Evidence into Action: The Impact of Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs) on Community Supervision

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Bria Cross, M.S. is the Strategic Planning & Analysis Research Specialist for the Georgia Department of Community Supervision. Ms. Cross is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Political Science and Policy at Clark Atlanta University. She is also a certified POST IT instructor in the state of Georgia, an adjunct professor at Georgia State University in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, and a Lecturer at Clark Atlanta University in the Department of Political Science. Ms. Cross's primary research areas include criminal justice policy, political behavior, community-based corrections, and criminological theory. Ms. Cross studies how research informs strategy, practice, and policy within criminal justice agencies and bridges the gap between academia and practice. Ms. Cross has published on several areas related to community-based corrections, active shooter training, policing/judicial system in Canada, and cybersecurity.

Christopher Inkpen, PhD, is a senior research sociologist and demographer in the Center for Justice Systems Research at RTI International. He served as co-PI for the Integrated Dynamic Risk Assessment for Community Supervision (IDRACS) project, funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and has been principal investigator or co-PI on three NIJ–funded grants that use cutting-edge analytical techniques. His methodological work focuses on expanding the use of advanced statistical techniques and data-driven methods to improve risk assessment tools within the criminal justice system. In addition to the NIJ, his research has been funded the National Science Foundation, the Institute of International Education’s Fulbright Scholarship program, the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and the Arnold Ventures foundation.

Dr. Jamie Newsome is a Senior Justice Researcher in the Corrections and Reentry Program in the Justice Practice Area at RTI International. Dr. Newsome’s primary areas of expertise include the use of evidence-based practices in corrections, program evaluation, and barriers to and facilitators of successful reentry. In addition to her research, Dr. Newsome also develops tools and products for use in corrections and provides technical assistance to support agencies throughout the United States as they work to expand and enhance their use of evidence-based practices.

As Strategic Planning and Analysis Director, Nick oversees the agency's strategic plan, research agenda, implementation of interagency initiatives, and associated performance measures to effectively communicate the strategic direction of the agency and ensure alignment with best and next practices. Nick has served the State of Georgia since 2009 and has worked at the Department of Community Supervision since its inception in 2015. Prior to his career with DCS, he worked at the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Corrections. Among his professional accomplishments, he is also a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Alliance for Community and Justice Innovation, the American Society of Criminology, the American Sociological Association, the American Probation and Parole Association, and the Georgia Professional Association of Community Supervision. Nick holds a Doctorate in Sociology from Georgia State University, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Columbus State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Criminology from the University of West Georgia. He is a POST-Certified Instructor, Defensive Tactics Instructor, Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Facilitator, and has completed the University of Georgia’s grant writing program.

Dr. Tonya Van Deinse is a research associate professor in the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Van Deinse and her lab – Health Interventions in the Legal System (HILS Lab) – focus on intervention design, implementation, and evaluation at the interface of behavioral health and legal systems. Dr. Van Deinse started her work in mental health 21 years ago in residential treatment with adults with severe mental illnesses and then later worked in mental health at the systems level (i.e., managed care organization) where she began to focus on people with severe mental illnesses in the criminal justice system. Dr. Van Deinse is the principal investigator and implementation science researcher on a number of research studies and program evaluations. Examples of studies in the legal system include: (1) developing and testing tailored implementation strategies to improve collaboration and coordinator between mental health probation officers and community resource providers, (2) testing clinical case consultation and network building effort to improve implementation of specialized mental health supervision, (3) evaluating an expansion model of a county’s mental health court. Dr. Van Deinse has her BA in Public Policy and Master’s and PhD in Social Work.