CFACE Highlight: Sam Zottola

We here at the Center for Family and Community Engagement are always excited to highlight the work of our staff, faculty, and students. Today we would like to showcase the work of Sam Zottola, who just received the Derek Eaves Student Research Grant from the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services. Way to go, Sam!

This grant is awarded in honor of Dr. Derek Eaves to support students doing research projects related to the mental health and well being of individuals involved in the justice system. For her project, Sam is looking at whether there is racial bias in a popular pretrial risk assessment instrument, the Public Safety Assessment (PSA). The PSA was developed to predict whether someone will have a new arrest or not come to a court date during the pretrial period. She is looking to see if the PSA predicts these outcomes equally well for Black individuals and White individuals. 

We are thrilled for Sam and know that the work she is doing will have a true impact in the community. Sam is a Graduate Research Assistant in the Psychology Department who recently worked with us on our bail reform study. For more information on Sam, please visit her staff bio.