Elissa Gelber, JD, MSW, is a senior program officer at the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS). In this role, she works on initiatives that support youth and families who receive publicly financed health care, with a focus on cross-system approaches for individuals engaged with child welfare, behavioral health, juvenile justice, and criminal legal systems. While at CHCS, Elissa has led efforts to provide technical assistance to more than 25 state Medicaid agencies implementing federal requirements and opportunities to support individuals returning from incarceration, advising on policy design, regulatory compliance, and service delivery models. She has also worked with states throughout the country on ways to improve Medicaid-funded services and supports in the community to prevent involvement in public child welfare and criminal legal systems.

Prior to joining CHCS, Elissa served as a senior associate at the Center for the Study of Social Policy, where she worked with jurisdictions under federal consent decrees to reform their child welfare and justice systems. In that role, she provided technical assistance to state leaders with an emphasis on strategies for using Medicaid to develop community-based services that reduce family separation. Elissa has also served as a Family Justice Center director and clinical director at the Center for Justice Innovation in New York City, where she oversaw diversion, supervised release bail reform, alternative to detention, violence prevention, and case management programs, in partnership with the NYC Administration for Children Services, NYC Department of Probation, and local hospitals, schools, and community-based organizations. Prior to that, Elissa worked as a case manager and program coordinator in school and community-based programs for youth and families; and as a Henry Luce Foundation Fellow in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Early in her career, Elissa practiced law at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen, & Hamilton, where she focused on litigation and regulatory matters. She has continued to advise on a wide range of legal, compliance, and regulatory issues.

Elissa holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School, a master’s in social work from Hunter College, and a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from New York University.