchers and community stakeholders.