Karen Kolivoski

Deputy Director, Research

Karen M. Kolivoski, PhD, MSW is the Deputy Director for Research at the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and is a Distinguished Fellow of Juvenile Justice in the youth development department at Child Trends. In her role at CJJR, she leads rigorous research and evaluation of programs and services that are valuable to those working to improve youth who are impacted by the youth justice, child welfare, and related systems.

Broadly, her research aims to advance social justice through structural changes that affect the lives of children, youth, and families who experience involvement in multiple systems, specifically the child welfare, youth, and criminal legal systems. She has specific expertise on crossover and dual system youth. Prior to coming onboard at CJJR full-time, she was the Lead Data Consultant for the Crossover Youth Practice Model (CYPM).

Previously, she was a tenured Associate Professor in the Community, Administration, and Policy Practice concentration at the Howard University School of Social Work. She also was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

In 2022, Dr. Kolivoski provided testimony to a House subcommittee on improving the juvenile justice system. She was named a Research Fellow for the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) in 2021 and is currently a member of the editorial board for Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. She is the former chair of the Criminal and Juvenile Justice track for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Annual Program Meeting (APM).

Dr. Kolivoski received her Ph.D. in social work and Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Pittsburgh. She also has a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from Mercyhurst University.