Leon Sawh, PhD, MPH

Dr. Leon Sawh is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology at UW-Milwaukee. Over the last 20 years, he has conducted a wide variety of research activities for a number of government- and academic-based research and policy centers. Prior to joining UWM, he worked in the Division of Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Research at Abt Associates and the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice, where he was also a lecturer.

Dr. Sawh has worked on grants and contracts funded by SAMSHA, VA, CDC, CMS, NIH and private foundations. He has authored/co-authored several peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and manuals on the use of diversion programming, co-occurring disorders treatment and care coordination strategies for special populations.

Education:

• Ph.D., Criminal Justice & Criminology, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, School of Criminology & Justice Studies
• M.P.H., Behavioral Sciences & Health Education, Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
• B.S., Psychology, Florida State University

Research Interests:

• Smart decarceration
• Community corrections
• Co-occurring disorders treatment
• Applied research
• Qualitative methods

Select Publications | Journal Articles:

• Bocanegra, K., Epperson, M.W., & Sawh, L. (epub ahead of print). Exploring Community-Centric Decarceration Strategies for People with Behavioral Health Needs. doi: 10.1086/720011
• Epperson, M. W., Sawh, L., Patel, S., Pettus, C., & Grier, A. (2023). Examining Case Dismissal Outcomes in Prosecutor-Led Diversion Programs. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 34(3), 236–260. doi: 10.1177/08874034221138738
• Pettus, C., Pederson, S. D., Curley, E. J., Grier, A., Epperson, M. W., & Sawh, L. (2023). “People make mistakes” stakeholders and participants’ perceptions of the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of diversion and deferred prosecution programs. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 29(2), 154–168. doi: 10.1037/law0000357
• Epperson, M.W., McHarris, M., Ulrich, B., & Sawh, L. (2021). The Box in social work education: Prevalence and correlates of criminal history questions on MSW applications. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research. doi: 10.1086/713476
• Epperson, M.W., Sawh, L., & Sarantakos, S. (2020). Building a therapeutic relationship between probation officers and probationers with serious mental illnesses. CNS Spectrums, 25(5), 723-733. doi: 10.1017/S1092852919001871
• Smelson, D., Farquhar, I., Fisher, W., Pressman, K., Pinals, D., Samek, B., Duffy, M., & Sawh, L. (2019). Integrating a co-occurring disorders intervention in drug courts: An open pilot trial. Community Mental Health Journal, 55(2), 222-231. doi: 10.1007/s10597-018-0255-7
• Finlay, A. K., Smelson, D., Sawh, L., McGuire, J., Rosenthal, J., Blue-Howells, J., Timko, C., Binswanger, I., Frayne, S. M., Blodgett, J. C., Bowe, T., Clark, S. C., & Harris, A. H. S. (2016). U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Justice Outreach program: Connecting justice-involved veterans with mental health and substance use disorder treatment. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 27(2), 203-222. doi: 10.1177/0887403414562601
• McInnes, D.K., Sawh, L., Petrakis, B.A., Rao, S., Shimada, S.L., Gifford, A.L., Eyrich-Garg, K.M., Anaya, H.D., Kane, V., & Smelson, D.A. (2014). The potential for health-related uses of mobile phones and internet with homeless veterans: Results from a multi-site survey. Telemedicine and e-Health, 20(9), 801-809. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2013.0329
• Smelson, D.A., Kline, A., Kuhn, J., Rodrigues, S., O’Connor, K., Fisher, W., Sawh, L., & Kane, V. (2013). A wraparound treatment engagement intervention for homeless veterans with co-occurring disorders. Psychological Services, 10(2), 161-167. doi: 10.1080/15504263.2013.778804

Select Publications | Book Chapters:

• Sawh L., Goff, C., & Epperson, M.W. (2022). Prosecutorial Diversion Programs. In: E.L. Jeglic & C. Calkins (Eds.) Handbook of Issues in Criminal Justice Reform in the United States. Springer, New York.
• Epperson, M.W., Pettus-Davis, C., Grier, A., & Sawh, L. (2018). Promote Smart Decarceration. In: R. Fong, J. Lubben, R. Barth (Eds.) Grand Challenges for Social Work and Society. Oxford University Press, New York.
• Sawh L. & Smelson D. (2017). Outreach and Engagement for Clients Experiencing Co- occurring Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders. In: O'Donohue W., James L., Snipes C. (Eds.) Practical Strategies and Tools to Promote Treatment Engagement. Springer, Cham.