Post-Doctoral Fellow, Prevention Science, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Mental Health (2000-2002)

Ph.D., Child-Clinical Psychology, University of Missouri (2000)

Pre-doctoral internship: University of Maryland Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, School Mental Health Track (1999-2000)

Dr. Schaeffer's research focuses on developing, evaluating, and ensuring the successful real-world implementation of interventions for youth involved in, or at high risk of involvement in, the juvenile justice and child protective service (CPS) systems. Dr. Schaeffer’s focus is on effectively addressing the many complex clinical and psychosocial problems facing youth involved in these systems and their families, including: criminal offending; school dropout and expulsion; substance abuse; physical and emotional abuse; trauma symptomology; ineffective parenting; family conflict and family violence, including child witnessing of intimate partner violence; low social support; and deviant peer relationships. Dr. Schaeffer’s work has been highly influenced by Multisystemic Therapy (MST), an ecological, empirically-supported family-based intervention originally designed for juvenile offenders.  She has worked to adapt the foundational MST model for new populations, including for families involved with CPS due to child maltreatment and caregiver substance abuse (MST-Building Stronger Families); for CPS-involved families experiencing both child maltreatment and intimate partner violence (MST-IPV); and for families of children age 4-10 years old who are exhibiting severely disruptive behavior (MST for Children). She has also developed a digital mental health intervention (therapeutic app; previously known as iKinnect), now called WisePath, for use by caregivers and teens together to address teen conduct problems, mood concerns, and substance use. She has served as Principal Investigator on multiple Federal (e.g., NIMH, NIDA, NIJ), State (Maryland, Connecticut), and Foundation (Annie E. Casey Foundation)-funded projects. 

Juvenile justice, child welfare, conduct problems, externalizing behavior problems, family therapy, Multisystemic Therapy (MST), alternatives to suspensions, school mental health

Swenson, C.C., & Schaeffer, C.M. (2025). Development of a family-based treatment for co-occurring intimate partner violence and child maltreatment: The MST-IPV model. British Journal of Psychiatry Bulletin. doi:10.1192/bjb.2023.103 . 

Schaeffer, C.M., Dimeff, L.A., Koerner, K., Chung, J., Kelley-Brimer, A., Kako, N., Ilac, M., Tuerk, E., Carroll, D., & Beadnell, B. (2022). A smartphone app for parental management of adolescent conduct problems: Randomized Clinical Trial of iKinnect. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. Published online May 31, 2022 and available at https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2022.2070851 .

Letourneau, E.J., Schaeffer, C.M., Bradshaw, C., Ruzicka, A., Assini-Meytin, L., Nair, R., & Thorne, E. (2022). Responsible Behavior with Younger Children: A pilot randomized evaluation of a school-based child sexual abuse perpetration prevention program. Child Maltreatment, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595221130737 .

Schaeffer, C.M., Swenson, C.C., & Powell, J.S. (2021). Multisystemic Therapy – Building Stronger Families (MST-BSF): Substance misuse, child neglect, and parenting outcomes from an 18-month randomized effectiveness trial. Child Abuse and Neglect, 122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105379.

Casella, J.N., Goodwin, A.K., Scardamalia, K., Bekele, Y., & Schaeffer, C.M. (2026) School resource officers’ perceptions of and responses to student mental health concerns: A qualitative study. Frontiers of Education, 11. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2026.1716664 . [Jan 2026]

Pittman, J. C., Bekele, Y., Scardamalia, K., Hoover, S., & Schaeffer, C. M. (2025). Addressing Student Trauma and Loss: An Evaluation of Two School-Based Treatment Models. Children & Schools, 47, 191-199. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdaf013 [July 2025]

Bekele, Y., Scardamalia, K., Hoover, S.A., & Schaeffer, C.M. (2025). Who Gets Referred to School-Based Trauma Treatment? A Descriptive Analysis of Bounce Back and Support for Students Exposed to Trauma. Psychology in the Schools. DOI:10.1002/pits.23602. [June 2025]

Goodwin, A., McNulty, C., Hanebutt, R., & Schaeffer, C.M. (2024). Social media recruitment of Black adolescents with internalizing concerns into a mental health help-seeking study. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 10(2), 179–194. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000413 .

Bohnenkamp, J., Schaeffer, C. M., Siegal, R., Beason, T., Smith-Millman, M., Hoover, S. (2021). Impact of a school-based, multi-tiered emotional and behavioral health crisis intervention on school safety and discipline. Prevention Science. 22, 492-503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-020-01195-3 .

Fix, R. L., Schaeffer, C. M., Bohnenkamp, J. H., & Hoover, S. (2021). Understanding disproportionate suspension practices for Black students in elementary, middle, and high schools. School Psychology Review, 52, 395-407. https://doi-org.proxy-hs.researchport.umd.edu/10.1080/2372966X.2021.1881819

Tuerk, P.W., Schaeffer, C.M., McGuire, J.F., Adams-Larsen, M., Capobianco, N., & Piacentini, J. (2019).  Adapting Evidence-Based Treatments for Digital Technologies: A Critical Review of Functions, Tools, and the Use of Branded Solutions. Current Psychiatry Reports. 21, Article number 106. Available at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11920-019-1092-2 .

Evidence-Based Treatment

Digital Mental Health Interventions

Implementation Science

Developmental Psychopathology

Prevention

School Mental Health

Structural-Strategic Family Therapy

Behavioral Family Therapy

Multisystemic Therapy (MST)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse: MST-BSF (Supported)

California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare: MST-BSF = 2, Well-Supported

Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse: MST-CAN (Supported)

California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare: MST-CAN = 2, Well-Supported

iKinnect Mobile Technology to Reduce Teen Substance Misuse and Health Disparities National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), R44DA057122-02 (MPIs: Dimeff & Schaeffer)

iKinnect 2.0 for Juvenile Justice Involved Youth at Risk for Suicide. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R44 MH126819 (MPIs: Dimeff & Schaeffer)

Using Mobile Technology to Enhance MST Outcomes. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R44 MH 097349-02A1 (MPIs: Schaeffer & Dimeff)

Adapting Multisystemic Therapy for Children with Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (MST-C): Feasibility and Acceptability Study. DeViersprong, in partnership with the Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport. (PI: Schaeffer)

Statewide SUD Evidence-Based Practice and Provider Training for Adolescents and Families Funded by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Association (SAMHSA), in partnership with the Maryland Behavioral Health Administration. (MPIs: Lever & Schaeffer)

Evaluating Promising School Staff and Resource Officer Approaches for Reducing Harsh Discipline, Suspensions, and Arrests. National Institute of Justice (NIJ) 2017-CK-BX-0014 (MPIs: Schaeffer & Hoover) 

Evaluating an Ecological Model for Intimate Partner Violence in Cases of Child Maltreatment. The Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) GA-2016-B0311 (MPI: Schaeffer & Swenson)

Preventing Problem Sexual Behavior among Young Adolescents. National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD) R21 HD083704-01 (PI – Letourneau, Co-I Schaeffer).

http://www.mstcan.com/

http://mstservices.com/