Evan Marie Lowder

George Mason University | GMU · Department of Criminology, Law and Society

Pretrial risk assessments are used in local pretrial settings to inform release and supervision decisions. Yet, there is little research on the implementation of pretrial risk assessments in practice. We examined the characteristics of pretrial decision-making matrices in a statewide sample of counties using the same risk assessment tool. We procur...

Background: The United States continues to experience unprecedented rates of overdose mortality and need to identify effective policies or practices that can be implemented. This study aims to measure the prevalence, frequency, timing, and rate of touchpoints that occurred prior to a fatal overdose where communities might intervene. Methods: In...

Prior research supports the relationship between limited outside communication in jails and adverse mental health outcomes. High phone call costs limit opportunities for residents to contact loved ones and may hinder their ability to cope with incarceration. Using cross-sectional data on jails across 44 states and Washington, D.C. in 2018, we condu...

Prior research has explored factors associated with probation outcomes, but few studies have examined pathways of noncompliance leading to probation failure. We conducted social sequence analysis to identify trajectories of compliance and noncompliance in a sample of 4,389 probationers in Monroe County, Indiana. Our findings showed full compliance...

Background Rising rates of fentanyl- and polydrug-involved drug overdose deaths have prompted inquiry into the role of drug supply in fatal overdose outcomes in the United States. To date, however, there have been few empirical investigations of drug enforcement strategies on fatal overdose rates, despite knowledge that both drug use and supply are...

Criminal justice stakeholders have increasingly relied on probation supervision as an alternative to incarceration and yet, probation revocations often result in incarceration. As such, increased understanding of the mechanisms behind revocations and strategies to reduce them is critical. We conduct a rapid review of the literature on factors assoc...

Little research exists about PTSD and traumatic experiences among justice-involved individuals with mental illnesses and how those experiences differ by race and gender. We examined traumatic experiences and PTSD among 187 individuals with serious mental illnesses on probation in the United States: 94% of participants experienced a traumatic event,...

Abstract: There remain serious concerns about the potential for pretrial risk assessments to exacerbate racial disparities. Yet, current evidence on differential prediction in pretrial risk assessments is limited. The present investigation tests for differential prediction by race as an indication of bias in Indiana Risk Assessment System–Pretrial...

Background Adults with behavioral health disorders in criminal-legal systems are at heightened risk of suicide relative to the general population. Despite documented racial disparities in criminal processing and behavioral health treatment, few studies have examined racial differences in suicide risk in this already high-risk population. This study...

Pretrial reform efforts have facilitated earlier release of pretrial defendants, raising potential concerns about an increase in failure to appear (FTA) rates. Prior research has shown mixed, but generally positive, effectiveness of court notification strategies to reduce FTAs; however, to our knowledge, no study has examined this strategy for defe...

Objective Conduct a multi-site, retrospective investigation of predictive bias and disparate impact post-implementation of the Indiana Risk Assessment System-Pretrial Assessment Tool (IRAS-PAT). Methods Black and White defendants who received IRAS-PAT assessments (n = 2,570) were matched to two comparison conditions (n = 1,527 and n = 3,107) of de...

Researchers and stakeholders have developed many definitions to evaluate whether algorithmic pretrial risk assessment instruments are fair in terms of their error and accuracy. Error and accuracy are often operationalized using three sets of indicators: false-positive and false-negative percentages, false-positive and false-negative rates, and posi...

Objective: Criminal justice and emergency medical service (EMS) outcomes were compared for individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis who received a response from a co-response team (CRT) or a usual response from the police after a 911 call. Methods: A prospective, quasi-experimental design was used to examine outcomes of a CRT pilot te...

Despite the growing use of both pretrial risk assessment and supervision as pretrial reform strategies, there has been limited investigation on the effectiveness of risk assessment-informed pretrial supervision. We conducted a multi-site, retrospective investigation in 1,505 pretrial defendants from four local jurisdictions to examine risk assessme...

Purpose We conducted a multi-site, quasi-experimental investigation of the effects of pretrial risk assessments on pretrial release decisions and misconduct outcomes relative to practice as usual. Methods Using a multiple non-equivalent comparison group design, we matched 2631 pretrial defendants who received a risk assessment during a 1-year pilo...

Local jurisdictions are increasingly using pretrial risk assessment instruments to assess risk of pretrial misconduct and inform release decisions. We adopted a local validation approach to examine the predictive validity of Indiana Risk Assessment System-Pretrial Assessment Tool (IRAS-PAT) assessments in 3,739 unique pretrial defendants across fiv...

Research Summary We conducted a retrospective, quasi‐experimental study of a police naloxone program to examine individual outcomes following nonfatal overdose where either police (n = 111) or emergency medical services (n = 1,229) provided a first response and administered naloxone. Individuals who received a police response were more likely to be...

Objective: Justice-involved people with mental illnesses, in general, experience poor criminal justice outcomes (i.e., high rates of recidivism and probation revocations) and are at increased risk of homelessness, unemployment, stigma, trauma, and poor physical health. Low social support is repeatedly associated with worse mental health outcomes i...

Bail reform is sweeping the nation and many jurisdictions are looking to pretrial risk assessment as one potential strategy to support these efforts. This article summarizes the findings of a systematic review of research examining the predictive validity of pretrial risk assessments. We reviewed 11 studies (13 publications) examining the predictiv...

Background A lack of large-scale, individually linked data often has impeded efforts to disentangle individual-level variability in outcomes from area-level variability in studies of many diseases and conditions. This study investigated individual and county-level variability in outcomes following non-fatal overdose in a state-wide cohort of opioid...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators to use of the SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) model with justice-involved adults. Method: Using a modified snowball sampling strategy, we distributed an online mixed-methods survey to SOAR providers with known criminal justice collaborations. Participan...

Objectives: Understanding the scope of the current opioid epidemic requires accurate counts of the number of opioid-involved drug overdose deaths. Given known errors and limitations in the reporting of these deaths, several studies have used statistical methods to develop estimates of the true number of opioid-involved overdose deaths. This study...

Eligibility criteria for participation in mental health jail diversion programs often specify that, to be diverted, a candidate must not pose a level of threat to public safety that cannot be managed in the community. Risk assessment tools were developed to increase consistency and accuracy in estimates of threat to public safety. Consequently, ris...

Background: We examine racial disparities in drug overdose death rates by analyzing trends in fatal and nonfatal overdose outcomes in a large metropolitan area (Indianapolis, Indiana). Methods: Death certificate and toxicology records for accidental drug overdose deaths from 2011 to 2018 were linked with emergency medical services (EMS) data. Bi...

Consistent risk category placement of criminal justice clients across instruments will improve the communication of risk. Efforts coordinated by the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center led to the development of a principled (i.e., a system based on a given set of procedures) method of developing risk assessment levels. An established...

Objective: The Brief Jail Mental Health Screen (BJMHS) is widely used at intake in county jails to identify detainees who may have serious mental illness and who should be referred for further mental health evaluation. The BJMHS may be administered multiple times across repeated jail bookings; however, the extent to which results may change over t...

Despite the high prevalence of behavioral health disorders in justice settings and prior research on the importance of attitudes in successful treatment outcomes for behavioral health populations, few studies have examined criminal justice professionals’ attitudes toward mental illness and substance use. We conducted a state-wide survey of 610 crim...

Despite the high prevalence of behavioral health disorders in justice settings and prior research on the importance of attitudes in successful treatment outcomes for behavioral health populations, few studies have examined criminal justice professionals' attitudes toward mental illness and substance use. We conducted a statewide survey of 610 crimi...

Background: In an effort to reduce the increasing number of persons with mental illness (PMI) experiencing incarceration, co-responding police-mental health teams are being utilized as a way to divert PMI from the criminal justice system. Co-response teams are typically an inter-agency collaboration between police and mental health professionals,...

Objectives: To demonstrate the severity of undercounting opioid-involved deaths in a local jurisdiction with a high proportion of unspecified accidental poisoning deaths. Methods: We matched toxicology data to vital records for all accidental poisoning deaths (n = 1238) in Marion County, Indiana, from January 2011 to December 2016. From vital re...

Background and Aims Despite rising rates of opioid overdose in the United States, few studies have examined the frequency of non‐fatal overdose events or mortality outcomes following resuscitation. Given the widespread use of naloxone to respond to overdose‐related deaths, naloxone administration may provide a useful marker of overdose events to id...

Risk assessments are now implemented in correctional settings across the United States as an evidence-based strategy to inform sentencing and supervision decisions. Despite growing research examining racial bias in the predictive validity of risk assessments, few studies have investigated racial bias in the context of judicial decision-making. We i...

Objective: Postpartum mood disorders represent a serious problem affecting 10-20% of women and support groups offer a promising intervention modality. The current study examined participant satisfaction with and effectiveness of a peer-facilitated postpartum support group. Intervention: The program consists of a free, peer-support group, develop...

Objective: Mental health courts (MHCs) were developed to address the overrepresentation of adults with mental illnesses in the U.S. criminal justice system through diversion into community-based treatment. Research on MHCs has proliferated in recent years, and there is a need to synthesize contemporary literature on MHC effectiveness. The authors...

Objective: The SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) program has been shown to increase access to Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance benefits among homeless adults. However, little empirical data exist on how or for whom SOAR achieves successful application outcomes. This study investigated applicant and...

Protective factors may play an important role in the assessment, treatment, and supervision of adult offenders with mental illnesses. However, little is known regarding associations between protective factors, risk factors, and recidivism in this population. In research with adolescents, five models describing these associations have been proposed...

Risk assessment instruments are increasingly used in mental health jail diversion programs. This study examined the reliability and validity of Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) and Level of Service Inventory–Revised (LSI-R) assessments overall and by client race. Research assistants completed START and LSI-R assessments for 95...

Parents and children experiencing an episode of homelessness face a variety of adverse factors that can increase their risk of difficult relationships and even child maltreatment. Parent support programs have been suggested as one way to strengthen parent-child relationships and decrease risk of child maltreatment for this vulnerable population, bu...

Adults with mental illnesses are frequent flyers in the criminal justice system. Theory and research suggest that changes in dynamic risk and protective factors may be associated with risk of recidivism in this population. This study evaluated whether the presence and direction of change in risk and protective factors was associated with recidivism...

Over the past decade, Mental Health Courts (MHCs) have spread rapidly across the U.S. These courts aim to reduce recidivism among adults with mental illnesses through diversion into community-based treatment. Extant research suggests that MHCs can be effective in reducing recidivism, but also demonstrates that effectiveness varies as a function of...

Prior research has identified medication adherence and substance use as risk factors for recidivism, including committing new offenses and violating conditions of probation or parole (Castillo & Alarid, 2011; Farabee & Shen, 2004; Young et al., 1999). However, these associations have not been explored in jail diversion populations. This study explo...

Despite efforts to reduce recidivism among offenders with mental illnesses, a subset continues to cycle through mental health care and criminal justice systems. Recent research suggests that general risk factors may mediate the relationship between mental illness and recidivism in many justice-involved adults with mental illnesses (Skeem et al., 20...

Introduction: Although multiple factors contribute to the over-representation of adults with mental illnesses in the criminal justice system, evidence suggests that mental health treatment reduces recidivism risk. Additionally, research shows that offenders with poorer mental health are more likely to reoffend than offenders with better mental heal...

Mental health diversion may promote mental health; however, few studies have explored factors predicting changes in such outcomes in this population. Substance use and medication adherence are two factors demonstrating associations with mental health outcomes in other populations, including psychiatric symptom severity, which may be relevant to jai...

Introduction: Previous studies explored associations between medication adherence, substance abuse, and recidivism among adults with mental illnesses (Farabee & Shen 2004, Young et al. 1999); however, findings have been mixed. Building on past research, this study explored associations between medication adherence, substance use, and recidivism in...

Although research has established the profound effects that intimate partner abuse can have on postpartum mental health, little is known regarding how this association may change as a function of the timing and type of abuse. This study examined associations of psychological, physical and sexual abuse experienced as adults before and during pregnan...