Allison Meisch, Ph.D.
Associate Director
Allison Meisch is a developmental psychologist with more than 20 years of experience in quantitative and qualitative methods, program evaluation, applied research, and technical assistance (TA). She excels in applying content and methodological expertise across systems, designing and conducting rigorous evaluations, and implementing applied research in home visiting programs, two-generation programs, education, child welfare systems, and early care and education settings. She uses a collaborative and adaptive approach to TA that recognizes the expertise of programs and participants and builds upon their existing strengths. Her work centers on using research and TA to support programs helping children, youth, and families sustain healthy outcomes, achieve well-being, realize educational goals, and attain economic mobility. Meisch also has experience translating and disseminating evaluation processes and findings to a range of audiences.
As project director of the National Home Visiting Resource Center, Meisch leads a team to collect national home visiting data and disseminate comprehensive information about home visiting to varied audiences. She directs the Latinos In Action Student Outcomes and Achievement Research Study Project designing a rigorous evaluation of Latinos In Action, a leadership program for middle and high school students, and planning for a future evaluation of the program. Meisch is conducting a rigorous evaluation for the Generation Hope Scholar Program Evaluation project. She also leads an awardee learning collaborative for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Innovation Technical Assistance Center and provides evaluation subject matter expertise to National Community Action Partnership as part of their Collaborative on Economic Mobility project.
Meisch has experience contributing to the growing knowledge of trauma-informed approaches. For the Chosen Care project, she directed a cost and outcomes study of a program offering trauma-informed services to families of children who have experienced abuse or neglect. As a senior researcher on the Trauma-Informed Approaches: Connecting Research, Policy, and Practice to Build Resilience in Children and Families project, Meisch coordinated and led an expert convening of national experts on trauma-informed approaches. Other past work includes TA provision for home visiting awardees, a rigorous outcome evaluation of an intervention designed to reduce length of stay in foster care, a pilot study of a toolkit to help two-generation programs develop data governance plans, an evaluation of a facilities improvement program for early care and education and afterschool programs, and TA provision to the U.S. Virgin Islands for a childcare quality improvement rating system.
Meisch received a Ph.D. in human development from the University of Maryland.