Chapin Hall

Shontay Olson is a Policy Analyst at Chapin Hall. Olson provides research-driven, capacity-building support to child welfare agencies and other human and social services organizations across the nation. Her work focuses on how policy and systems are implemented in practice, particularly how program design, service delivery, and funding structures affect access and participation for children, youth, and families, including those with disabilities.

Olson has experience with strategically planning and implementing components of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA). Her current projects include supporting several jurisdictions in FFPSA implementation, community systems improvement, and advancing continuous quality improvement efforts. She brings a strong focus on improving access to prevention services, strengthening family and community engagement capacity, and ensuring continuous quality improvement efforts are informed by community voice and lived experience. She brings a disability and access lens to her work, focusing on improving how individuals and families access and participate in programs and services. Her experience includes policy analysis, program implementation, and translating research and data into practical strategies that improve outcomes for children, youth, and families. Olson has supported statewide capacity-building efforts focused on strengthening family engagement and shared leadership. She developed policy-to-practice tools and supported organizations in translating recommendations into practice.

Prior to joining Chapin Hall, Olson served in a leadership role within the Civil Rights Office at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), where she focused on how policies, public programs, and services are implemented in practice. In this role, she advised agency leadership across HHSC, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and the Texas Department of State Health Services on applying civil rights requirements related to accommodations and service access, identifying system-level barriers and strengthening participation for individuals with disabilities and their families.

Olson obtained a Master’s in Education from Western New England University and holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice, specializing in Law Enforcement, from Texas State University San Marcos.