Marcelo Castro

Marcelo Castro, Ph.D., is an Associate Dean, Professor, and Chair at the School of Criminal Justice within the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice at Nova Southeastern University. He holds a Ph.D. in Special Education, dual Master’s degrees in Clinical Psychology and Mental Health Counseling, and is a licensed School Psychologist. His expertise spans assessment of emotional/behavioral disorders in children, program evaluation, and research methods in criminal justice and education.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Special Education
• M.S. in Clinical Psychology
• M.S. in Mental Health Counseling

Research Interests: Dr. Castro focuses on program evaluation, restorative justice models for youth in foster care, recidivism reduction, and community integration programs. His work integrates quantitative and qualitative methods to address issues in criminal justice, mental health, and education. Recent projects include evaluations of HOPE Court, the Recidivism Reduction Pilot Program (RRPP), and the M-PACT initiative to curb gang activity.

Grants & Projects: He has served as Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI on projects such as the One Plan-One Response Crisis Management Initiative, the COATCH grant for homeless individuals with co-occurring disorders, and the M-PACT gang intervention program. His research has contributed to OJJDP’s Best Practices Manual.

Teaching: He teaches courses such as Program Evaluation, Applied Statistics, and Research Methods at both undergraduate and graduate levels.