Lois M. Davis

Lois M. Davis
Senior Policy Researcher
Santa Monica Office

Education

Ph.D. in public health, University of California, Los Angeles

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Lois M. Davis (she/her) is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. She has over 30 years research experience in the areas of public safety and public health, with a focus on justice-involved populations. Her expertise includes qualitative and quantitative analysis, program evaluation, and working with agencies and organizations involved in service provision, policymaking, or the administration of programs. Davis currently is leading a multi-year evaluaiton of California's 1170.01 County Resentencing Pilot Program. She also is leading a study to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prison education in the United States. Davis is coleading the development of the Census of Youth Law Enforcement Experience Programs for the COPS Office, U.S. Department of Justice. She coauthored the 2021 guidebook What Corrections Officials Need to Know to Partner with Colleges to Implement College Programs in Prisons. She recently completed evaluations of Minnesota Department of Corrections’ Career Navigators Program and North Carolina's Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary Education. Past research includes a national evaluation of the effectiveness of educational and vocational training programs for incarcerated adults and juveniles funded under the Second Chance Act; a multi-year evaluation of welfare reform in California; development of a long-term evaluation framework for the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health and Health Care; and a study to assess the public health implications of prisoner reentry in California. Davis received her Ph.D. in public health from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Recent Projects

  • Assessing the Effectiveness of Correctional Education
  • Evaluation of SB 1041 Reforms to California's CalWORKS Program
  • Evaluation of North Carolina's Pathways from Prison to Post-Secondary Education demonstration project
  • Assessment of the Impact of COVID-19 on Correctional Education Programs for Incarcerated Adults
  • Evaluation of California's 1170.01 County Resentencing Pilot Program

Selected Publications

Davis, Lois M., Jennifer L. Steele, Robert Bozick, Malcolm V. Williams, Susan Turner, Jeremy N. V. Miles, Jessica Saunders, and Paul S. Steinberg, How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go from Here? The Results of a Comprehensive Evaluation, RAND Corporation (RR-564), 2014

Davis, Lois M., Robert Bozick, Jennifer L. Steele, Jessica Saunders, and Jeremy N. V. Miles, Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education: A Meta-Analysis of Programs That Provide Education to Incarcerated Adults, RAND Corporation (RR-266), 2013

Robert Bozick, Jennifer Steele, Lois M. Davis, Susan Turner, "Does Providing Inmates with Education Improve Post-Release Outcomes? A Meta-Analysis of Correctional Education Programs in the United States," Journal of Experimental Criminology, 2018

Davis, Lois M., Lynn A. Karoly, Dionne Barnes-Proby, Beverly A. Weidmer, Praise O. Iyiewuare, Robert Bozick, Gabriele Fain, Sami Kitmitto, Cheryl Graczewski, Eric Larsen, Johannes M. Bos, Melissa Arellanes, Andrew Horinouchi, Jennifer Anthony, Marina Castro, Kaitlin Fronberg, Connie Chandra, and Anlan Zhang, Evaluation of the SB 1041 Reforms to California's CalWORKs Welfare-to-Work Program: Updated Findings Regarding Policy Implementation and Outcomes, RAND Corporation (RR-1894), 2020

Davis, Lois M., Higher Education Programs in Prison: What We Know Now and What We Should Focus On Going Forward, RAND Corporation (PE-342), 2019

Davis, Lois M., John Linton, What Corrections Officials Need to Know to Partner with Colleges to Implement College Programs in Prisons, RAND Corporation (TL-A1253-1), 2021

Davis, Lois M., Michelle C. Tolbert, and Susan Turner, Evaluation of the Minnesota Department of Correction's Career Navigators Program: Final Report, RAND Corporation (RR-A1132-1), 2022

Lois M. Davis, Louis T. Mariano, Melissa M. Labriola, Susan Turner, Matt Strawn, Evaluation of the California County Resentencing Pilot Program: Year 1 Findings, RAND (RR-A2116-1), 2022

Honors & Awards

  • 2015 Silver Merit Award, RAND Corporation
  • 2015 RAND Zwick Impact Award, RAND Corporation
  • 2019 RAND Alumni Impact Award, RAND Corporation

Recent Media Appearances

Interviews: Bloomberg BNA; CQ Homeland Security Digest; KCRW-FM; KFI Los Angelges; Marketplace; Minnesota Public Radio Network; PBS; Washington Post Radio; WNPR; All Things Considered, NPR

Commentary

Publications