Hailey D’Elia is a research analyst in the Work, Education, and Labor Division at the Urban Institute. Her research focuses on transition-age foster youth, workforce development, labor markets, and postsecondary education. Before joining Urban, she worked on federal policy for foster youth mental health and ethical integration of lived experience in child welfare policy and practice, focusing on codesign processes to engage young people in system solutions.

D’Elia is a National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) senior reviewer, a FosterClub Lived Experience Leader, and a Chafee advisory group member and state NYTD survey working group member for the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. She previously served as a young adult consultant for the Capacity Building Center for States, on behalf of the Children’s Bureau. D’Elia holds a BA in mathematics and sociology with a certificate of undergraduate study in social justice and social change from Rowan University.