Lanikque Howard is a Scientist at the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her work examines how public systems, policy design and implementation, and organizational practice shape family stability, economic mobility, and child well-being. Her current research focuses on the intersection of immigration enforcement and child welfare systems, with particular attention to how policies and institutional practices affect children and families navigating instability and system involvement.
Prior to joining IRP, Howard served as Director of the Office of Community Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, where she led and modernized a $12 billion portfolio of anti-poverty programs reaching more than 35 million people annually. During her tenure, she led the development of federal tools designed to improve access to services, including an eligibility tool that reached more than one million users within six months of launch and a service finder app that received the 2023 Special Achievement Award from the Environmental Systems Research Institute.
Before joining the Biden Administration, she served as Senior Administrator for Programs at First 5 Alameda County, leading cross-sector and place-based health and human services initiatives focused on advancing racial equity and strengthening community-based supports for children and families. Earlier in her career, she served in the Obama administration, where her work focused on federal training and technical assistance, child welfare policy, and advancing interoperability across human services systems.
Howard holds a B.A. in American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MSW and Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.