The Overview

If your family is struggling and at risk of involvement with the state child-welfare system, Massachusetts now has a new network of community-based centers designed to help you get support before things reach that point. Massachusetts's An Act enhancing child welfare protections, H 5629, became law when Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed it Aug. 6. ​

The state's child-welfare system had drawn sustained criticism: a state auditor's review found poor medical oversight of children in foster care, the Boston Globe reported that about 600 children in the system go missing each year, and the Globe also reported 147 incidents of child mistreatment in group homes. Sections 2, 43, 44, 50, 51, 52 and 60 of the law do not take effect until one year after the act's effective date.

What the Law Does

The law creates a statewide network of family resource centers to help families avoid entering the child protective system. Subject to appropriation, family resource centers must assign case managers to high-needs families who voluntarily accept service, and schools must refer a student's caregivers to a family resource center before filing a child requiring assistance petition.

For children already in state custody, the law creates an education unit within the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to monitor academic progress, support school enrollment and oversee education record transfers. It also makes the Office of the Child Advocate an independent state agency with expanded oversight powers, establishes a child fatality review team structure, and adds an enumerated list of rights for children in DCF custody to state law. DCF must publish an annual report by Oct. 31 each year and a quarterly profile within 45 days of each quarter's end, covering case counts, demographics, placement data and spending.

Legislative Status

Cosponsors include Rep. Jay Livingstone, a Democrat, along with Thomas W. Moakley, Sean Garballey, Christopher J. Worrell and Russell E. Holmes. The House accepted the conference committee report 157 to 0 on July 31, and the Senate agreed 40 to 0 the same day. In a signing announcement on Mass.gov, Healey said: "Every child in Massachusetts deserves to grow up safe, supported, and seen, and this legislation brings us closer to that promise for our most vulnerable children."

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