Evelyn F. McCoy is a principal research associate in the Justice and Safety Division at the Urban Institute, where she leads projects on living and working conditions in jails and prisons. Her work has addressed several topics in this area, including health care, sexual violence and the Prison Rape Elimination Act, family visitation, and correctional staff well-being. McCoy has expertise in mixed-methods research, policy analysis, and technical assistance and has worked with criminal legal agencies, community-based organizations, and people involved in the criminal legal system and their families.

McCoy earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and earned her master’s degree in sociology and public policy at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, where her research focused on victim services and service delivery models for youth who have experienced sex trafficking.