About MDRC

Ellis works in the Youth Development, Criminal Justice, and Employment policy area, evaluating interventions and programs aimed at reducing recidivism and improving outcomes for criminal justice system-involved populations. Her current projects include the Los Angeles County Reentry Integrated Services Project and the Pretrial Justice Collaborative. Before joining MDRC in 2020, she worked as a lab manager at the Risk-Resilience Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, where she led research projects promoting evidence-based policies and practices that decrease the risk of reoffending and boost the well-being of mentally ill individuals involved in the criminal justice system. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
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MDRC Publications
BriefHow Community Health Workers Help Navigate Reentry
October, 2022Community Health Workers (CHWs) are critical to Los Angeles County’s Reentry Intensive Case Management Services program, which assists clients following incarceration or probation by connecting them to services. This brief describes CHWs’ role, outlines their strategies, and offers insights for incorporating “lived experience” into their approach to helping clients.
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Other Publications
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Projects
Jurisdictions across the country are striving to increase equity in their pretrial justice systems by reducing their use of pretrial detention and money bail, which affect Black people and other people of color disproportionately and are linked to negative health and well-being outcomes. Despite the intentions of these reforms, there is little rigorous evidence...