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Kelly Waltman, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice

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kwaltman@messiah.edu

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717-796-1800, ext. 7142

Interest and areas of expertise

Leadership; Workplace Culture and Communication

Restorative Justice

Juvenile Justice (with an emphasis on family engagement)

Education

PhD in Criminal Justice from Temple University

MS in Administration of Justice from Shippensburg University

BA in Psychology from ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ

Classes I teach

Intro to Criminal Justice

Criminology

Corrections

Victimology

Global Justice

Social Inequality

Research Methods

Profile

I've always been an educator at heart (shout out to my fellow Future Teachers of America club members). I view writing, training, coaching, and speaking as extensions of the classroom - and additional outlets for the educator in me. In addition to my teaching experience, I bring over twenty years of practitioner experience to my work. My career began as crime victim advocate for the Dauphin County Victim/Witness Assistance Program and continued on to include several years as a juvenile probation officer, several years working for the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission (including serving as the Director of the Center for Juvenile Justice Training & Research), and time spent consulting at a national level on criminal and juvenile justice reform.

I’ve served the broader justice community by participating in several state-level committees, including over ten years of service on the PCCJPO Family Involvement Committee. I am also a board member for a local nonprofit organization, A Miracle 4 Sure, which provides re-entry services for recently incarcerated individuals.

I’ve also expanded my work to include workplace culture and communication research and consulting, and recently published the book, Elevate Connection. Through this work I have consulted with various agencies regarding leadership development, giving and receiving feedback, and overall workplace culture strategy. In addition to leading strategy sessions and workshops with individual agencies, I am routinely asked to provide keynote addresses.

I am happiest when I’m outdoors, preferably exploring trails and mountains with my family and friends. I am an avid traveler, I love experiencing new places and cultures, I enjoy backpacking, and I dabble in ultra-marathoning.

Recent works/publications

Waltman, K. (2021). Elevate Connection: Cultivate an Engaged, Inspired, Productive, and Profitable Team Culture.

Waltman, K. (in collaboration with the PCCJPO Family Involvement Committee) (2020). A Family Guide to the Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice System.

Waltman-Spreha, K. (Unpublished manuscript). A closer look at Family Group Conferencing in Juvenile Justice.

Waltman-Spreha, K. (2015). Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Justice Family Involvement Curriculum: An Implementation Review. Funded by, and in partnership with, the Pennsylvania Juvenile Law Center and the MacArthur Foundation

Link, N. W., Kelly, J. M., Pitts, J. R., Waltman-Spreha, K., & Taylor, R. B. (2014). Reversing broken windows: Evidence of lagged multilevel impacts of risk perceptions on perceptions of incivilities.  Crime & Delinquency. DOI: 10.1177/0011128714555606

Waltman-Spreha, K. (2014). [Review of the book, Dreaming of a New Reality: How restorative practices reduce crime and violence, improve relationships and strengthen civil society, by Ted Wachtel]. International Criminal Justice Review, 24: 1, 101-103.

Waltman-Spreha, K. (2013). Engaging students on the topic of restorative justice and serious offenses.  Contemporary Justice Review, 16: 1, 91-114.

Waltman-Spreha, K. (2013). Examining the Relationship between Family Group Conferencing and Juvenile Recidivism. Current Thinking Blog – Vera Institute of Justice.  relationship-between-family-group-conferencing-and-juvenile- recidivism

Waltman-Spreha, K. (2013) Evaluating the Impact of Pennsylvania’s Family Guide. Funded by, and in partnership with, the Pennsylvania Juvenile Law Center and the MacArthur Foundation

Waltman-Spreha, K. (2012) Family Involvement Training Curriculum Pilot Program Outcomes Evaluation. In partnership with the Pennsylvania Council of Chief Juvenile Probation Officers Family Involvement Committee