Alyssa Rao

The Project

Alyssa (she/her/hers) will advocate on behalf of survivors of domestic violence by representing them in both the early stages of their child welfare cases—a form of preventative legal representation—and in their family law matters.

In Massachusetts, low-income survivors of domestic violence, many of whom are people of color, are not guaranteed representation in this early stage of a child welfare case, putting their rights to their children at risk. Alyssa’s project addresses this need by providing early, prophylactic representation to survivors of domestic violence embroiled in the child welfare system to protect their rights and to prevent further exacerbation of trauma and poverty.

Alyssa is inspired by the survivors that she has worked with and is driven by a firm belief in keeping families together to prevent further poverty and trauma.

Fellowship Plans

During her Fellowship, Alyssa will provide individual representation to survivors of domestic violence in both the early stages of their child welfare cases and in their family law matters.  She will also develop and deliver “know your rights” trainings for survivors of domestic violence who are involved with the child welfare system.

As her representation continues, she will identify the outcomes of these domestic violence cases within the child welfare system to identify system-wide policies or policy implementations that are harmful to survivors of domestic violence.

Throughout the Fellowship, Alyssa will also create new relationships between domestic violence advocates and the child welfare system to foster collaboration on efforts toward systemic reform.

Media