Karlee Naylon is a senior research analyst in the child welfare research area at Child Trends. She has a background in interdisciplinary qualitative and quantitative research, and her research interests include interventions that can address economic and family instability rooted in poverty and prevent contact with the child welfare system. She is also interested in research related to improving access to services and resources for underserved populations, such as survivors of intimate partner violence with disabilities.

Karlee received her Master of Public Policy at American University and holds a BS in psychology with a concentration in mental health interventions from Misericordia University. Prior to joining Child Trends, Karlee worked as a graduate fellow at The Justice in Government Project where she provided technical assistance to and developed resources for nonprofits and state and local agencies to help them secure federal funding for civil legal aid. In this role, she also collaborated with a state-funded nonprofit in Missouri to demonstrate the positive impacts that family mediation and legal services can have on meeting families’ needs within their individual circumstances.