Spotlight on CFCS: Claralys Gonzalez

There are countless stories that live within our walls at CFCS, but not all of them come from the children and families we work with. Our employees – the social workers, case managers, interns, admins and directors who make our agency run smoothly – are the reason for our success as an organization. They also happen to be interesting people with quite a few good stories of their own! 

In our “Spotlight on CFCS” series, we highlight the rich experiences and perspectives our staff bring to the office through one-on-one interviews. Today we’re highlighting Claralys Gonzalez, a Family Support Specialist in our Family Support & Stabilization program who started her career at CFCS as an intern! 

Tell us a bit about yourself!  

I grew up here in Boston in the Jamaica Plain area. I went to Brighton High and earned my undergraduate degree at the University of Massachusetts Boston in Social Psychology. I’m currently at Simmons University for my master’s in social work. 

When and how did you come to CFCS? 

I came to CFCS for my first-year internship through my graduate program at Simmons. Our advisors at schools help us find internships, and I wanted to do something with children and families and with the Spanish speaking community. My internship was almost a year long, from September through August. Towards the end of it, Program Director Nanci Lytes approached me and asked if I wanted to work for the program full time. I thought this was a great opportunity to learn more about what I’m going to school for.  

How did you become interested in social work? 

I kind of started getting into social work at my previous job at the Dimock Health Center. I was a community health worker supporting high risk medical and behavioral health patients. At Dimock, I worked with and was surrounded by a lot of social workers and liked what they did. Through networking with them, I got into social work and behavioral health services, and pediatrics caught my eye.  

As I mentioned, I grew up in Boston in Jamaica Plain, in one of the Spanish-speaking communities down there. Often, in Spanish-speaking neighborhoods, there are not enough therapists that speak the language and can support the community. So to be able to provide that, to be a therapist for Spanish speaking communities, is something I want to do. 

What does your work at CFCS entail? 

I started off working in the Young Parents Support Program which supports young parents age 22 and younger in their parenthood journey by providing resources they need. Then, I transitioned to work with families referred to us by the Department of Children and Families (DCF), who need support as they work to stabilize their home. We work with families on things like how to use positive discipline with children and how to support children’s social-emotional development. We give DCF regular updates on how the families are progressing in our work with them.  

What’s your favorite part of your job (so far)? 

My favorite part right now is how much experience I’m getting. For school, I started interning as an outpatient behavioral health clinician in pediatrics. If it were not for my position at FSS, it would have been a lot harder for me to start that position.  

What’s a big challenge you’ve had to overcome, or are working to overcome?  

One of the biggest challenges for me is the heavy weight of the work we’re doing. We’re working with people who have open DCF cases, which is serious. I have to work through anxiety because these are people’s lives; you have their life in your hands. But it’s rewarding too, because we help keep families together. 

There’s a lot of misconceptions about social work and the clients we work with at CFCS, and in FSS specifically. What’s one thing about your job that you want people to know? 

I really enjoy working with the Spanish-speaking population and the immigrant population. I would love people to know that these people don’t get as many resources and have a lot of barriers to their care. For us to be able to give those resources to people who really need it is a great thing. They’re great people regardless of their immigration status. And at CFCS, we have a lot of people of color and minorities supporting these populations, so to have people that look like the people we serve is a huge thing.