Hannah Rackers, MPH, is a research scientist who examines individual, community, and system factors that shape health with a focus on comprehensive, coordinated reproductive health and behavioral health. Her work prioritizes partnerships with practitioners and programs that support capacity-building for data-driven decision-making.

Hannah’s recent work includes an ongoing evaluation partnership with Boston Healthy Start Initiative, supporting the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in the implementation of an outcomes dashboard as a part of Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) reauthorization requirements, analysis of the Opportunity Index, and evaluation and quality improvement support for the DC School Behavioral Health Expansion. She also provides training and technical assistance to teen pregnancy prevention programs through one-on-one engagement, facilitating peer learning, webinars, and resource development. Prior to joining Child Trends, she supported perinatal mental health research at UNC’s Center for Women’s Mood Disorders and served as program manager for a perinatal psychiatric access program. Her work is also informed by her previous experience in direct service provision which includes community-based mental health case management and patient navigation as part of a program to reduce potentially avoidable Emergency Department use.

Hannah uses her quantitative training and experience to conduct evaluations and to support programmatic data collection, data management, and data capacity building for monitoring, improvement, and evaluation purposes. She increasingly integrates mixed methods to develop a rich understanding of program processes, outcomes, and impact and to communicate findings to practitioners, advocates, and decision-makers.

Hannah has published reports and other technical writing for the federal government and clients along with publishing in peer-reviewed journals such as Prevention Science and Psychoneuroendocrinology. She has presented at conferences, webinars, and convenings for practitioners and policymakers.

Hannah holds a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies from Truman State University. She is particularly interested in how supportive services and relationships during critical periods (like adolescence and pregnancy) can increase protective factors, mitigate the risks of adversity and stress, and support dignity and agency in individual decision-making.