The Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) recently promoted Soledade Dinis, MS, to Director of Child and Family Clinical Services.

Dinis, who holds a Master’s in Clinical Psychotherapy and Counseling from the University of Lisbon (FPCE-UL), started at MAPS in 2007 as a Family and Child Social Worker providing assessment, crisis intervention, counseling, and case management services for Portuguese-speaking neglected and abused children and their families.

In 2009, she was promoted to Program Supervisor and began overseeing the health and social services organization’s team of child and family counselors and therapists. In 2023, Dinis took on the role of Program Manager.

Born in Portugal, she immigrated with her family to Connecticut as a child in 1972. Her background as an immigrant and her unique bilingual and bi-cultural perspective have informed her worldview and guided her work with the countless Portuguese-speaking children and families she has assisted over the years at MAPS.

MAPS’ Child and Family Clinical Services provides critical assistance to abused and neglected children and their families through three program components: child and family stabilization for families referred by the MA Department of Children and Families; in-home therapy; and family violence prevention counseling.

The primary objective of the program is to deliver comprehensive mental health services to children and families, equipping them with the tools and skills to foster healthy family environments and achieve successful lives. To learn more, please click here.