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. She is particularly interested in service development, implementation, and evaluation.
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.
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.
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 courses on human development, research methods, and program evaluation. 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 has also developed an online course for Arizona State University on teen dating 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. She is currently a contract employee for the Erin Levitas Foundation, doing research, content development, and outreach to support their mission of preventing sexual violence.
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, 27(3), 757-774. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380251325202
Cavaletto, A., Walton, E., Graham, L. M., & Hopkins, C. Q., Roberson, B. M., & Spirn, M. B. (in press). Defining, assessing, and promoting safety in restorative justice programmes that address sexual harm: An international qualitative study. The International Journal of Restorative Justice.
Cavaletto, A., Zimmerman, L., Graham, L. M., & Ting, L. (2025). The state of intimate partner violence research in the community college context: A scoping review. Journal of Family Violence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-025-00958-2