Taylor Gonzales is a Doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Her research interests center around corrections, recidivism, and program evaluations. Taylor’s work has appeared in Criminal Justice and Behavior and Trauma Care.

Taylor is currently working on a few different projects related to the realm of corrections. First, she is working with Dr. Jennifer Tostlebe on a grant-funded project examining a local reentry program. The project goal is to establish the process and procedures for the reentry program while also tracking prior participants of the program to gauge their success post-program. Additionally, she is working with Dr. Zachary Hamilton on a manuscript that seeks to compare risk and need scores at four different time points, ranging from 6 months prior to release to 18 months post-release. The goal is to determine if and how needs shift over time and to assess the impact of these changes on recidivism risk. Lastly, she is working with a former advisor, Dr. Ahram Cho from New Mexico State University, and Dr. Alexander Updegrove from University of North Texas on a drug court related manuscript. The paper uses group-based trajectory modeling to identify patterns of early in-program substance use and assess their effect on overall program completion.