Megan Moore, Sidney Miller Endowed Associate Professor at the School of Social Work, and a team from the University of Washington received $1.02 million from the National Institute of Justice to study the effectiveness and accessibility of civil protection orders among adolescents and young adults experiencing intimate partner violence. Moore is the project's co-investigator along with Avanit Adhia, a postdoctoral student. School of Public Health research associate 
professor Mary Kernic will lead the research team.
Studies show that adolescence and young adulthood are particularly vulnerable times for intimate partner violence. Although protection orders have been proven effective among adult victims, no studies have yet examined the issue with teens.
The new study uses a retrospective cohort design over a three-year period to determine whether there is a difference between minor and legal adults and the effectiveness of civil protection orders. The team will examine if more awareness and education around civil protection orders are needed for teens and young adults. The team will also pinpoint the barriers this audience faces in using civil protection orders and how to overcome them, and will identify ways to better promote this judicial tool among adolescents and young adults.
Moore joined the School of Social Work faculty in 2012 where her research focuses on health equity and improving social work practice, and health and mental health outcomes for patients after traumatic injury. Her research is multidisciplinary in nature: She frequently collaborates with medical professionals and researchers from diverse disciplines, such as emergency medicine, neurosurgery, nursing and psychiatry.
In addition to her position at the School, Moore is core faculty at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center and a faculty affiliate at The Mack Center on Mental Health and Social Conflict at the University of California, Berkeley. She received her master’s in social work and doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, and became a licensed clinical social worker in 2011.