Petersen Research Consultants

08/17/2025

Why do we talk about brain development and trauma exposure when understanding risk and responsivity for court-involved juveniles? You can’t teach new skills when the brain is stuck in a fight/flight response!

09/13/2024

I had a great time presenting today at the Joint Juvenile Justice Conference and am looking forward to sticking around for tomorrow’s presentations!

08/06/2024

Money can't buy happiness and it can't fix everything, but not having enough money comes with a whole host of far worse problems. The impact of universal basic income type programs like this is impressive and pilot studies like this are SO needed!

“If you are trapped in financial scarcity, you are also trapped in time scarcity,” Dr. Amy Castro, co-founder of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research, told The Times. “There’s no time for yourself; there’s no time for your kids, your neighbors or anybody else.”

"Compared with those who didn’t receive cash, guaranteed income recipients were more likely to enroll their kids in sports and clubs during and after the pilot."

L.A.'s BIG:LEAP experiment gave monthly payments to poor families for a year with no strings attached. Recipients saw lasting benefits, a study finds.

07/30/2024

If you've heard my outputs vs outcomes soapbox and are interested in homelessness, this article does a good job explaining how focusing on the wrong kind of metrics mean orgs stay playing small and don't reach their needed impact, as well as how that skews funders' and the public's perception of organizational impact. I don't love some of the examples of outcome metrics for homelessness interventions mentioned here (a "housing-first" perspective has been shown in research to be most impactful), but the push is definitely in the right direction!

Nonprofit service providers publish plenty of metrics about their activities, but too often they don’t reflect actual success in reducing homelessness. Measuring impact would help them do more good.

05/09/2024

I’m excited to be invited to present on the interplay of trauma and criminogenic risk at the Promising Youth Conference in Snowbird, Utah!
What a cool location and conference thus far!

I’m loving the focus on shifting juvenile justice approaches to increase capacity building WITH communities to advance peace and justice. 🙌

12/21/2023

The National Day of Racial Healing is coming up January 16! I'm planning on joining a virtual event put on by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. These can be tough topics to discuss sometimes, but dialogue is so needed to work toward the world we desire! Check out this 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗗𝗘 from WKKF for some strategies that can help in facilitating productive dialogues!

12/20/2023

There's an interesting debate happening in Wyoming state legislature that has implications for the nonprofit sector more broadly. It leaves me pondering...

What's the role of the government in providing social safety net supports?
What's the role of nonprofits?
What's the role of individuals?
How and why does the flow of funding impact these decisions?
How will these decisions impact outcomes of those most in need of services?

As WY policymakers debate whether to use state funds to establish a permanent su***de support hotline or to use the funds elsewhere and **hope** nonprofits fill in the gaps, it begs the question...presuming these nonprofits exist and can expand, who will fund this service?

𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙣?

Why couldn't the state-created trust fund be used to fund nonprofits if the argument is that they'll provide better services than the government?

https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/the_hole_scroll/should-wyomings-nonprofits-fill-the-service-gaps-government-leaves-open/article_784c8b1e-9b8d-11ee-9cfd-f37e5d7cce04.html?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_8584439_nl_Philanthropy-Today_date_20231219&cid=pt&source=&sourceid=&fbclid=IwAR3-JqeMU5ed1j93ySgbYOa-BNaSPke3CaPZxCM-YMfPwFKY3HSwHFjp-ek

One of the most emotionally charged issues the Legislature tackled during its last session was su***de prevention.

12/11/2023

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In this workshop, you'll learn:
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Join us and level up in your journey to be a nonprofit data superstar! 🦸‍♀️🦸‍♂️
This workshop will use Tableau Public free online software.
📆 Available on demand beginning December 13, 2023
✍️ Sign up here:
https://www.petersenresearchconsultants.com/dataviztab

Webinar Registration Page for training on using Tableau Public to create a dashboard for your nonprofit's key performance indicators.

12/02/2023

Have you seen OJJDP's latest infographic on bullying? In person bullying on school property is down, while electronic bullying has stayed flat. What's interesting about this? The trend lines for the two CROSSED in 2021 for the first time, meaning 15.9% of students reported being bullied online in the YRBS compared to 15% who reported being bullied in person at school.

It's interesting to consider what the future may look like with online bullying and its connection to juvenile justice, given that online bullying is likely to follow an upward trend! Any predictions for how schools and courts will handle this continuing uptick?

05/26/2023

It was a great time networking, learning, and planning with others at the Michigan ACE Initiative conference this week!