ESU Backup Insider

At 19 years old, Carrie Maloney sat in a lecture hall at Pennsylvania State University listening intently to a woman who had been exonerated from death row, a guest speaker for an open forum at the university. That powerful talk led Maloney to immediately change her major from psychology to criminal justice. “That was the first time justice inspired me,” she said. “It got me excited.”

Maloney found her passion for criminal justice in every class she took after that. After earning her undergraduate degree, she went on to earn her master’s degree and doctorate in criminal justice from Rutgers University. Inspired by all she’d learned, Maloney knew that the inspiration she felt early on would point her in the direction of sharing her passion with other students just preparing to embark on the same career path.

Now, an assistant professor of criminal justice at East Stroudsburg University (ESU), Maloney was recently awarded a $178,150 grant from the National Institute of Justice.

“This grant enables Dr. Maloney to serve as co-investigator in important statewide, cutting-edge research that also informs her teaching and coordination of the criminal justice program,” John Kraybill-Gregoo, Ph.D., chair and associate professor of sociology, social work and criminal justice, said. “It ultimately benefits our students by bringing real-world examples to the classroom.”

Maloney leveraged this grant from initial funding from an FDR Major Leveraging grant, which she was awarded at the end of 2014.

Maloney will partner with Joel Miller, a professor at Rutgers University, to research practioners’ routine use and compliance with risk needs assessment tools (RNAs). Risk needs assessment tools refer to the practice of using a structured tool that combines information about youth to classify them as being low-, moderate- or high-risk for reoffending or continued delinquent activity, as well as identifying factors that might reduce that risk on an individual basis.

Specifically the two professors will examine the use of the Youth Level of Service / Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) by juvenile probation officers within Pennsylvania county probation offices. The YLS/CMI helps probation officers, youth workers, psychologists, and social workers identify the youth’s major needs, strengths, barriers, and incentives; select the most appropriate goals for him or her; and produce an effective case management plan.

“We want successful young adults,” Maloney said. “Our hope is that if we understand the dynamic we will be able to come up with key strategies to improve the system.”

Maloney had experience working within the juvenile justice system prior to this new opportunity. While she was in graduate school, she worked with the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission on their nationally supported juvenile justice system reform initiative, called Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI). After graduating she spent eight years there.

“People are so set in their ways when it comes to criminal justice systems,” she said. “I loved that challenge — I loved what I did.”

Being able to focus on her research because of the grant gives Maloney “the best of both worlds.”

“I love that I can spend my time in both academics and research,” she said. “Most importantly, my research will allow me to bring concrete examples to every student I teach at ESU,” she said.

The first phase of their study will involve in-depth qualitative research in five diverse county probation offices in Pennsylvania. Research will include interviews with juvenile probation officers, case studies of juvenile assessment and decision-making events and observations of juvenile probation officer activities conducting assessment case-management of juveniles. Data will be analyzed inductively to develop explanations and theories accounting for variations in compliance.

In the second phase, an electronic survey of all juvenile probation officers in the state will be used to audit officer and county compliance with RNAs. It will also be used to test hypotheses concerning the predictors of compliance/non-compliance developed from the first phase of research.

The research will conclude after two years.

“When I first received the news that we were awarded the grant I was shaking a little bit,” Maloney said. “Now, we have to do this – we have a chance to make a real difference.”