Kate Stepleton is a Principal Research Associate and Director of MEF’s Children and Families domain, overseeing a portfolio of research and evaluation that includes early care and education, fatherhood, child support, and child welfare projects. She has expertise in child and family research and policy, particularly in the areas of child welfare, maltreatment prevention, early childhood, and child well-being. She is skilled in qualitative and quantitative methods, design of experimental and quasi-experimental studies, survey research, data analysis, and project management.
Kate has worked with many federal and state government agencies to implement and evaluate policies promoting well-being for vulnerable children and families. These efforts have involved designing and carrying out rigorous research projects, including subject recruitment, survey construction, focus group facilitation, in-depth interviewing, and administrative data analysis. With a focus on translational research, she emphasizes the dissemination of actionable findings to a range of stakeholders, from policymakers to consumers of social services.
Prior to joining MEF in 2019, Kate managed research projects at Rutgers University School of Social Work. She also served in the Administration on Children, Youth and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and with the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, D.C. She has a Ph.D. in social work from Rutgers, an MSW from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration, and a BA in Sociology from Barnard College. Outside of work, Kate enjoys honing her cooking skills, tackling gardening and home improvement projects, and spending time outdoors with her two young daughters.