Massachusetts Jobs

About the OCA The Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) is an independent executive branch agency with oversight and ombudsperson responsibilities, established by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2008. The OCA's mission is to ensure that children receive appropriate, timely and quality state services, with a particular focus on ensuring that the Commonwealth's most vulnerable and at-risk children can thrive. Through collaboration with public and private stakeholders, the OCA identifies gaps in state services and recommends improvements in policy, practice, regulation and/or law. The OCA also serves as a resource for families who are receiving, or are eligible to receive, services from the Commonwealth. Office of the Child Advocate | Mass.gov Commitment to Diversity The OCA actively seeks to increase the diversity of its workforce and is interested in candidates whose experiences, skills, and qualifications support an ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Applicants are invited to include a statement within their cover letter describing how diversity, equity, and inclusion factor into the candidate's work and/or life experiences. The OCA values diverse perspectives, including candidates with lived experience in the child protective and/or juvenile justice systems. The Policy and Implementation Team at the OCAworks to identify and make recommendations to address systems-level gaps and challenges in the delivery of state services for children and improve outcomes. The team accomplishes this work by conducting comprehensive, mixed methods policy analysis, managing the work of various OCA-chaired task forces and working groups, and developing policy reports and briefs. Additionally, the team collaborates with various partners to pilot innovative programs and services designed to improve the quality of state services for children and youth by supporting pilot program design, implementation, and evaluation. The Policy and Implementation Team also manages legislative relations, communications, and external affairs for the OCA. The Policy and Research Analyst (P&RA)will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience working on a variety of policy areas related to children and youth including, but not limited to, child welfare, juvenile justice, behavioral health, education, and issues facing emerging adults. The P&RA will also have the opportunity to support implementation, monitoring, and/or evaluation of select pilot projects in partnership with other state agencies. The right candidate for this positionhas interest and at least some experience in using mixed-methods research to inform recommendations for changes in statute, budget, and/or practice. You understand how to use a variety of sources of information – from qualitative interviews to academic literature to statistical analysis to the voices of individuals with lived experience – to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of public policy problems and analyze potential solutions. You are a critical thinker, a strong writer, and you are open to listening and learning from a range of perspectives. You are detail oriented, and able to work independently, while also working collaboratively on projects with peers, managers, and OCA leadership to advance projects.You are flexible and can work quickly and efficiently on multiple projects.You have a demonstrated commitment to fostering inclusion and addressing disparities in state services and systems. Most of all, you have a passion for improving the lives of the children and youth of the Commonwealth and want to be part of an innovative, growing team of public servants who share that passion. Duties and Responsibilities (these are a general summary and not all inclusive): · Collect and synthesize information from a variety of sources, including literature reviews, legal and policy reviews, internet searches, and interviews with experts and stakeholders; · Draft policy and research reports, presentations, fact-sheets and briefs for both internal and external audiences; · Draft data requests; collect, input, clean and analyze data from a variety of sources to draw conclusions and make recommendations based on the results; · Provide support for internal and external meetings as well as relevant working groups, committees and commissions including virtual meeting platform maintenance, meeting minutes, draft agenda development, and slide deck preparation, abiding by relevant open meeting law when necessary; · Research relevant laws, regulations, and research to inform the content and direction of select projects; · Assist with the overall management of select projects, including creating workplans, timelines and mapping project deliverables; · Develop process maps, graphs, and other visual aids to convey complicated information in accessible ways; · Develop and maintain knowledge of the best practices and emerging issues related to the OCA areas of focus; · Provide direct support in the development and drafting of reports issued by the OCA including reports issued to the Legislature; · Review reports and other written products for accuracy, completeness, and quality of content; · Attend meetings on behalf of the OCA and report on those meetings internally; · Support senior management staff by providing project support and staffing support as needed; Other relevant duties as needed. * Knowledge- familiarity with social science research design and methods; familiarity with legal and regulatory research methods; * Data-literacy- comfort reviewing data, conducting data analysis, drawing conclusions, connecting data and research to policy and practice, and using data to guide decision-making. Proficiency in Excel including data entry and cleaning, creating charts/graphs, development of pivot tables for analysis; Ability to draft different data collection methods including data requests, surveys, case file reviews and structured interviews; * Leadership & Project Management- possess strong organizational and project management skills: ability to both see the big picture (i.e., identify goals and objectives) and be detail-oriented (i.e., develop a timeline, assign tasks with appropriate deadlines); be able to organize, prioritize, and manage multiple projects, and have the flexibility to adapt and adjust project plans as circumstances change and opportunities emerge; be able to work directly with various project leads and senior management staff; * Strong interest in professional development and growthincluding an affirmative interest in gathering constructivefeedback on writing style and content, and willingness to learn; * Communication- strong writing and editing skills, including the ability to absorb and summarize complex and highly technical information; ability to anticipate questions and present information in a manner that addresses anticipated questions; some public speaking and public presentations may be required; * Teamwork & flexibility– willingness to gain expertise in multiple content areas, willingness to quickly pivot as the needs of senior management staff change, willingness to be flexible with your work product in order to meet the needs of the office; * Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other commonly used computer software applications. Preferred Qualifications * 2 years or more working directly and/or in a policy role in primary or secondary education, child welfare, juvenile justice, children’s behavioral health, or another specialization related to children; * Lived experience in the juvenile justice or child welfare system * Knowledge of Massachusetts state government including state agencies that provide services to children. Minimum Entry Requirements Applicants must have (A) Master’s Degree in public policy/administration, public health, a social science, or a related field; (B) at least three years of full-time, or equivalent part-time, relevant technical or professional experience, or (C) any equivalent combination of the required experience and the substitutions listed below. Substitutions: I. A doctoral degree from a recognized degree-granting college or university may be substituted for the required (B) experience.* *Education toward such a degree will be prorated on the basis of the proportion of the requirements *Job: Unclassified* *Organization: Office of the Child Advocate *Title: *Policy and Research Analyst Location: Massachusetts-Boston-1 Ashburton Place Requisition ID: 2400054D