Skip to main content
NatCon 2026 Main banner

Bevin Croft, MPP, PhD

Senior Research Associate and Director of Behavioral Health
Human Services Research Institute
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Bevin Croft, MPP, PhD is a Senior Research Associate and Director of the Behavioral Health team at the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI). Her work is informed by principles of self-determination, human rights, and the structural factors that shape health and wellbeing. She focuses on supporting change agents to improve systems using strategies that are both data-driven and values-based.
Bevin conducts research and evaluation projects that add to the evidence-base for specific interventions, while other projects are more global in scope, pulling together research evidence and best practice to support state and local agencies to improve service and support systems. She specializes in peer-delivered crisis alternatives, self-direction, person-centered planning, and other rights-based approaches. A significant portion of her work involves leading behavioral health system assessments and facilitating strategic planning for states and counties, and she previously co-directed the National Center on Advancing Person-Centered Practices and Systems. She uses both qualitative and quantitative research methods and strives to reflect the "nothing about us without us" principle of the disability rights and consumer/survivor/ex-patient movements in all her work. Her research on peer respites and self-direction or self-directed care has been published in leading journals and has contributed significantly to advancing recovery-oriented approaches in behavioral health services. Prior to joining HSRI, Bevin served as quality management coordinator at Cascap, a psychiatric rehabilitation provider in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she oversaw quality development initiatives, coordinated the agency's human rights program, and conducted training on rehabilitation and recovery and person-centered planning. She holds a Doctorate in Social Policy and a Master of Public Policy degree from Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management.

Presentation(s):