Nicholas Read

Nicholas Read is a senior crime and justice researcher at AIR, where he designs and conducts social science research and evaluation studies and translates research into practice in the areas of crime and delinquency, juvenile and criminal justice, reentry and community reengagement, community-based violence prevention, and meeting the needs of disadvantaged populations. Read currently directs and supports several federal and state program evaluations. The evaluation of Massachusetts’ Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI) is examining the community and individual impacts of the Commonwealth’s multifaceted, community-based strategy combining public health and public safety approaches to eliminate serious gun and gang violence among proven-risk, urban youth ages 17–24. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), National Institute of Justice-sponsored California School Safety Study, Research on Lowering Violence in Communities and Schools (ReSOLV), is exploring the association of school safety and student outcomes with school-based risk and protective factors and readiness to adopt comprehensive school safety reforms among students, parents, schools, and communities. He previously directed the U.S. Department of Education (ED)-sponsored Evaluation of Title I, Part D Neglected or Delinquent Programs and Study of State Implementation of the Unsafe School Choice Option.

In addition to his research and evaluation work, Read is currently the deputy director of the DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance’s National Reentry Resource Center (NRRC). Working with BJA’s Second Chance Act technical assistance centers and top researchers and practitioners, the NRRC develops, curates, and disseminates resources and tools that assist state and local jurisdictions in implementing evidence-based, data-driven strategies to reduce recidivism. Through the NRRC, Read also oversees the National Inventory of Collateral Consequences of Conviction (NICCC), an online searchable database of federal, state, and local statutes and regulations that impose collateral consequences for people convicted of crimes, and the Clean Slate Clearinghouse, which provides people with criminal records, legal service providers, and state policymakers with information on juvenile and adult criminal record clearance policies across the U.S.

Prior to his role on the NRRC, Read was a training and technical assistance (TTA) coach for BJA’s Corrections and Community Engagement Technical Assistance Center, directed TTA, publications, and webinars for ED’s National Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Neglected or Delinquent Children and Youth (NDTAC), and served as a TTA specialist for the DOJ Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Center for Coordinated Assistance to States (CCAS).

Read has authored numerous research reports and briefs as well as TTA resources, created, produced, and co-hosted a series of online programs in support of high-quality education and related supports for youth involved with the justice system, and delivered dozens of presentations at local, state, and national conferences and meetings.