Jaclyn Houston-Kolnik

Jaclyn Houston-Kolnik is a community research psychologist within RTI’s Center for Community Safety and Crime Prevention, where she currently works on a variety of projects focused on exploring the impact of practices and programming on victims’ help-seeking and healing.

Dr. Houston-Kolnik was formerly the manager of the Center for Victim Studies at the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, where she led a team of researchers to conduct a statewide victim needs assessment to identify gaps in victim service programming and inform state funding opportunities to administer both Victim of Crime Act and Violence Against Women Act funding. Additionally, she partnered with victim service providers to conduct assessments of trauma-informed practices to support staff and volunteer well-being.  

Dr. Houston-Kolnik has led multiple projects and tasks, including evaluation design, cognitive interviewing, training and technical assistance, and quantitative and qualitative design, data collection, and analyses. Informed by her professional training and experience as a former victim advocate, she has extensive experience translating and disseminating findings to multiple audiences, including practitioners, researchers, and state officials. Dr. Houston-Kolnik also consults on victim-centered, trauma-informed practices in research design and implementation with vulnerable populations. She is the author of numerous articles and technical reports on a range of topics including gender-based violence, childhood exposure to violence, victim service delivery, and community context and victimization.