Graduate Research Assistant

Cathee is a current Master of Public Policy student at the Schar School of Policy and Government. She is working toward applying her academic and professional experiences and skillsets to study and impact the formation, implementation, and evaluation of reentry policies, specifically with relation to educational, professional, and housing opportunities during and after incarceration.

Degrees

• J.D., University of Maryland School of Law
• M.B.A., University of Maryland School of Business
• M.A., Criminal Justice, American Military University
• B.A., Psychology, University of San Francisco

Research Interests

• Reentry
• Policy
• Recidivism

Current Projects

• Evaluation of Stepping up Efforts to Improve MH Services and Justice Utilization (NIMH) (Dr. Faye Taxman, Dir., Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence)
• Dangers and Policy Concerns of Modern Technologies Database (Dr. Stephen Ruth, Dir., International Center for Applied Studies in Information Technology)

What is so fascinating about one research project you are working on at ACE!

The scope of the Stepping Up project is enormous. Being involved in multiple aspects of the project has helped me better understand the process and problem solving involved in large, respondent-/survey-based data gathering and analysis.

How do you think working on ACE! projects will make you a better researcher?

ACE! is a great place to get exposed to complex research done by top-notch researchers. Every day holds the opportunity to learn something new!

If you had to give advise to an agency about evidence-based practices, what would that be.

Evidence-based practices are the goal, but context plays an important role in their success. It takes proper research on the back end and buy-in from the front-end users to get meaningful results.