SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2228

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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

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by striking out, in lines 39 to 69, inclusive, the words:- “; provided further, that on December 27, 2019 and March 31, 2020, the department shall report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities on: (i) the fair hearing requests filed in fiscal year 2020, stating with nonidentifying information for each hearing request: (a) the subject matter of the appeal; (b) the number of days between the hearing request and the first day of the hearing; (c) the number of days between the first day of the hearing and the hearing officer’s decision; (d) the number of days between the hearing officer’s decision and the agency’s final decision; (e) the number of days of continuance granted at the appellant’s request; (f) the number of days of continuance granted at the request of the department of children and families or the hearing officer’s request, specifying which party made the request; and (g) whether the department’s decision that was the subject of the appeal was affirmed or reversed; and (ii) the fair hearing requests filed before fiscal year 2020, which have been pending for more than 180 days, stating: (1) the number of those cases; (2) how many of those cases have been heard but not yet decided; and (3) how many of those cases have been decided but not yet issued as a final agency decision; provided further, that the department shall maintain and make available to the public, during regular business hours, a record of its hearings, with identifying information removed, including for each hearing request the date of the request, the date of the hearing decision, the decision rendered by the hearing officer and the final decision rendered upon the commissioner’s review; provided further, that the department shall make redacted copies of its hearing decisions available within 30 days of a written request; provided further, that the department shall not make available any information in violation of federal privacy regulations”; and

in said section 2, in said item 4800-0015, by striking out, in lines 136 to 146, inclusive, the words “; provided further, that not later than November 1, 2019, the department shall submit a report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities that details any changes to rules, regulations or guidelines established by the department in the previous fiscal year to carry out its duties under chapter 119 of the General Laws including, but not limited to: (aa) criteria used to determine whether a child has been abused or neglected; (bb) guidelines for removal of a child from the home; and (cc) standards to determine what reasonable efforts are being made to keep a child in the home”; and

by inserting after section 8 the following 5 sections:-

“SECTION 8A. Section 6A of chapter 18B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph.

SECTION 8B. Section 20 of said chapter 18B, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence.

SECTION 8C. Said chapter 18B is hereby further amended by adding the following 3 sections:-

Section 26. (a)(1) Annually, not later than October 31, the department shall issue a report that provides an overview of the department’s performance during the previous fiscal year. The commissioner or a designee shall file the report with the governor, the child advocate, the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities. The commissioner shall provide the recipients of the report with an opportunity to discuss its contents with the commissioner or a designee. The report shall be made publicly available on the department’s website in accordance with section 19 of chapter 66.

(2) The report shall include, but not be limited to, narratives, information, data and analysis on: (i) case counts; (ii) consumer counts; (iii) the number of reports filed pursuant to section 51A of chapter 119; (iv) placement metrics; (v) the number of infants brought into the department’s care pursuant to section 39½ of chapter 119; (vi) the number of siblings in placement; (vii) safety processes and outcomes; (viii) permanency processes and outcomes; (ix) the rates of adoptions by race and ethnicity; (x) well-being outcomes, including the rates and timeliness of the delivery of medical services and high school graduation rates; (xi) staffing trends; (xii) caseloads; (xiii) the department’s budget, including funding levels; (xiv) service costs; (xv) medical services and advancements in providing medical services to children and young adults in the department’s care; (xvi) amounts expended to foster care and to adoptive and guardianship families to provide assistance, including financial assistance, to provide for the care of children; and (xvii) the foster care review system and any recommendations for its improvement. The report shall also include comparative departmental information from prior fiscal years.

(b)(1) Quarterly, not later than 75 days after the end of each fiscal quarter, the department shall issue a quarterly profile on its website in accordance with section 19 of chapter 66 that shall include, but not be limited to, departmental, regional office and area office data on: (i) consumer counts; (ii) the number of reports filed pursuant to section 51A of chapter 119, including counts of reports received, screened-in and screened-out in the quarter; (iii) department case counts, including counts of clinical and adoption cases in the quarter; (iv) consumer demographic information, including race and primary language; (v) counts of children and youth in-placement; and (vi) counts of children and youth not in-placement.

(2) The commissioner or the commissioner’s designee shall notify the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities when data from a profile issued pursuant to paragraph (1) significantly departs from trends reported in previous profiles.

(c) The commissioner or the commissioner’s designees shall notify the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities when draft regulations are made available by the department for public comment. Not more than 30 days after the promulgation of regulations or the effective date of adopted or revised departmental policies relative to services provided to children and families, the department shall provide the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities with copies of the regulations or departmental policies.

(d) If the department is unable to submit the report under subsection (a) or issue the profile under subsection (b) by the respective deadlines, the commissioner or the commissioner’s legal counsel shall notify the governor, the child advocate, the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities in writing and provide an explanation for the delay.

(e)(1) The department, in consultation with the general court and other governmental and nongovernmental partners, shall establish a 3-year plan that shall include numerical targets for the department’s performance in each year and in each of its regions in the areas of safety, permanence and well-being. The plan shall include a description of how the department will measure its progress toward meeting the numerical targets. The plan may include different targets for different regions. The plan shall be updated annually not later than March 31.

(2) Annually, not later than December 31, the department shall measure its performance in meeting the targets set forth by the plan established pursuant to paragraph (1) for the commonwealth as a whole and for each of its regions, consistent with the methodology described in the plan.

(3) The department shall publish and prominently maintain on its website the current plan, the targets for previous years and the department’s performance in meeting those targets.

(4) If in a fiscal year the department is unable to develop or update the plan described in paragraph (1) or to measure its performance as required by paragraph (2), the department shall notify the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities, the child advocate, the chief counsel of the committee for public counsel services, the executive director of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and the executive director of the Children’s League of Massachusetts, Inc. not later than September 1 of that fiscal year.

Section 27. Annually, not later than October 31, the department of children and families shall submit a special report on services provided to young adults over the age of 18 to the child advocate, the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities. The report shall summarize the process by which a young adult may continue to receive services from the department upon reaching the legal adult age of 18. The report shall also include, but not be limited to: (i) the number of young adults who have elected to sustain a connection with the department in the previous fiscal year; (ii) the number young adults who have elected not to remain with the department and have transitioned out of the child welfare system in the previous fiscal year, including young adults who had previously elected to sustain a connection with the department, if such numbers are available; (iii) the total payments made from commonwealth funds to young adults in the previous fiscal year; and (iv) a description of services provided to young adults by the department in the previous fiscal year, including those funded wholly or in  part by federal funds. The department may satisfy the reporting requirements of this section by providing the requested information in an annual report filed under section 26.

Section 28. Annually, not later than August 31, the department of children and families shall file a special report on its fair hearing processes and cases with the child advocate, the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities. The report shall be made available to the public electronically in accordance with section 19 of chapter 66 of the General Laws. The report shall include, but not be limited to, information in a form that shall not include personally-identifiable information on the fair hearing requests open at any time during the previous fiscal year and, for each hearing request, shall provide: (i) the subject matter of the appeal; (ii) the outcomes of cases resolved prior to a fair hearing decision; (iii) the number of days between the hearing request and the first day of the hearing; (iv) the number of days between the close of the evidence and the hearing officer’s decision; (v) the number of days of continuance granted at the appellant’s request; (vi) the number of days of continuance granted at the request of the department of children and families or the hearing officer’s request, specifying which party made the request; and (vii) whether the department’s decision that was the subject of the appeal was affirmed or reversed. The department shall maintain and make available to the public, during regular business hours, a record of its fair hearings in a form that shall not include personally-identifiable information and shall include, for each hearing request: (i) the date of the request; (ii) the date of the hearing decision; (iii) the decision rendered by the hearing officer; and (iv) the final decision rendered upon the commissioner’s review. The report shall provide for the fair hearing requests that are pending for more than 180 days at any time during the fiscal year, except for those requests which have been stayed at the request of the district attorney, the number of those cases, how many of those cases have been heard but not decided and how many have been decided by the hearing officer but not yet issued a final agency decision. If there are more than 225 fair hearing requests open for more than 180 days at the close of any month of the first 6 months of a fiscal year, then an additional report of these requests shall be provided not later than February 28. The department shall make redacted copies of fair hearing decisions available within 30 days after a written request.

SECTION 8D. Paragraph (4) of subsection (e) of section 26 of said chapter 18B, as appearing in section 8C, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “services” the following words:- ", the executive director of the legal services organization that is participating in the data work group under subsection (f)."

SECTION 8E. Said section 26 of said chapter 18B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following subsection:-

(f) A data work group shall convene every 2 years to make recommendations for improvements to the report and profile required under subsections (a) and (b). The work group shall consist of the following persons or their designees: the child advocate, who shall serve as co-chair; the commissioner, who shall serve as co-chair; the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means; the chairs of the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities; the chief counsel of the committee for public counsel services; the executive director of Children’s League of Massachusetts, Inc.; the executive director of a legal services program to be appointed by the governor; 1 person with expertise in child welfare data and outcome measurement to be appointed by the child advocate; and 1 person with expertise in the department’s information technology, data collection and reporting systems to be appointed by the commissioner of children and families. The work group shall consult with other individuals with relevant expertise, including academics, researchers and service providers, as needed.

Not later than December 31 in every even-numbered year, the data work group shall report its recommendations, together with drafts of any legislation necessary to carry its recommendations into effect, by filing the same with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the senate and house committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities.”; and

by inserting after section 41 the following 2 sections:-

“SECTION 41A. Subsection (f) of section 23 of chapter 119 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence.

SECTION 41B Subsection (h) of said section 23 of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the second paragraph.”; and

by inserting after section 51 the following section:-

“SECTION 51A. Chapter 47 of the acts of 2017 is hereby amended by striking out section 128 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 128. There shall be a task force on child welfare data reporting. The task force shall develop basic data measures, progress measures and key outcome measures to inform the general court and the public on the status and demographics of the caseload of the department of children and families and the department’s progress in achieving child welfare goals, including safety, permanency and well-being.

The task force shall develop criteria for measuring outcomes for children and families in the key child welfare domains of safety, permanency and well-being including, but not limited to, outcomes relative to: (i) protecting children from abuse and neglect; (ii) safely maintaining children in their own homes whenever possible and appropriate; (iii) achieving stability and permanency for children in their living situations; (iv) preserving the continuity of family relationships; (v) enhancing the capacity of families to provide for the needs of children; (vi) ensuring that children receive appropriate services to meet their educational needs; (vii) ensuring that children receive the services necessary to meet their physical and mental health needs; and (viii) achieving permanency and opportunity for young adults.

The task force shall make recommendations to: (i) ensure that the department of children and families’ reports and profiles under section 26 of chapter 18B of the General Laws include data measures that are clearly defined and provided with adequate context to convey the meaning of reported data and the department’s understanding of the meaning of trends that may appear in that data; (ii) eliminate reports that are no longer necessary; (iii) revise existing reports; and (iv) ensure that reports are timely submitted and made available electronically in accordance with public records laws.

The task force shall also make recommendations relative to: (i) the continued development of the reports and profiles under section 26 of chapter 18B of the General Laws; (ii) the resources required of the department to develop and produce those reports and profiles; (iii) priorities for the department’s public reporting requirements as they relate to addressing: (a) questions underlying legislative reporting requirements relative to foster care review, residential care, services for young adults over the age of 18, educational and placement stability, kinship guardianship subsidies and any other reporting requirements not included in the reports and profiles under said section 26 of said chapter 18B; (b) questions that the department is currently unable to address with existing departmental data including, but not limited to, families with multiple siblings in the department’s care; (c) questions concerning the department’s delivery of services including, but not limited to, support and stabilization and the effectiveness of such services; (d) questions concerning the department’s outcomes and the development of accurate benchmarks to measure those outcomes; and (e) racial disproportionality at decision points in the departmental process by area office.

The task force shall be comprised of the following persons or their designees: the child advocate, who shall serve as co-chair; the commissioner of children and families, who shall serve as co-chair; the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means; the chairs of the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities; the chief counsel of the committee for public counsel services; the executive director of the Children’s League of Massachusetts, Inc.; the executive director of a legal services program to be appointed by the governor; 1 person with expertise in child welfare data and outcome measurement to be appointed by the child advocate; 1 person who is a current or recently former caseworker for the department of children and families to be appointed by SEIU 509; and 1 person with expertise in the department of children and families’ information technology, data collection and reporting systems to be appointed by the commissioner of children and families. The task force shall consult with other individuals with relevant expertise, including academics, researchers and service providers, as needed. The task force shall consult with the secretaries of agencies that address issues that directly affect the child welfare caseload or outcomes including, but not limited to, substance use disorders, domestic violence, mental health and homelessness to determine how best to review and report on agency data relevant to child welfare outcomes.

The task force shall meet at least quarterly. Annually, not later than January 31, the task force shall submit its recommendations, together with drafts of any legislation necessary to carry its recommendations into effect, by filing the same with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities.”; and

by inserting after section 77 the following 2 sections:-

“SECTION 77A. Sections 8D and 8E shall take effect on February 1, 2022.

SECTION 77B. Subsection (e) of section 26 of chapter 18B shall take effect January 1, 2022.”.