Beth Niestemski, LCSW, MPA

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS  

Ph.D. in Criminal Justice (in progress), John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY Graduate Center, 2026-Present

Master of Public Administration, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2025

Master of Social Work, New York University, Silver School of Social Work, 2018

Bachelor of Arts, Theology, Oral Roberts University, 2013 (minor: Spanish) 

RESEARCH INTERESTS 

Correctional policy, practice, and program evaluation; Correctional health service delivery;  Sociology of punishment; Inequality and racism within the criminal legal system; Harm reduction in corrections; Violence  prevention; Serious Mental Illnesses (SMI) and incarceration; PTSD mitigation and burnout prevention in the correctional workforce; Moral injury in correctional healthcare workers 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE  

August 2026 - Present: Research Assistant | The Corrections Lab, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

April 2024 - August 2026: Director of Workforce Wellness, Social Worker Level V | New York City Health + Hospitals, Woodhull Hospital  

June 2022 – January 2024: Associate Director of Mental Health | New York City Health + Hospitals Correctional Health Services, Rikers Island 

December 2020 – June 2022: Mental Health Clinician Level II | New York City Health + Hospitals Correctional Health Services, Rikers Island 

January 2019 – December 2020: Social Worker Level II | New York City Health + Hospitals Correctional Health Services, Rikers Island + Horizon Juvenile Detention Center 

August 2015 – August 2016: Volunteer Coordinator | Tulsa Advocates for the Rights of Citizens 

June 2013 – August 2015: Volunteer + Program Coordinator | New Hope Oklahoma, AmeriCorps State + National 

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE   

January 2024 – September 2024: Consultant | The Women’s Project, Wildcat/The Fedcap Group 

October 2021 – April 2022: Clinical Supervisor | Children of Promise, NYC Wellness Center  

August 2018 – January 2019: Reentry Specialist | The Osborne Association ICAN Program 

September 2017 – May 2018: Clinical Social Work Intern | Children of Promise, NYC Wellness Center  

May 2017 – August 2017: Research Fellow | George Kaiser Family Foundation Women in Recovery, Family + Children’s Services  

January 2017 – May 2017: Forensic Social Work Intern | Brooklyn Treatment Court 

AWARDS  

The B. Robert Williamson Jr. Foundation Adaptive Leadership Fellowship ($1,000)  New York University, Spring 2018 

Jane Bram Scholarship ($10,000)  New York University, Fall 2017 - Spring 2018 

PRESENTATIONS  

Presenter at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Graduation Student Research  Symposium. Wellbeing of Correctional Workers in New York City Jail System. New York, NY.  (May 5, 2025). 

Guest Lecturer at Portland State University School of Social Work. Abolitionist Social Work Practice in the Carceral Setting. Portland, Oregon. (March 5, 2025). 

Guest Lecturer at Portland State University School of Social Work. The Ethics of Forensic Social Work. Portland, Oregon. (March 6, 2024). 

Presenter for the Correctional Health Services’ Clinical Psychology Training Program on Rikers Island. Religious Diversity on Rikers Island. Queens, NY. (March 4, 2024). 

Panelist at New York University School of Social Work. Health and Behavioral Health Alumni Panel. New York, NY. (November 19, 2019).

CERTIFICATIONS + CREDENTIALS  

Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), State of New York #093143, March 2022 – Present

Introduction to SQL, NYC Health + Hospitals Data Academy, April 2026

Extended DISC® Certification Training, Extended DISC North America, Inc., July 2025

Introduction to Performance Improvement, NYC Health + Hospitals Quality Academy, June 2025 

Stanford's Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT), New York University, October 2024 

Collective Leadership Supervisor Training, John Jay Institute for Justice and Opportunity, April  2024 

Gender-Informed Needs Assessment (GINA), Bauman Consulting Group, April 2024 

Women's Risk Needs Assessment (WRNA), Bauman Consulting Group, March 2024 

Seminar in Field Instruction (SIFI), Fordham University, September 2022 

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Certificate, PESI, December 2019  

Behavioral Health + Criminal Justice Certificate, Center for Urban Community Services,  November 2018 

OUTREACH + SERVICE  

Member | New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYPSI)/ Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) Justice-Involved Behavioral Health Workgroup, July 2025 - Present

Emerging Philanthropist | Women’s Prison Association (WPA), Oct 2018 – Sept 2019

Facilitator/ Board Member | Poetic Justice, Inc., Aug 2015 – July 2017

Corps Member | AmeriCorps (State + National), June 2013 – Aug 2015 

AFFILIATIONS  

American Society of Criminology (ASC), August 2026 - Present

National Association of Social Workers (NASW), November 2016 - May 2019