Kathryn McGrady wanted to be an attorney from the time she was in elementary school in Sumter, South Carolina. In 2015 she reached that goal when she completed her law degree at the University of South Carolina. But after several years’ experience working in public defender’s offices, she felt something was missing.

“I always wanted to be a lawyer,” she says, “but I never had the Cinderella glass slipper moment when I felt like this is perfect – this is what I’m supposed to be doing.”

So in 2024, she completed a master’s degree in trauma-informed education, and in May 2026, she will complete her master’s degree in social work at USC.

Her work with juveniles as a public defender led to her interest in social work, particularly a significant experience with a 16-year-old who was charged with murder. Because the prosecution wanted to try her client as an adult, McGrady worked with a mitigation specialist (who was a social worker) to gather background information and assess mental health needs to try to prevent the waiver out of the juvenile system.

“The mitigation process was new to me. We were trying to tell the story of how we got to that point with this client,” she says. “Unfortunately, she was waived to General Sessions Court and was convicted of murder. She will die in prison.”

Although she was disappointed in the outcome for that client, McGrady was inspired by the work of the mitigation specialist, who told McGrady that she already functioned as a social worker in the holistic way she approached her role as a public defender.

“It’s at the intersection of law and social work, and I can still be involved in court processes and interact with clients and their families. It felt like a good fit,” she says.

Suffering from burnout as a public defender, McGrady started an online master’s in education program at Columbia College, which included social work classes.

“I took the first class, and two weeks in, I knew I had to get my MSW. It was a lightning bolt moment for me,” she says.

After completing that degree, McGrady’s therapist, also a social worker, encouraged her to enroll in an in-person MSW program at USC. While attending school, she continues legal work on a contract basis in civil cases and as a part-time staff attorney in the S.C. Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Division prosecuting individuals involved in child sexual abuse material.

When she completes her MSW in 2026, McGrady plans to seek a position as a mitigation specialist and have a positive impact for juvenile offenders. She explains that because adolescent brain is not fully developed, juveniles can easily make bad decisions.

“I was brought up in two-parent home, I had a big sister and two sets of grandparents who looked out for me. My teachers paid attention to me because I was in school consistently. I had all these eyes on me, so I didn’t have much of a chance to go awry,” she says. “But not everybody has that luxury. If I help one judge understand that and give some of these juvenile offenders a chance at not spending their lives in prison, it will be worth all of this for me.”

McGrady also plans to advocate for mental health care for offenders because many have suffered trauma. She would also like to see a social worker employed in every public defender’s office in South Carolina.

“My client who went through the process and was waived to adult court had so much trauma in her life. We begged and begged to get mental health services, but we were told no because she had not been adjudicated,” McGrady says. “These kids are going through an incredibly traumatic experience, and to leave them lingering without anyone to talk to is a travesty.”

Her focus on mental health as well as equity for black and brown youth helped McGrady win the Verne LaMarr Lyons scholarship from the National Association of Social Workers. To help offset tuition and lessen the burden of student loans, she also has received scholarships from the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium and from USC, including the Carlie June Hudson Scholarship, the Margaret Gheen Hartzog Scholarship and the Linda M. Summer Work Pioneer Fellowship.

Like all MSW candidates, McGrady also benefits from experiential learning opportunities through practicums. At the Metropolitan Children's Advocacy Center, she participated in a multidisciplinary approach with child victims that included social workers, law enforcement and the solicitor’s office. In her current placement in palliative care at Prisma Health Richland, she provides psychosocial assessments and emotional support for patients and their families and assists with advanced care planning.                       

“There’s not a practicum specifically in mitigation, so I had to pivot,” McGrady says. “The skills I'm using at Prisma, such as having tough conversations with families and children, will be helpful as a mitigation specialist.”

McGrady also shares time management and multi-tasking skills garnered from her professional and educational experiences with other graduate students at USC’s Student Success Center. She offers one-on-support and facilitates accountability groups to help students with study skills, productivity and social adjustment, also skills that will transfer well for her new career path.

“My renewed passion for helping people fills my emotional cup and aligns with my future goals,” she says. “I always knew I wanted to make an impact – initially by becoming a lawyer – but as I continue my journey, the impact I hope to make has evolved.”