Matthew Epperson
Associate Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice; Director, Smart Decarceration Project
Matt Epperson is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, where he also serves as Director of the Smart Decarceration Project. His research centers on developing, implementing, and evaluating interventions to reduce disparities in the criminal legal system. Dr. Epperson's primary areas of focus include addressing risk factors for criminal legal involvement among persons with mental illnesses, as well as advancing evidence-based approaches to effective and sustainable decarceration. He is Co-Leader of the Promote Smart Decarceration network, through the Grand Challenges for Social Work Initiative. Dr. Epperson’s scholarship and teaching aim to build the capacity of the social work profession to address these challenges and create opportunities for transforming how justice is defined and realized.
Matt Epperson is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, where he also serves as Director of the Smart Decarceration Project. His research centers on developing, implementing, and evaluating interventions to reduce disparities in the criminal legal system. Dr. Epperson's primary areas of focus include addressing risk factors for criminal legal involvement among persons with mental illnesses, as well as advancing evidence-based approaches to effective and sustainable decarceration. He is Co-Leader of the Promote Smart Decarceration network, through the Grand Challenges for Social Work Initiative. Dr. Epperson’s scholarship and teaching aim to build the capacity of the social work profession to address these challenges and create opportunities for transforming how justice is defined and realized.
Current Research Projects:
- System-wide Adaptive Mental Health Measurement and Risk Reduction for Probationers in Cook County, Illinois (Principal Investigator). This project works in collaboration with Cook County Health to study the implementatio of a novel and evidence-based mental health screening tool, Computer Adaptive Testing-Mental Health (CAT-MHTM) in the Cook County Adult Probation Department. The study is funded by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Read more about the study here.
- Building Evidence to Inform the Expansion of Prosecutor-led Diversion Programs (Principal Investigator). Funded by the Joyce Foundation, this study examines the potential of prosecutor-led diversion programs across three sites (Cook County, IL; Milwaukee County, WI; and the City of Minneapolis, MN) to redress existing disparities in the criminal justice system. Read more about the study here,
- Reducing Opioid Mortality in Illinois (Co-Investigator). Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, this multi-site trial seeks to improve supports and service linkages to evidence-based treatments for criminal justice-involved individuals living with opioid use disorders.
- Evaluation: Justice and Mental Health Collaborative (Principal Investigator). A mixed methods process and outcome evaluation of a Bureau of Justice Assistance funded initiative being led by the Cook County Health and Hospital Systems and the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Professor Epperson is faculty director of the Transforming Justice Policies and Practices program of study at Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. He teaches courses in direct practice and research methods, as well as a course that he designed entitled “Smart Decarceration: A Grand Challenge for Social Work.” He has over 15 years of clinical and administrative social work experience in behavioral health and criminal justice settings.
Prior to joining SSA, professor Epperson was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Behavioral Health Services & Criminal Justice Research at Rutgers University's Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research. He received his Ph.D. with distinction from the Columbia University School of Social Work, a M.S.W. from Grand Valley State University, and a B.S. in Sociology/Criminal Justice from Central Michigan University.