Amy Blank Wilson

Amy Wilson, Ph.D., MSW, joined the faculty in 2014. She is currently an associate professor with more than 13 years practice experience working in the mental health and criminal justice systems. She uses her practice experience and research expertise in qualitative research, intervention research, and secondary analysis of large administrative data to explore new ways to support the complex, interlocking problems, of poverty, homelessness, substance use, and criminogenic needs facing people with mental illness involved in the criminal justice system. She is an expert in the development and testing of interventions for people with serious mental illness involved in the criminal justice system.

Her research includes more than a dozen studies focused on different aspects of people with mental illnesses’ involvement in the criminal justice system, including substance use, service accessibility, jail reentry, community participation, and gender responsive interventions for people with serious mental illness in prisons. Her research has recently expanded to include early stage intervention research focused on expanding the stock of affordable housing available to people with mental illnesses and other health conditions living on a fixed income using Tiny Homes. To accomplish this, Dr. Wilson has helped to build public/private partnership between the School of Social Work and Cross Disability Services, Inc. (XDS), a local non-profit organization. She is the co-director of the Tiny Homes Village project.