Bill H.134

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2673 FILED ON: 1/19/2023

HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 134

By Representative Blais of Deerfield, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 134) of Natalie M. Blais for legislation to establish a network of community-based services and family resource centers for families and children in need of assistance. Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act regarding families and children in need of assistance.

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. Chapter 6A of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 16U and replacing it with the following new text:

(a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:—

''Child requiring assistance'', as defined in section 21 of chapter 119.

“Chronic absenteeism” missing at least ten percent of days enrolled regardless of whether the absences are considered excused, unexcused and/or for disciplinary reasons.

''Community-based services'', services, including coordination of services, designed to assist families requiring assistance so that, if appropriate, children of the family may continue to reside with their family and attend their community school while enjoying a strengthened relationship with their family.

''Family requiring assistance'', as defined in section 21 of chapter 119.

''Habitually truant'', as defined in section 21 of chapter 119.

''Secretary'', the secretary of health and human services.

(b) Subject to appropriation or third party reimbursement, the secretary shall:

(1) establish a network of child and family service programs and family resource centers throughout the commonwealth to provide community-based services to families, including families with children requiring assistance under subsection (c);

(2) develop guidelines and standards necessary to achieve and maintain, on a statewide basis, a comprehensive and integrated network of community-based services and family resource centers for children and families;

(3) promote efficiency by including in the network of community-based services and family resource centers access to the following services: (i) organizations that are part of the comprehensive community-based behavioral health delivery system coordinated by the secretary under section 16S; (ii) organizations that provide services or have experience in coordinating access to community-based services such as local schools; (iii) other local public agencies and private organizations; and (iv) local medical, behavioral or mental health care providers;

(4) coordinate the services provided by the network and in the family resource centers including, but not limited to, outreach, intake, screening, assessment and referral to services;

(5) encourage cooperation among local providers as needed to provide the full complement of services required under this section;

(6) monitor and provide technical assistance to family resource centers and providers of community-based services;

(7) require the use of standard intake screening and assessment tools to evaluate families and children seeking community-based services which shall identify the family's strengths, resources and service needs including, but not limited to, mental health, behavioral health or substance abuse treatment, basic family shelter, clothing and food needs, child care needs, health insurance status, legal issues, education placement and child protection; and

(8) create a data collection system for use by programs within the community-based services network and family resource centers which shall: (i) maintain the privacy of clients served, (ii) assist programs and the secretary in identifying and addressing the needs of the population to be served, including gaps in service availability and how long clients are waiting to receive services (iii) collect information including, but not limited to, insurance status and benefit coverage of clients served, income documentation as needed to apply a sliding fee scale for payment or waiver of payment for services, (iv) collect data regarding the services received by a family, and (v) such other information deemed necessary to assist the program and the secretary in providing services, identifying service needs and gaps and evaluating the effectiveness of family resource centers and the community-based services network. Annually, the secretary shall submit a report to the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities and the child advocate detailing, but not limited to: (i) the number of children and families served at each center; (ii) the types of programs offered; (iii) program outcomes including referrals to the juvenile court; (iv) service gaps, including unavailable services and services with long wait times (v) client feedback; (vi) progress on data sharing between centers, (vii) the number of children served by a multidisciplinary team pursuant to subsection (c), and (viii) the number of children referred to a Juvenile Court for a child requiring assistance petition following a multidisciplinary team process. All data shall be disaggregated by the child’s race, ethnicity, gender, and age.

(c) The network of community-based services and family resource centers shall: (i) assist families so that, whenever possible, children may continue residing with their families in their home communities; (ii) assist families to enable children to continue as students in their community schools; (iii) strengthen the relationships between children and their families; and (iv) provide coordinated, comprehensive, community-based services for children at risk of chronic absenteeism, dropping out of school, committing delinquent acts or engaging in behaviors which impede the likelihood of leading healthy, productive lives, or who have been referred from the juvenile court pursuant to section 39E of chapter 119.

Services offered through the network shall include, but not be limited to, treatment for or assistance with: eligibility determinations, assistance with applying for state services including MassHealth, financial assistance programs, and services provided or funded by executive branch agencies, behavioral, medical and mental health needs, special education evaluation, remedial education services, assistance with insurance issues, mentoring, family and parent support, civic engagement and community service, after school and out-of-school opportunities, residential programs, crisis management and case management.

Subject to appropriation, each FRC shall assign a child and family a case manager who shall convene a multidisciplinary team as needed to fulfil the functions listed in this subsection. Multidisciplinary teams shall consist of but not be limited to the child, the child’s parents/caregivers, and family resource center staff, and when appropriate may include family partners, advocates, community-based service providers, educational advocates, representatives from state agencies, or school district representatives. The teams shall work to identify any needs of the child or family with the goal of providing supports to the child and their family outside of the juvenile court process to the extent possible.

A case manager shall not refer a family to the juvenile court for the purpose of filing a child requiring assistance petition unless all other community-based service options have been exhausted. Staff at a family resource center shall be permitted to report to a probation officer upon request if a child that is the subject of an attempted child requiring assistance filing has met with a case manager pursuant to this section and if all relevant community-based service options have been exhausted.

The secretary of health and human services shall promulgate regulations to effectuate the purposes of this section. The regulations shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the role of family resource center staff in facilitating the work of the multidisciplinary team (ii) the circumstances under which staff from health and human service state agencies are required to participate and what that participation shall entail (iii) the process by which disagreements about the case plan shall be resolved (iv) record sharing processes, including requirements for obtaining consumer or parental consent and processes for providing information to the juvenile court about a family’s participation in services when the family has filed a child requiring assistance petition (v) data gathering and reporting requirements; (vi) and protocols for when and how a family should be referred to the juvenile court for a child requiring assistance petition.

(d) Any documentation of services provided to the family and child through the network of community-based services or in the family resource centers shall not be public records under clause Twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4. Except as otherwise required by law, including laws related to the reporting of suspected abuse or neglect under section 51A of chapter 119, statements made by the family and child while receiving services from the network of community-based services shall be treated as confidential and shall not be used in any proceedings without the written consent of the person making the statement. Information about the child and family requiring assistance, including interactions with service providers and protected health information services, may be shared among the case team, other providers of community services for families and any agency within the executive office of health and human services providing such services to the child as needed to coordinate treatment and provide appropriate case management, to the extent permitted under applicable federal law, unless the child or family decline in writing to permit such information sharing.

(e) Participation in community-based services and use of the family resource centers shall be under a voluntary agreement of the parent, legal guardian or custodian and the child; provided, however, that provision of community-based services may be contingent upon such parent, legal guardian or custodian agreeing to pay for such services or consenting to allow covered services to be billed to applicable third party payers, including insurance providers.

(f) Except as otherwise provided, a school administrator shall refer a student to a family resource center or a community-based services program, if such programs have been established in the geographic region where the student resides, at the same time as the administrator notifies the student and the parent, legal guardian or custodian of the student that the student is at risk of expulsion for failure to comply with the lawful and reasonable rules of the school. After providing the process that is due to the student, including an expulsion hearing if requested under sections 37H and 37H.5 of chapter 71, the school administrator shall consider the outcome of the community-based services if the student provides such outcome information to the school. After an expulsion is imposed, the student may continue to provide information relative to the outcome of any community-based services rendered, and the school administrator shall consider the outcome of any community-based services rendered any time that is provided. Notwithstanding the outcome of any community-based services, school districts shall make available to expelled students educational services designed to lead to re-entry to a regular education program or to a high school diploma.

A school shall make reasonable efforts to identify and address potential causes of chronic absenteeism, including but not limited to previously unidentified or inadequately addressed special educational needs, behavioral health needs, bullying, and harassment, before referring the child and family to a family resource center for habitually truant behavior or filing a child requiring assistance petition with the juvenile court.

(g) Nothing in this section shall diminish or interfere with the rights and protections afforded to students with disabilities under federal and state special education laws.

SECTION 2: Section 1O of chapter 69 of the General Laws is hereby repealed.

SECTION 3: Section 21 of chapter 119 is hereby amended by striking out the definition of “Child requiring assistance” and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

''Child requiring assistance'', a child between the ages of 12 and 18 who is not currently in the custody of the Department of Children and Families or the Department of Youth Services who: (a)(i) repeatedly runs away from the home of the child's parent, legal guardian or custodian; (ii) repeatedly fails to obey the lawful and reasonable commands of the child's parent, legal guardian or custodian, thereby interfering with their ability to adequately care for and protect the child; (iii) repeatedly fails to obey the lawful and reasonable regulations of the child's school; (iv) is habitually truant; or (v) is a sexually exploited child, and (b) is in need of an out-of-home placement, additional family supports, or additional school supports that cannot be obtained or provided outside of a juvenile court process.

SECTION 4: Chapter 119 is hereby amended by striking out section 39E and replacing it with the following new text:

The divisions of the juvenile court department may receive and hear requests for assistance stating that there is a child requiring assistance or a family requiring assistance as defined in section twenty-one, in accordance with the provisions of this section and of sections thirty-nine F to thirty-nine I, inclusive. Proceedings pursuant to sections thirty-nine E to thirty-nine I, inclusive, shall not be deemed criminal proceedings and any record of these proceedings, including the filing of an application for assistance and creation of a docket, shall not be entered in the criminal offender record information system. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, no record pertaining to the child involved in the proceedings shall be maintained or remain active after the application for assistance is dismissed. The identity and record of any child for which an application for assistance is filed shall not be submitted to the department of criminal justice information services, criminal offender record information system, court activity record index or any other criminal record information system. Proceedings under sections 39E to 39I, inclusive, shall be confidential and not open to the public. The jurisdiction of the Boston juvenile court for the subject matter of this section shall extend to the territorial limits of Suffolk county.

A parent, legal guardian, or custodian of a child having custody of such child, may initiate an application for assistance in one of said courts stating that said child (i) repeatedly runs away from the home of said parent or guardian or repeatedly refuses to obey the lawful and reasonable commands of said parent or guardian resulting in said parent's or guardian's inability to adequately care for and protect said child, and (ii) is in need of an out-of-home placement or other family supports that the family is unable to obtain outside of the juvenile court process and has exhausted all relevant available community-based services, as defined in Section 16U of Chapter 6A.

A school district may initiate an application for assistance in said court stating that said child is (i) not excused from attendance in accordance with the lawful and reasonable regulations of such child's school, has willfully failed to attend school for more than 8 school days in a quarter or repeatedly fails to obey the lawful and reasonable regulations of the child's school, and (ii) the school district is seeking specified additional supports that cannot be provided outside of the juvenile court process. The application for assistance shall also state whether or not the child and the child's family have been referred to an educational advocate or family resource center, and whether the child and the child’s family participated in the referred services to the best of the applicant’s knowledge. The application shall also provide a statement of the specific steps taken by the school district to prevent the child's truancy; and if the application for assistance states that a child has repeatedly failed to obey the lawful and reasonable regulations of the school, a statement of the specific steps taken by the school to improve the child's conduct. The application shall detail the specific court intervention the school district is seeking to support the child in returning to school or improving the child’s conduct.

Before an application for assistance is presented to the clerk for filing, a probation officer shall determine if all community-based service options relevant to the child’s needs and accessible to the petitioner have been attempted. In making the determination of whether community based service options have been exhausted, a probation officer shall discuss with the caregiver and/or school petitioner the alternative steps that have been taken, including but not limited to participating in services offered through a family resource center or behavioral health access center, meeting with educational advocates including the Mental Health Advocacy Program for Kids program, and creating or updating an individualized education plan for the child. The probation officer shall also consult with the family resource center that is most accessible to the family. Staff at a family resource center shall be permitted to report to a probation officer if a child that is the subject of an attempted child requiring assistance filing has met with a case manager pursuant to Section 16U subsection (c) of Chapter 6A and if all relevant community-based service options have been exhausted.

If the probation officer determines that community-based options have not been exhausted and the supports requested in the filing can be obtained through a community-based service provider, the probation officer shall directly connect the petitioner to a family resource center pursuant to Section 16U of Chapter 6A. The probation officer may also refer the child to an appropriate public or private organization or person for psychiatric, psychological, educational, occupational, medical, dental or social services. The probation officer shall prepare, publish and disseminate to each petitioner educational material relative to available family resource centers, and may include materials on educational advocacy, community-based services programs, the state’s complex case resolution process pursuant to Section 16R of Chapter 6A, MassHealth behavioral access centers and 24/7 helpline, and other entities designated by the secretary of health and human services. If the petitioner is a parent, legal guardian or custodian the probation officer shall provide to the petitioner informational materials, prepared by the court that explain the court process and shall include the types of orders that the court may issue and the possibility of changes in the custody of the child and may include an explanation of the services available through the court process, including language translation services and the manner in which those services are delivered.

If the probation officer determines all community based service options relevant to the child’s needs and accessible to the petitioner have been exhausted, and the petitioner wishes to proceed after receiving informational materials, an application for assistance shall be filed with and initiated by the clerk, and the clerk shall set a date for a hearing as soon as possible, but not later than 15 days after the request is presented to the clerk for filing, to determine whether assistance is needed, and shall notify the child of such hearing.. The court shall hold a hearing in which it shall receive the recommendation of the probation officer and shall either (i) decline to accept the application for assistance because there is no probable cause to believe that the child and family are in need of assistance; (ii) decline to accept the application for assistance because it finds that the interests of the child would best be served by informal assistance, in which case the court shall, with the consent of the child and the child's parents or guardian, refer the child to a probation officer for assistance; or (iii) accept the application for assistance and schedule a fact-finding hearing. If the child is brought in on custodial protection, the court shall accept an application for assistance unless one has already been filed, and the court shall immediately request the probation officer promptly to make like inquiry and thereafter report to the court the probation officer's recommendation as to whether the interests of the child can best be served through referral to community-based services or informal assistance without a fact-finding hearing. Upon receiving such recommendation, the court may hold a hearing and shall decide whether to proceed with a fact-finding hearing or to refer the child to the care of a probation officer for assistance.

When an application for assistance is dismissed under this section, the court shall enter an order directing expungement of any records of the request and related proceedings maintained by the clerk, the court, the department of criminal justice information services, the court activity record index and the probation department that directly pertain to the application for assistance.

Whenever a child is referred to a probation officer for assistance, such officer may conduct conferences with the child and the child's family to effect adjustments or agreements which are calculated to resolve the situation which formed the basis of the application for assistance and which will eliminate the need for a fact finding hearing. During the pendency of such referrals or conferences, neither the child nor the child's parents may be compelled to appear at any conferences, produce any papers or visit any place. However, if the child or the child's parents fail to participate in good faith in the referrals or conferences arranged by the probation officer, the probation officer shall so certify in writing, and the clerk shall accept the application for assistance if one has not already been accepted and shall set a date for a fact finding hearing. The judge who conducted the hearing on the acceptance of the application for assistance shall not preside at any subsequent hearing. Conferences and referrals arranged under this section may extend for a period not to exceed 90 days from the date that the application for assistance was initially filed, unless the parent and child voluntarily agree in writing to a continuation of such conferences or referrals for an additional period not to exceed 90 days from the expiration of the original period. Upon the expiration of the initial 90 day period, or of such additional 90 day period, the application for assistance, if any, shall be dismissed and the child and his parents discharged from any further obligation to participate in such conferences and referrals, or an application for assistance shall, if not already accepted, be accepted and a date set for a fact-finding hearing. No statements made by a child or by any other person during the period of inquiries, conferences or referrals may be used against the child at any subsequent hearing to determine that the child requires assistance, but such statements may be received by the court after the fact finding hearing for the purpose of disposition.

The commissioner of probation shall establish a system to collect data on all requests for assistance made and how they are resolved under sections 39E to 39I, inclusive. Said system shall maintain the privacy of clients served, assist the court in identifying addressing the needs of the population to be served and collect information related to: the racial and ethnic identity of the child; the insurance status and coverage of clients served; whether the child had received support from a family resource center pursuant to Section 16U of Chapter 6A or another community-based organization prior to filing, the supports requested as detailed in the application, the needs identified by the probation officer, the length of time a child is receiving assistance from a probation officer, including the time prior to and subsequent to the filing of an application for assistance; the identity of any public or private organization to whom a probation officer has referred a child or family for services; and any other information that may assist the commissioner and the court in evaluating the availability and effectiveness of services for children who are the subjects of requests for assistance under this section. The probation officer shall gather information concerning each child and family referred to the officer including, but not limited to, (i) insurance status and coverage, (ii) the child’s school district (iii) whether the child or family received support from a family resource center pursuant to Section 16U of Chapter 6A, (iv) the supports requested as detailed in the CRA application, (v) the needs identified by the probation officer and (vi) other information that may assist the commissioner of probation and the court in evaluating the availability and effectiveness of services for children who are the subjects of requests for assistance under this section.

Upon the filing of an application for assistance under this section, the court may issue a summons, to which a copy of the application for assistance shall be attached, requiring the child named in such application to appear before said court at the time set forth in the summons. If such child fails to obey the summons, said court may issue a warrant reciting the substance of the petition and requiring the officer to whom it is directed forthwith to take and bring such child before said court. Notice of the hearing shall be given to the department of children and families

Where the court summons such child, the court shall in addition issue a summons to both parents of the child, if both parents are known to reside in the commonwealth, or to one parent if only one is known to reside within the commonwealth, or, if there is no parent residing in the commonwealth, then to the parent having custody or to the lawful guardian of such child. Said summons shall require the person served to appear at a time and place stated therein at a hearing to determine whether or not such child is in need of assistance.

Unless service of the summons required by this section is waived in writing, such summons shall be served by the constable or police officer, either by delivering it personally to the person to whom addressed, or by leaving it with a person of proper age to receive the same, at the place of residence or business of such person, and said constable or police officer shall immediately make return to the court of the time and manner of service.

SECTION 5: Section 39G of Chapter 119 is hereby amended by—:

In paragraph one, line five, striking out the word “may” after the words “motion to dismiss” and replacing it with the word “shall,”

in paragraph 2, line 7, adding “family, including representatives from MassHealth, the juvenile court clinic and other state entities depending on the supports requested,” after the phrase “child and family”,

striking subsection (b) and replacing it with the following:

(b) subject to such conditions and limitations as the court may prescribe, including, but not limited to provisions for those services described in clause (a), place the child in the care of a relative or other adult individual who, after inquiry by the probation officer or other person or agency designated by the court, is found to be qualified to receive and care for the child;

Name:	District/Address:	Date Added:
Natalie M. Blais	1st Franklin	1/19/2023
Simon Cataldo	14th Middlesex	3/21/2023
Samantha Montaño	15th Suffolk	5/31/2023
Christine P. Barber	34th Middlesex	7/6/2023
Rebecca L. Rausch	Norfolk, Worcester and Middlesex	7/10/2023