Previous Education
MSW, Arizona State University
Concentration: Direct Practice with Children, Youth, and Families
BA, English (literature), Arizona State University
BA, Communications, Arizona State University
Research Interests
April’s research interests focus on informal and formal supports for those that experience intimate partner violence and sexual violence, particularly those enrolled in non-traditional institutions of higher education such as community colleges and commuter schools. She is particularly interested in service development, implementation, and evaluation.
During her time as a doctoral student, April has had the opportunity to author manuscripts, reports, and conference presentations. She has been involved in quantitative, qualitative, and community-based work.
April’s dissertation explores formal services available to community college students who have experienced intimate partner violence victimization. This quantitative, three-paper dissertation explores service availability, service use, and the role of campus belonging on service use, while also validating an intimate partner violence victimization scale with community college students.
Teaching Interests
April has taught in-person, synchronous online, and asynchronous online courses for the schools of social work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and Arizona State University, including Human Behavior in the Social Environment and Research Methods. She has also been a Teaching Assistant for an MSW-level Intimate Partner Violence course and has provided guest lectures related to gender-based violence and intimate partner violence.
April is passionate about educating and mentoring future generations of social work practitioners and strives to prepare students to work with those who have experienced gender-based violence and other forms of trauma. She believes that social work education should be accessible, inclusive, and practice-oriented.
Practice Interests and Experience
Prior to joining the PhD Program at the University of Maryland, April was a program coordinator for youth and education programs. She designed and implemented programs for students, teachers, and schools, including collaborations with international programs. April also has practice experience as a client advocate at a domestic violence shelter, intern therapist with those who had experienced sexual and/or partner violence, and case manager for college students previously engaged with the foster care system.
Selected Publications
Cavaletto, A., Reed, L. A., Lawler, S., Turner, B. G., Walhof, J. & Messing, J. (2025). “Healthy relationship” definitions, components, and measures for teen and young adult dating relationships: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse. Online First. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380251325202
Cavaletto, A., Graham, L. M., & Liggett-Creel, K. (2022). Behavioral health crisis referral system for children & youth in Baltimore City, MD. Commissioned report as part of the Addressing Intersections of Race and Violence Against Children and Youth project at the National Association of County and City Health Officials funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available from https://www.ssw.umaryland.edu/media/ssw/collaborative/Crisis-Referral-System-Report.pdf