HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3803        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3221

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Adrian C. Madaro

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act preparing Massachusetts family first prevention services.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3803        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3221

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act preparing Massachusetts family first prevention services.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Legislative Findings and Intent:  The purposes of this act are to ensure that Massachusetts prepares to implement the requirements and funding opportunities offered by the federal Family First Prevention Services Act in order to ensure that:

the children of the Commonwealth receive the services they need to remain safely at home with their families whenever possible and to enter foster care only when it is not possible to keep them safely at home, consistent with the policy of the Commonwealth as set forth in MGL c. 119 §1

if children must be removed from their parents, that they be placed with kin whenever possible

if children cannot be placed with kin that they be placed in family foster care whenever possible and that they be placed in child care institutions only if, and only for so long as, their treatment needs require institutional care,

SECTION 1. Section 21 of Chapter 119 of the General Law, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Appropriate services,” the following definition:-, “Candidate for foster care”, a child who is identified in a prevention plan under section 2 of this chapter as being at imminent risk of entering foster care but who can remain safely in his or her home or in a kinship placement as long as services or programs that are necessary to prevent his or her entry into foster care are provided.  The term includes a child whose adoption or guardianship arrangement is at risk of a disruption or dissolution that would result in a foster care placement. 

SECTION 2. Section 21 of Chapter 119 of the General Law, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Child advocate”, the following definition:-, “Child care institution”,  a private or public child care institution which accommodates no more than 25 children which is licensed by the Commonwealth, or has been approved by the Department of Early Education and Care, for the residential care of children in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.  

SECTION 3. Section 21 of Chapter 119 of the General Law, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Department,” the following definitions: -, “Evidence-based Services”, services that have been approved by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services as meeting the evidence-based standards of “promising,” “supported” or “well-supported.” “Family and Permanency Team”, a team of people that the Department shall assemble to work with it during the assessment of the appropriateness of the child’s placement in a child-care institution.  It shall consist of all appropriate biological family members, relative and fictive kin of the child as well as appropriate professionals who are a resource to the family of the child such as teachers, medical or mental health providers who have treated the child, or clergy.  In the case of a child who has attained the age of 14, the family and permanency team shall include the members of the permanency planning team that are selected by the child in accordance with 42 USC § 475 (5)(C) (iv).

SECTION 4. Section 21 of Chapter 119 of the General Law, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of  “Family requiring assistance”, the following definition:-, “Fictive Kin”, persons who are not related to a child by blood, marriage, or adoption but have an established relationship with the child or his or her family.

SECTION 5. Section 21 of Chapter 119 of the General Law, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Habitually truant”, the following definition:-, “Licensed residential family-based treatment facility for substance abuse”, a facility for the treatment of substance abuse in which both the adult with the substance use disorder and his or her child or children reside, and which provides as part of the treatment for substance abuse, trauma-informed parenting skills training, parent education and family counseling. “Trauma informed” for purposes of this definition shall have the meaning provided in this section.

SECTION 6. Section 21 of Chapter 119 of the General Law, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of  “parent”, the following definition:-, ”Prevention plan”, a written plan for the child that meets the following requirements (as applicable): in the case of a candidate for foster care:  (i) identifies the foster care prevention strategy for the child so that the child may remain safely at home, live temporarily live with a kin caregiver until reunification can be safely achieved, or live permanently with a kin caregiver and (ii) lists the services or programs to be provided to or on behalf of the child to ensure the success of that prevention strategy in the case of pregnant or parenting foster youth: (i) be included in the child’s case plan that is required under section 42 USC § 675,  (ii) lists the services or programs to be provided to or on behalf of the youth to ensure that the youth is prepared (in the case of a pregnant foster youth) or able (in the case of a parenting foster youth) to be a parent and (iii) describes the foster care prevention strategy for any child born to the youth “Prevention Services and Programs”, Evidence based, trauma-informed mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment services provided by a qualified clinician, and in-home parent skill-based programs including parenting skills training, parenting education and individual family counseling, all such services to be provided for not more than a 12-month period. 

SECTION 7. Section 21 of Chapter 119 of the General Law, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the definition of “Young adult” , the following definition:-, “Trauma-Informed”, provided under an organizational structure and treatment framework that involves understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of all types of trauma and in accordance with recognized principles of a trauma-informed approach and trauma-specific interventions to address trauma’s consequences and facilitate healing.

SECTION 8. Chapter 119 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 21A, the following new section:

Section 21B.  (a) (1) For each child who is a candidate for foster care as defined in section 21, the Department shall develop a written foster care prevention plan, as defined in Section 21, to ensure that the child may remain safely at home, temporarily with a kin caregiver until reunification can be safely achieved, or live permanently with kin.  The Department shall also identify and provide the evidence based, trauma-informed prevention services as defined in section 21 necessary to implement this prevention plan. (2) For each pregnant or parenting foster youth, the department shall develop a written prevention plan, as defined in Section 21, to ensure that the youth is prepared (in the case of a pregnant foster youth) or able (in the case of a parenting foster youth) and describe the prevention strategy for any child of such youth to be a parent.  The Department shall identify and provide those evidence based, trauma-informed services necessary to implement this prevention plan.  The written prevention plan as defined in Section 21 for all pregnant and parenting foster youth shall be included in the youth’s case plan developed pursuant to 42 USC 675.

(b) (1) The Department and the Commonwealth’s Family Resource Centers shall develop and provide trauma-informed evidence-based prevention services including mental health, substance abuse prevention and treatment services and parent skill-based programs, as defined in Section 21, in sufficient quantity and of sufficient quality and duration to ensure that all candidates for care and all pregnant and parenting foster youth have the services they require to meet the goals of their prevention plans. (2) In developing and providing the full range of preventive services, the Department shall consult and coordinate with other state programs responsible for administering health programs for families including the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Public Health, and its Bureau of Substance Abuse Services and with other public and private agencies with experience in administering child and family services including community based organizations and Family Resource Centers, in order to foster a continuum of care for children and their parents or kin caregivers. 

(c) (1) When a child is removed from the home of his or her parents, the department shall place the child in a family foster home, with kin whenever possible, unless the treatment needs of the child require that the child be placed in a child care institution.  Upon the commencement of the child’s third week of residence in a child care institution, the Department shall assess the child and the child care institution to ensure that the child has been placed in the least restrictive environment consistent with the short and long-term goals for the child as specified in the child’s permanency plan.  (2) The Department shall conduct its assessment in conjunction with a family permanency team which it shall assemble.  The family permanency team shall consist of all appropriate biological family members, relative and fictive kin of the child as well as appropriate professionals who are a resource to the family of the child such as teachers, medical or mental health providers who have treated the child, or clergy.  In the case of a child who has attained the age of 14, the family and permanency team shall include the members of the permanency planning team that are selected by the child in accordance with 475 (5)(C) (iv). (3) If the child care institution is not the least restrictive environment consistent with the short and long-term goals for the child as specified in the child’s permanency plan, the Department shall immediately take steps to transfer the child to the least restrictive environment that is consistent with the child’s goals and best interests. (4) The Department shall document in the child’s case plan: (i) the reasonable and good faith effort of the Department to identify and include all the individuals described in paragraph (2) of this section on the child’s family and permanency team; (ii) all contact information for members of the family and permanency team, as well as contact information for other family members and fictive kin who are not part of the family and permanency team; (iii) evidence that meetings of the family and permanency team, including meetings relating to the assessment required under subparagraph (2) of this section are held at a time and place convenient for family; (iv) if reunification is the goal, evidence demonstrating that the parent from whom the  child was removed provided input on the members of the family and permanency team; (v) evidence that the assessment required under subparagraph (1) is determined in conjunction with the family and permanency team; (vi) the placement preferences of the family and permanency team relative to the assessment that recognizes children should be placed with their siblings unless there is a finding by the court that such placement is contrary to their best interest; and (vii) if the placement preferences of the family and permanency team and child are not the placement setting recommended by department’s assessment, the reasons why the preferences of the team and of the child were not recommended. (viii) In the case of a child who the department determines should not be placed in a foster family home, the department shall specify in writing the reasons why the needs of the child cannot be met by the family of the child or in a foster family home. A shortage or lack of foster family homes shall not be an acceptable reason for determining that the needs of the child cannot be met in a foster family home. The department shall specify in writing why the recommended placement in a child care institution is the setting that will provide the child with the most effective and appropriate level of care in the least restrictive environment and how that placement is consistent with the short- and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the permanency plan for the child. (5)  The Commonwealth shall not enact policies or practices that result in a significant increase in the population of youth in the Commonwealth’s juvenile justice system.

(d) (1) The Department may place a child in foster care with a parent who is residing in a licensed residential family-based treatment facility for substance abuse as defined in Section 21. (2) Whenever possible, the recommendation for the placement shall be specified in the child’s case plan before the placement

(e) Not later than April 1, 2021, the Department shall align its foster care licensing with reputable model licensing standards for the licensing of foster family homes. To the extent that the Massachusetts standards deviate from the model standards, the Department’s Commissioner shall explain in detail how the Massachusetts standards better advance the goal of promoting and supporting kinship caregiving than do the model standards.

SECTION 9.  There shall be established a “Task Force on Family First Act Implementation” to begin meeting within 60 days of enactment of this act.  It shall be chaired by the House and Senate co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities.  The purpose of this Committee shall be to inform and engage the Massachusetts legislature in the implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act in Massachusetts.  The co-chairs shall designate the members of the committee, and they may invite the Commissioners of the Department of Children and Families, Department of Mental Health, Department of Public Health and any other official within or outside of these agencies who is responsible for implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act to participate in meetings as needed in order to inform the committee’s members about progress in implementation, to answer questions, and to work collaboratively with the committee to implement the Family First Act as effectively as possible.  The committee shall meet at least quarterly until at least December of 2023 unless the co-chairs terminate the committee at an earlier date.

SECTION 10.  This act shall take effect 30 days after enactment.