Michelle Arbeit is a program specialist for the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) in the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. Ms. Arbeit advises office leadership and staff on budget and financial administration, administrative management, program planning and contract matters.
Ms. Arbeit’s work at the SMART Office includes support activities associated with the office’s grant programs, as well as activities related to providing technical assistance to states, territories and federally recognized Indian tribes. In carrying out this work, she collaborates with both internal SMART staff and other OJP components to help ensure organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
Prior to joining the SMART Office, Ms. Arbeit served first as a program operations specialist and then as a grants management specialist for the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research, development and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. At NIJ, she managed the grant solicitation process, coordinated the Violence Against Women standing review panels, served as alternate contracting officer’s representative and task manager for NIJ peer review and provided program and operations support. Ms. Arbeit also served as NIJ’s federal designated representative for the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting Working Group, which developed best practices and protocols for the collection and processing of DNA evidence in sexual assault cases.
Ms. Arbeit earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Rochester and a master’s degree from Harvard University.