Faculty Profile

Biography

Kathryn Collins is a researcher and evaluation expert with Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. In this capacity, she conducts and coordinates research to evaluate programs and processes within the court system and in related community programs. She works to develop new and innovate evidence based practices and to incorporate outcomes based metrics throughout the court system. Prior to her work here, she was a researcher with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services. She worked with a complex integrated data system to evaluate programs in child welfare, behavioral health, criminal justice, education and housing. Her primary research interests are in understanding collaboration and cooperation in designing and implementing public policies and in the use of data-driven strategies to improve services to clients. In particular, she has examined how inter-governmental collaboration can improve the design and implementation of public health programs in the developing world. She also examined the relationship of physical structures in communities (e.g., vacant properties) to individual health and educational performance. She teaches courses in public policy, health administration, cost benefit analysis, and program evaluation. She has published reports on practical applications of cost benefit analysis, disparities in outcomes for youth in human services, trends in homicides in Allegheny County, and new ways of examining poverty in local communities.