She graduated from UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work with her PhD and completed her dissertation in the area of social justice. Dr. Grumbach received the Provost Deiss Award for her dissertation work examining African American women and their reconnection to parenting post-release. Dr. Grumbach has volunteer and work-related experience with the criminal legal system. She worked with the public defender’s office as a mitigation specialist for the Murder Task Force and volunteered in the Cook County Jail. In addition, Dr. Grumbach has experience in the Chicago Public Schools and DCFS and has worked with system-involved mothers in her private practice. These experiences have driven her interest in working with marginalized families. The criminal legal system and other socially stratifying systems create a lack of opportunity structures families sorely need.