Hailey D’Elia is a Policy and Advocacy Fellow at the Center for Adoption Support and Education where she advocates for the mental health needs of the foster, kinship, and adoptive community. Hailey holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Sociology with a Certificate of Undergraduate Study in Social Justice and Social Change from Rowan University. In 2020, she participated in Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s COVID-19 Pandemic Working Group and researched and wrote federal policy recommendations on bridging the digital divide with broadband and technology access for vulnerable youth and families. The following year, she participated in the Foster Youth Internship Program writing a congressional report on increasing mental health supports for youth aging out of foster care and interning for Senator Robert Menendez. Hailey has worked as a Youth Ambassador with the New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) Office of Resource Families by speaking to foster parents and case workers about her experiences in care and addressing misconceptions of youth in care. She has also served as a member of New Jersey’s DCF Youth Council which works directly with the DCF Commissioner to identify issues within the system and offer possible solutions. Hailey’s advocacy work led her to volunteer with Camp To Belong, a camp that brings together siblings who have been separated through the foster and adoptive systems. Hailey’s first-hand experiences are a driving force behind her passion to reform the child welfare system.
