Kat Layton

Kat Layton, MSW '18, is a licensed clinical social worker, harm reductionist,and public-sector leader whose work sits at the intersection of behavioral health, housing, the criminal legal system and community-centered policy. Her approach is deeply informed by over a decade of cross-sector direct service and personal experience connected to the criminal legal system, particularly her father's incarceration, bringing lived and professional knowledge into policy spaces often disconnected from the communities they aim to serve. With experience spanning public defense, behavioral health systems, policy research and community-based care coordination, Layton has helped launch social work programs in both public defense and library settings, co-authored community-informed research and policy reports, and advanced diversion initiatives and care-based, non-carceral approaches to crisis response. In her current role as a public service leader, Layton continues to identify gaps in community care systems and works to translate frontline insights and community knowledge into scalable policy solutions that reduce barriers to care, strengthen access to resources by reducing harm and expanding points of care, and decrease reliance on the criminal legal system. Beyond her professional work, she organizes with local coalitions and has served in civic leadership roles — including as chair of the Ypsilanti Human Relations Commission — to advance equity, access and collective liberation for historically marginalized communities.