Marcela Familiar-Bolaños

Organization

Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston

Program

Rappaport Public Policy Fellow

Year

2021

Rappaport Public Policy Fellows spend 10 weeks each summer serving within the highest levels of state and municipal governments in the Greater Boston Area. The program includes students from graduate and professional programs at local universities.

Graduate School
Boston College School of Social Work

Undergraduate School
Skidmore College

Mentor
Helene Solomon, Solomon McCown and Rappaport Institute Advisory Board Member and Alexis Yohros, Northeastern University and former Rappaport Public Policy Fellow

Agency
Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate

Supervisor
Melissa Threadgill, Director of Juvenile Justice Initiatives and former Rappaport Public Policy Fellow

Description of Fellowship
Marcela worked with the Office of the Child Advocate studying the children requiring assistance (CRA) system in Massachusetts. Marcela developed a memo analyzing and comparing the CRA structure with those adopted by other states. She also documented the various kinds of services that can be provided to youth in the CRA system and developed a proposal for how the OCA could work with partner agencies to further study service referrals and availability based on her framework.