As a longtime researcher and, now, practitioner, my work focuses on highlighting the value of both research and practice evidence in improving outcomes for vulnerable populations—especially crime victims and the elderly.
Jennifer Yahner is a senior research fellow in the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center and associate director of the new Center for Victim Research, a national resource center funded by the Office for Victims of Crime. She is also a certified long-term care ombudsman for older adults in California and is a member of the advisory board for the State Victim Assistance Academies.
Yahner has conducted criminal justice research for more than 15 years on the needs and experiences of vulnerable populations, focusing on victims of elder abuse, intimate partner violence, teen dating violence, and human trafficking. In addition to coleading the Center for Victim Research, she codirects projects on elder mistreatment prevention, the costs of crime victimization, and polyvictimization screening. She is skilled in sophisticated statistical modeling using various quantitative methodologies and integrated qualitative-quantitative methods.
Yahner’s research has been published in numerous peer-refereed journals, including Criminology and Public Policy, Justice Quarterly, the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, the Journal of Marriage and Family, the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, and Crime and Delinquency. She holds simultaneous BA and BS degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MA in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland.