Pajarita Charles
Pronouns: she/her
Journalists: Please use these pronouns when appropriate.
Expert on criminal justice system's impact on families, including parenting during incarceration, alternatives to incarceration, father involvement, and program evaluation for justice-involved and unhoused families.
Associate Professor, Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work; Director, Family Wellbeing & Justice Lab College of Letters and Science School of Social Work Work: 608-263-3834 — Home and cell phones available upon request paja.charles@wisc.edu Home page
Topics
- Diversion from and alternatives to incarceration for parents
- Implications of incarceration for parenting, family separation, father involvement, and reunification during reentry
- Program evaluation of jail- and prison-based parenting interventions (e.g., Parenting Inside Out)
- Incarceration, child support, and family financial stability
- Health equity for unhoused families and medical respite care
Achievements
- Ph.D., Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2009)
- M.S.W. and M.P.A., Columbia University (2001)
- Fellow, Society for Social Work and Research (2016)
- UW-Madison Award for Mentoring Undergraduates in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities (2022)
- UW-Madison Teaching and Learning AI Fellow (2026)