Research Scientist 2

Position Summary

The Center for Applied Research and Analysis (CARA), part of the University of New Mexico's Institute for Social Research, seeks a Research Scientist 2 to conduct applied research and evaluation in criminal justice, behavioral health, and related public policy areas.

The Research Scientist 2 works on a small project team under the direction of a senior researcher and takes ownership of defined parts of each project: preparing and analyzing data, reviewing the literature, and drafting report sections. Much of our work uses administrative records from jails, courts, corrections, law enforcement, and behavioral health providers. The successful candidate will be comfortable working with messy real-world data, quick to learn new methods and subject areas, and careful about getting the numbers right.

We routinely partner with local and state government entities. Current projects include:

Bernalillo County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

Ongoing tracking of the county jail population: bookings, releases, length of stay, and recidivism, with focused work on people with serious mental illness and on the people booked most often

Studies of pretrial detention and release, including preventive detention motions, the Public Safety Assessment, and a survey of how judges, prosecutors, and public defenders interpret its risk scores

Linked jail and court data studies of case processing: violent felony cases, how charges change between booking and disposition, and disparities in outcomes by race, ethnicity, and gender

A data linkage project joining jail, court, and state prison records to study sentencing, time served, and returns to custody

Spatial analyses of whether Albuquerque's zero-fare bus policy, property blight, and business closures affect crime and police calls for service

New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts

A mixed-methods evaluation of the Competency Diversion pilot program, which connects people who cycle through competency proceedings on low-level charges to treatment, drawing on program and court records, staff surveys, and interviews

Validation of the Pretrial Support Navigator (PSN) screening tool, a brief instrument used at pretrial services intake to identify people who would benefit from a support navigator

An outcome evaluation of assisted outpatient treatment, examining emergency department visits and hospitalizations among participants statewide

New Mexico Corrections Department

Monitoring and validation of the department's custody classification tool, including how classification and mental health scores relate to institutional misconduct

Return-to-prison analysis that separates new convictions from technical parole and probation violations, and studies of who participates in prison programming and with what outcomes

Other research partnerships

A National Institutes of Health-funded study, with New York University and Rutgers University, that treats New Mexico's 2024 elimination of court fees (House Bill 139) as a natural experiment and examines its effects on recidivism, legal debt, drug court participation, and overdose

A longitudinal randomized controlled trial of the CommonSpirit St. Joseph's Children home visiting program, following families through interviews and health care records

What You Will Do

• Clean, link, manage, and analyze quantitative data from administrative and survey sources, using scripted and reproducible workflows
• Collect primary data as projects require, including surveys, interviews, and record reviews
• Conduct literature reviews and summarize the evidence for non-academic audiences
• Draft reports, briefs, research protocols, and sections of proposals
• Prepare tables, figures, and presentations for partner agencies
• Follow Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols, data use agreements, and data security requirements for confidential records
• Train and guide student employees and other research support staff as needed
• Complete other project tasks as needed
• About the Center for Applied Research and Analysis

Our mission: To provide data-driven insights and solutions for positive program and policy change.

CARA provides research, evaluation, and technical assistance to local, state, and federal agencies, the courts, and nonprofit organizations. By combining current academic knowledge, rigorous social science methods, and best practices in evaluation, CARA helps policymakers understand how their decisions and programs affect the populations they serve.

Our staff has expertise in crime and the criminal justice system, pretrial and jail populations, corrections, the courts, behavioral health, substance use treatment, home visiting, homelessness, and public health. We are a small, collaborative team. Staff work directly with agency partners, see their findings used in real decisions, and have opportunities to present, publish, and grow into more senior roles.

Funding and Appointment

CARA is a soft-money research center, meaning that our positions are funded through external contracts and grants rather than recurring university funds. Most of our contracts with state and local agencies follow the state fiscal year (July 1 through June 30) and renew annually, so continuing this position beyond the current fiscal year depends on continued funding.

See the Position Description for additional information.

• Successful candidate must submit to a post-offer, pre-employment physical examination and medical history check. Additional health screenings may be required, dependent on the nature of the research conducted, as determined by Employee Occupational Health Services.

Bachelor's degree; at least 1 year of experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified.

Completed degree(s) from an accredited institution that are above the minimum education requirement may be substituted for experience on a year for year basis.

• Background in a social science, public policy, public health, statistics, or a related field
• Prior research experience in an applied or academic setting
• Proficiency in at least one statistical package (SPSS and R preferred; Stata, SAS, or Python also welcome)
• Experience managing and analyzing administrative data or other large real-world datasets
• Excellent writing skills, including the ability to explain findings to a non-technical reader
• Interest in criminal justice or behavioral health policy
• People who are successful in this position work well both independently and as part of a team. They are self-motivated, detail-oriented, and responsible, and they think critically about data and evidence.

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Positions posted with a Staff Type of Regular or Term are eligible for the Veteran Preference Program. See the Veteran Preference Program webpage for additional details.

The University of New Mexico is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class.

The University of New Mexico requires all regular staff positions successfully pass a pre-employment background check. This may include, but is not limited to, a criminal history background check, New Mexico Department of Health fingerprint screening, New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department fingerprint screening, verification of education credentials, and/or verification of prior employment. For more information about background checks, visit https://policy.unm.edu/university-policies/3000/3280.html. Refer to https://policy.unm.edu/university-policies/3000/3200.html for a definition of Regular Staff.