Caroline Harmon-Darrow

Caroline Harmon-Darrow, PhD, MSW, LMSW, is committed to violence prevention, criminal justice diversion, conflict resolution and restorative justice interventions, and the prevention of human trafficking. Dr. Harmon-Darrow’s mixed method dissertation “Comparing the impact of community-based mediation vs. prosecution on assault recidivism among adults” represents her longstanding commitment to criminal justice diversion and decarceration, and the craft of community-based mediation, and led to the creation of a statewide working group on intimate partner violence screening in criminal cases. She has authored and co-authored nine manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, including Trauma, Violence, and Abuse. Her research has been funded by the Maryland Judiciary, and she has assisted with research studies funded by DOJ-OVC, HHS-AFC, NIH-SAMHSA and NIH-NIDA.

Caroline Harmon-Darrow was a macro social worker and community mediator serving as a community organizer, nonprofit Development Director and Executive Director for 24 years in Baltimore. She has taught foundation courses including Social Work Practice with Communities and Organizations in the MSW program online, hybrid, and in person, and on Social Work Policy in the Masters and Bachelors programs. She has also delivered guest lectures in the University of Maryland College Park’s Criminology program, and the UMB School of Law’s Mediation Clinic where she has mentored law students through co-mediation. In the community, Caroline volunteers with community mediation and Baltimore Ceasefire, a grassroots public health movement to end gun violence. She served as President and founder of Creative City Public Charter School and raised nearly $1M for its launch in 2013, a nonprofit arts- and social justice-based public elementary school that both of her children attended. She serves as co-chair of the Grand Challenges of Social Work’s Smart Decarceration working group on Policing. She completed her PhD & MSW at the University of Maryland Baltimore, with a BA in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. She is a licensed LMSW macro social worker and certified mediator in Maryland.