A major focus of Melissa Jonson-Reid’s work is understanding how to improve the behavioral, educational and health outcomes associated with childhood exposure to trauma, particularly abuse and neglect. Her work responds to child maltreatment as a serious, prevalent public health concern.
Jonson-Reid has used multi-agency administrative data to identify targets of opportunity to leverage existing resources and/or evaluate policy and program efforts to promote healthy outcomes. She partners with community agencies to explore outcomes of interventions designed to support young families and youth involved with child welfare, as well as child abuse prevention efforts.
Jonson-Reid has practice experience in both domestic violence counseling and program administration as a school social worker in California; she currently provides evaluation consultation for state and community organizations.
At the Brown School, Jonson-Reid directs an NICHD-funded Center for Innovation in Child Maltreatment Policy, Research and Training and chairs the Violence and Injury Prevention concentration in the Master of Social Work program. Both of these involve collaboration with the
Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies. A former director of the Social Work Ph.D. program, she currently serves as chair or member of several doctoral student committees.
