Katherine Epps

Katherine Epps, LMSW is a Licensed Master Social Worker in the state of Virginia. She is currently nearing the end of her supervision and is on track to test for her clinical licensure. Katherine earned her MSW at Rutgers University and earned her BA in Communications through the University of Maryland Global Campus. During the height of the pandemic Katherine interned with Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN) providing crisis services to victims of sexual violence. After graduation Katherine went on to work at Chesapeake City Correctional providing mental health services to those justice impacted individuals. 

She currently works at the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC), in the Community Corrections division, as the District Mental Health Clinician for the Hampton & Newport News offices of Probation & Parole. She utilizes community mental health treatment practices to help ensure those with mental health conditions are connected to the most appropriate and effective community mental health providers. Katherine’s focus is community-based treatment to promote mental health among the population she serves. 

Katherine provides mental health awareness training to combat discrimination and oppression associated with mental illness in an effort to decrease criminalizing behavior attributed to symptoms of mental health. Katherine has also developed training on what steps to take when a person on probation and/or parole is suicidal and when is it appropriate to seek an Emergency Custody Order. She has also aided in developing a mental health screening tool to be utilized across the Eastern Region of VADOC to reduce the number of those with mental health conditions falling through the cracks resulting in reincarceration. 
She is also active on committees to redevelop suicide prevention training across the entirety of the VADOC. Katherine is also an active DOC summit committee member which focuses on bringing the VADOC and community treatment providers together to strengthen relationships. 

Katherine’s goal is to utilize knowledge gained through the DSW program to improve the practices of those who work with individuals impacted by justice. Furthermore, she wants to shed light on this underserved and underrepresented population.