About Us

The Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) is an independent and autonomous Rhode Island state agency responsible for protecting the legal rights and interests of children in state care.  These rights include, but are not limited to, a child’s right to appropriate placement, healthcare and education, and to be treated with dignity and respect.  The OCA has access to all records and files of children in state care.  It may speak privately with any child in the custody or care of the state; issue subpoenas to obtain necessary information and documents and to compel attendance and testimony of witnesses; initiate lawsuits on behalf of children in state care; inspect, monitor and review foster homes, group homes, shelters, residential care centers and the Rhode Island Training School; review and monitor Child Protective Service investigations of institutional abuse and neglect; recommend legislation, rules and regulations; provide training and technical assistance to guardians ad litem and court appointed special advocates; convene child fatality panels to conduct reviews and issue public reports which make recommendations for reforms in the child welfare system.

The Child Advocate
Jametta O. Alston, Esq. is the Child Advocate.  Appointed by Governor Donald Carcieri to a five year term, Ms. Alston has headed the Office of the Child Advocate since June 2005.  A graduate of the Howard University School of Law and a former president of the Rhode Island Bar Association, Ms. Alston has served as City Solicitor for the City of Cranston.  As a staff attorney in the Rhode Island Department of Attorney General, Ms. Alston developed domestic violence protocols for the Attorney General and various local police departments.  A member of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Committee on Women, Ms. Alston has conducted numerous training activities for battered women and women in transition.  Ms. Alston has also taught at the Jamestown Police Department and the Municipal Police Academy.  She is a former chair of the Rhode Island Legal Services, Inc. Board of Directors.  She has handled juvenile and domestic matters as a Legal Services and private practice attorney.  Ms. Alston’s work with youth in the West End Development and the Providence Shelter for Colored Women coupled with her own experience with the foster care system as an adoptive mother has provided her with invaluable insight to protecting the rights of children.  She has been honored by the Rhode Island Bar Association with a presentation of a Pro Bono Award for her dedicated and tireless service as a volunteer lawyer. 

Kelly Monteiro, Esq., Assistant Child Advocate.  Ms. Monteiro joined the OCA staff in June 2006 as the Staff Attorney and Case Manager of the child victim compensation cases. Now as the Assistant Child Advocate she serves on various committees and task forces at the request of the Child Advocate. She handles many of the day to day duties of the OCA.  She is a graduate of Howard University Law School.  She represents children who are voluntarily placed with DCYF in Family Court and assists and supervises the court duties of the OCA.  While as a staff attorney at Rhode Island Legal Services, Attorney Monteiro worked in the Family Preservation Project handling abuse, neglect and dependency petitions.  As former assistant public defender in the Appellate Division of the Rhode Island Office of Public Defender, Attorney Monteiro handled criminal and DCYF appeals. 

Joseph M. Onofrio, LICSW, holds a BA in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston and earned an MSW from the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work.  He has completed approximately 1,750 hours of professional development related to child maltreatment investigation, forensic interviewing, and child custody/divorce.  Before gaining experience in child and adult protective services, Mr. Onofrio worked in residential and community-based services.  In private practice, Mr. Onofrio serves as a child sexual abuse evaluator, a consultant for the Comprehensive Family Evaluation Center at Tufts Medical Center, and as a Court Investigator and Guardian ad Litem in matters before the Massachusetts Juvenile and Family Courts.  Mr. Onofrio joined the Rhode Island Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) as the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist in 2009.  His responsibilities include, but are not limited to conducting placement reviews, child welfare policy and clinical analysis, and providing training to professionals who work with children and families.

Kathryn Cortes is the Chief Field Investigator. A graduate of Salve Regina University, Ms. Cortes has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice. She is responsible for investigating allegations of abuse and neglect for children in DCYF custody. Ms. Cortes assists in the investigation of institutional abuse complaints and assists in the preliminary investigations of child fatalities. She also participates in permanency planning for children voluntarily placed in state care. She is a former program director of a residential drug treatment program at the Rhode Island Training School. In addition, she has extensive experience working in a residential group home facility.

Marianna Almeida is the Administrative Assistant/Office Manager.  A graduate of Community College of Rhode Island with an Associate Science Degree with concentration in Legal Secretarial Program, Ms. Almeida came to the OCA in January 2004, with over 26 years of administrative and paralegal experience.  Ms. Almeida has worked around children for most of her career.  Formerly with the Lincoln School Department, Ms. Almeida is active in her community working with youth in various athletic activities.

The Office of the Child Advocate

Office of the Child Advocate
John O Pastore Center
57 Howard Avenue, 4th flr.
Cranston, RI 02920