HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3182 FILED ON: 1/18/2019
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3334
|
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Natalie M. Higgins
_________________
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 relative to improving training for child advocates to recognize indicators of domestic violence.
_______________
PETITION OF:
Name: | District/Address: | Date Added: |
Natalie M. Higgins | 4th Worcester | 1/18/2019 |
Jack Patrick Lewis | 7th Middlesex | 1/20/2019 |
Mary S. Keefe | 15th Worcester | 1/23/2019 |
Carolyn C. Dykema | 8th Middlesex | 1/23/2019 |
Stephan Hay | 3rd Worcester | 1/24/2019 |
Michael O. Moore | Second Worcester | 1/29/2019 |
Kay Khan | 11th Middlesex | 1/29/2019 |
James B. Eldridge | Middlesex and Worcester | 1/31/2019 |
Daniel R. Cullinane | 12th Suffolk | 2/1/2019 |
Brian M. Ashe | 2nd Hampden | 2/1/2019 |
David M. Rogers | 24th Middlesex | 2/1/2019 |
James K. Hawkins | 2nd Bristol | 2/1/2019 |
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3182 FILED ON: 1/18/2019
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3334
By Ms. Higgins of Leominster, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3334) of Natalie M. Higgins and others relative to improving training for child advocates to recognize indicators of domestic violence. The Judiciary. |
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)
_______________
An Act relative to improving training for child advocates to recognize indicators of domestic violence.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 56a of Chapter 215 of the General laws as appearing in the 2006 Official edition, is hereby amended by inserting, in line 7, after the word “attorney.” the following words: - All child custody cases referred to a guardian ad litem will require a domestic violence screening assessment in which a judge shall cause a search to be made of the records contained within the statewide domestic violence record keeping system, maintained by the office of the commissioner of probation, and shall review the resulting data to determine whether the parties have a civil or criminal record involving domestic violence prior to a decision rendered.
All appointed guardian ad litems will be required to have completed a minimum of 24 hours of professional development training for certification, and at least 8 hours of training on the indicators of domestic violence from an approved domestic violence organization.
Formal complaints of the competency of an appointed Guardian ad Litem can be filed in motion to a judge in camera. -: