I am an applied economist working at various junctures of public health and public policy and the lead PI at the SHAPE Lab at DU. My primary interests are in the ways that people cope with household uncertainties like domestic violence, housing insecurity, and poverty more broadly. My training is as an applied and development economist, with an emphasis on Latin America and the economic and social implications of the Chilean military dictatorship. As part of that research, I spent a summer as a visiting scholar at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. More recently, I have been working on understanding the relationship between institutional social support services like police and domestic violence programs on the incidence of violence within the household. I also have work on the environmental justice implications of deforestation policy in the Brazilian Amazon on health.
I draw actively on frameworks developed in psychology and sociology, especially as they relate to trauma (intergenerational and otherwise) and self-concept. My work on these policy-relevant questions involves co-authors from such disciplines as Sociology, Public Policy, and Geography. I am affiliated with the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy at DU, the UW-Madison Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), and the Gibbs Land Use and the Environment Lab (GLUE).
With Erin Eife at George Mason University and Ella Friday at St. Johns University, I am a co-founder and project lead in the Jail Justice Initiative, where we explore the consequences of the US jail system's expansion throughout mass incarceration.
My first book, Seeking Safe Harbor: How Public Policy is Sinking the Future of Domestic Violence Shelters, is under contract with the University of California Press for release in 2028.
For the most up-to-date copy of my CV, please click here.
For public-facing blog posts explaining research for the public good, visit Empirical Truths.
Refereed publications (available upon request)
Sims, K.M. (2025). Policymaking and pretrial fairness: Evaluating Illinois' ban on cash bail beyond Chicago. The Journal of Criminal Justice, 96: 102354.
In the popular press (selected): "Can Trump's Orders Stop the Rise of Cashless Bail?" Law 360, September 2, 2025.
Sims, K.M., Anadon, I., Haimson, C., and Eason, J.M. (2024). The prison boom, local interpersonal violence, and domestic violence homicide. The Journal of Crime and Justice.
Sims, K.M., Wang, Y., and Wolfe, B. (2024). Impacts of the US EITC program on domestic violence. Review of Economics of the Household.
Reid, T. and Sims, K.M. (2024). (Dis)honorably discharged: Identifying policy gaps in military-civilian reintegration. Health Affairs Scholar, 2(2):1-5.
Sims, K.M., Meyer, N., and Walsh, K. (2023). Barriers to Safe and Secure Housing in the Section 8 Voucher Program Post-Dobbs? Critical Social Policy.
Sims, K.M., Barnes, M., and Walsh, K. (2023). From theory to practice: Designing a multi-method, multi-stage program evaluation of the Wisconsin Domestic Violence Housing First pilot program. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 60:1-12.
Harris, J., Sims, K.M., Eason, J.M., Chuang, L., Ylizaliturri, V., Anadon, I., and Eife, E. (2023). The Prison Bust: Declining Carceral Capacity in an Era of Mass Incarceration. Punishment & Society.
In the popular press (selected): "NY's prison boom brought jobs Upstate. Now the region is paying the price" North Country Public Radio, April 28, 2025; "Some economies in rural America hit especially hard by prison closures" NPR Morning Edition, May 7, 2025.
Skidmore, M.E., Sims, K.M., and Gibbs, H.K. (2023). Agricultural intensification and childhood cancer in Brazil. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(45).
* PNAS Cozzarelli Prize Finalist, Class V Behavioral and Social Sciences https://www.pnas.org/post/update/2023-cozzarelli-prize-recipients
In the popular press (selected): "Soy pesticides killed 123 children in rural areas in 11 years, study says" O Globo, October 30, 2023.; "Brazil child cancer deaths linked to soy farming, study finds" Reuters, November 1, 2023; "The sick children of Brazilian agriculture" Dialogue Earth, August 29, 2024.
Skidmore, M.E., Sims, K.M., Rausch, L., and Gibbs, H.K. (2022). Productive cattle ranches reduce carbon emissions in the Brazilian Amazon. Environmental Research Letters, 17(6): 064026.
Sims, K.M., Foltz, J., and Skidmore, M.E. (2021). Prisons as drivers of COVID-19 spread in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 111(8): 1534-1541.
In the popular press (selected): "State Prisons Fueled Covid-19 Spread in Their Areas Last Spring, Study Suggests" Gizmodo, June 29, 2021.
Selected working papers
"COVID-19 Structural Transformation and Program Adaptation in Emergency Domestic Violence Shelters" with Kate L. Walsh and Nicole Meyer (Revise & Resubmit).
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased domestic violence (DV) rates and structurally changed how social services like emergency DV shelters could be provided. We surveyed employees at 103 United States DV shelter providers about how their organization experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, service provision impacts, and programmatic changes and adaptations. Six main categories emerged from the inductive content analysis: 1) increased need for services; 2) difficulties accessing shelter; 3) modification of the shelter environment; 4) technological adaptation; 5) provider welfare concerns; and 6) funding benefits and challenges. Shelters also implemented novel technological adaptations and creative methods of service delivery, including telehealth services and employee remote work. While there were frictions in implementation, these technologies created new opportunities for accessibility and service provision.
"Hot tempers: Differential effects of heat and drought on domestic violence" with Julia Rizzotto and Holly K. Gibbs (Revise & Resubmit).
Abstract: Domestic violence (DV)--patterns of physical, sexual, economic, or psychological abuse by intimate partners and family members--persists as a serious national issue in Brazil despite public efforts to eliminate it. While the risk factors for and consequences of such violence are well studied, less is known about the potential impacts of global climate change on patterns of DV. Extreme weather (periods of extreme heat and prolonged drought) may impact patterns of DV through changing stress levels and agricultural household incomes. We test for such a relationship using administrative data from hospital reports, hotline calls, and female homicides, alongside weather and land use data. Our findings reveal a statistically significant, positive effect of higher daily maximum temperatures on violence but less evidence for a short- or long-run impact of rainfall. The results are consistent across different outcome variables and levels of aggregation, suggesting that climate change may exacerbate the risk of heat stress-related DV. Public policy should consider potential protective measures to insulate vulnerable households against extreme heat-related violence and consider the costs of interpersonal violence in analysis of climate change impacts.
"Improved information and reduced consequences? Experimental evidence from traffic citations in California" with J. Barofsky and A. Fishbane (Under Review).
Abstract: Costly court fines and fees for traffic citations create substantial economic hardship for drivers. If tickets remain unpaid, some jurisdictions can issue a bench warrant for arrest. To address this, courts nationwide are reassessing how they impose and collect fees to minimize economic burden. We revised court materials for one California county to improve clarity and inform drivers about an online ability-to-pay adjustment system, MyCitations. We analyze the universe of approximately 55,000 traffic citations issued over 17 months to test for impacts of these improved notices and envelopes on citation resolution. Using regression discontinuity in time models, we find that drivers are responsive to clear information on court materials. Revised notices increased timely response by 3.7 percentage points and take-up of MyCitations by 10.5 percentage points, generating \$1.28 million in savings to ticketed drivers. Reducing financial penalties for missing response deadlines improved payments, but removing the threat of driver’s license suspension had little impact on timely action and actually decreased the likelihood of payments. Our results indicate that clear information increases court appearance rates, and drivers are motivated to apply for income-based payment reductions, which have the potential to save California drivers millions of dollars.
"Jailization: Entering the Lobby to the US Criminal Legal System" with Erin Eife and Gabreélla Friday (Revise & Resubmit).
Abstract: Despite the substantial interest in mass imprisonment, limited research has studied how mass incarceration has occurred across the 3,000 city and county jails in the United States. Using Bureau of Justice Statistics surveys and censuses of US jails, we investigate patterns of jail construction over the last 50 years and ask whether these infrastructural changes represent expanding carceral capacity or simply capacity restructuring, whereby jails were consolidated and renovated rather than multiplied. Despite consistent numbers of jails over time, jail populations have increased substantially, suggesting that mass incarceration has functioned differently in jails than in prisons. We posit a theory of ‘jailization,’ whereby jails have permeated the membranes of different arms of the criminal legal system to serve as a catchment center or “lobby,” and argue for dedicated studies of jails’ unique and flexible roles. This contributes to literature on penal change by showing that changes to jails during the era of mass incarceration look markedly different than that of prisons, underscoring the importance of studying them as unique criminal legal institutions.
"Practice and Practicalities: Challenges to Housing First implementation across nine DV service providers" with Mariel J. Barnes and Kate L. Walsh (Revise & Resubmit).
Abstract: Purpose: Domestic Violence Housing First (DVHF) prioritizes removing survivors’ immediate barriers to safe and stable housing via unconditional and flexible financial assistance to reduce exposure to violence, increase stability, and improve physical and mental health. The current study sought to understand how DV service providers implement DVHF. Methods: This study conducted reflexive thematic analysis on 37.5 hours of in-person interview data from nine DV organizations located in a single midwestern state. These service providers were all funded by the same mechanism to implement DVHF at their sites. Interviews with providers occurred across two time periods twelve months apart. Results: Thematic analysis revealed that sites faced challenges to DVHF implementation, including adapting and changing their budgeting mindsets and how they perceived clients; appropriately staffing and training to implement DVHF; and coping with local and community limitations and challenges. Conclusions: DVHF remains a powerful tool to support survivors of violence, but implementation can be more complicated and demanding than anticipated. Funders and policymakers should be prepared to support grantees in implementing and administering new HF programs.
Selected Works in Progress
"COVID-19 Economic Impact Payments among incarcerated populations."
"Emergency domestic violence shelters and family violence" with L. Schechter.
"Patterns of domestic violence churn and homicide" with A. Christian.
"Shoring Up Safe Harbors: Novel survey data of US domestic violence shelter capacity."