Professional Interests 

• Effects of criminal policies on children, families, and communities
• Program development and evaluation
• Diffusion of innovations

Current Research

• Analyses of data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being, a longitudinal study of a representative sample of children who were subjects of reports of maltreatment. These analyses examine factors affecting the safety, permanency, and well-being of children whose parents are or have been incarcerated, on probation, or have received other criminal sanctions (e.g., fines).
• Analyses of data from the 1997 Survey of Inmates examining the hypothesis that children are not only affected by parental incarceration but also by the number of different members of their families who have been to prison.
• The unmet need for mental health services among children whose parents are court mandated to receive services from Treatment Alternatives for Safer Communities.

Teaching

• Community Health and Urban Development
• Social work with Communities and Organizations
• Social work in a Multicultural Society
• Program Evaluation
• Statistics

Practice Experience

• National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator
• Duke University Medical Center, Research Associate, Services Effectiveness Research Programs
• University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Research Associate, Center for Outcome Research and Evaluation
• Centers for Youth & Families, Little Rock, AR, Director of Parenting from Prison Programs and Family Matters
• Arkansas State Chairperson, Mothers in Prison-Children in Crises Campaign

Selected Recent Publications

Phillips, S. D. (2008) Making "The Bill of Rights for Children of Incarcerated Parents" a Reality: Evaluation Report. Chicago, IL: Jane Addams College of Social Work.

Phillips, S. D. "The Bill of Rights for Children of Incarcerated Parents" Technical Assistance Project: Contextual Factors. Chicago, IL: Jane Addams College of Social Work.

Dettlaff, A. J. & Phillips, S. D. (2007). Immigration Enforcement: Considerations for child welfare services. Chicago, IL: Jane Addams College of Social Work.

Susan D. Phillips, PhD, James P. Gleeson , PhD ( 2007).  What we Know Now that we Didn't Know Then about the Criminal Justice System's Involvement in Families with whom Child Welfare Agencies have Contact.  Findings from a Landmark National Study [Electronic Version] .  Research Brief: Children, Families, and the Criminal Justice System . Center for Social Policy and Research, Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois at Chicago.

Phillips, S. D., & Erkanli, A. (under review). Differences in the arrest histories of mothers whose children come in contact with child protective service agencies. Children and Youth Services

Phillips, S. D. & Dettlaff, A. J. (in press). More than parents in prison: The broader overlap between the criminal justice and child welfare systems. Public Child Welfare.

Phillips, S. D., Leathers, S., & Erkanli, A. (under review). Children of probationers in the child welfare system. Child Welfare.

Phillips, S. D., Erkanli, A., Costello, E. J., & Angold, A. (2007). Differences among children whose mothers have a history of arrest. Women & Criminal Justice, 17(2/3), 45-63.

Phillips, S. D., Erkanli, A., Keeler, G., Costello, E. J., & Angold, A. (2006). Disentangling the risks: Parent criminal justice involvement and children's exposure to family risks. Criminology and Public Policy, 5(4), 677-702.

 

Affiliations, Associations & Consultations 

American Society of Criminology