Laura Packard Tucker is a principal research associate in the Family and Financial Well-Being Division at the Urban Institute. She is committed to improving the ways that communities and governments come together to support children, young people, and families. Packard Tucker integrates rigorous mixed-methods research, cost analysis, and technical assistance to strengthen those programs and policies. She leads complex, multiyear evaluations across child welfare, early childhood education, economic mobility, and supportive housing, applying quantitative and qualitative approaches to assess outcomes, improve implementation, and support systems change. Packard Tucker’s portfolio includes directing large-scale evaluations for federal, state, and philanthropic partners; conducting cost, cost-effectiveness, and cost-benefit studies in jurisdictions across the country; and developing tools, training, and capacity-building resources for public agencies and research partners. She has extensive subject-matter expertise across child welfare systems, early childhood programs, interventions to support young people with foster care history, cross-system service coordination, and other family support programs, grounded in more than 15 years of experience.