After completing her B.A. in Psychology at the University of Rochester, Cait interned in the European Union Parliament in Brussels, Belgium. Through this experience, she learned first-hand how high-quality social science research can affect public policy. As a result, she shifted her interest in studying adolescent development broadly to producing policy-applicable research to help youth and their families interact with the law. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at UC Irvine, with specializations in Psychology and Law and Quantitative Methods.