Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities

Event Details

Status:

Completed

Event Date:

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Start Time:

1:00 PM

Location:

A-1 and Virtual

Event Description

The Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities will hold a hybrid public hearing to solicit written and oral testimony in-person and remotely on bills that pertain to human services and child welfare.

This hearing will be chaired by Senate Chair Robyn Kennedy. CART services and ASL interpretation will be available. All matters filed in the House that are listed above are required to be reported on by July 12, 2025, subject to extensions consistent with House Rule 27.

The public is invited to participate in this hearing. To sign up to provide oral testimony, please fill out this form. Sign-ups for oral testimony will close on Friday, May 9, 2025 at 3PM, but same-day, in-person testimony will be accepted, time permitting. Please note, you will not be able to sign up for virtual testimony on the day of the hearing.

The Chairs will limit testimony to 3 minutes per speaker and 6 minutes for a panel. There is no limit to the number of people permitted to be on a panel, although the Chairs do not recommend panels that are larger than 3 people. Please note, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to testify, each person is only permitted to testify once throughout the entirety of the hearing.

Written testimony may be submitted to the Joint Committee via email and will be accepted until the bill is acted upon. Written testimony on House bills should be sent to Audrey Herrmann (Audrey.Herrmann@mahouse.gov) and written testimony on Senate bills should sent to Olivia Mathot (Olivia.mathot@masenate.gov).

Note: All written testimony received by the Committee will be made publicly available, provided however, the Chairs may limit and redact testimony that includes sensitive personal information or information that may jeopardize the health, wellness, or safety of the testifier or others.

If you have any questions regarding the hearing, legislation, format of the hearing, or reasonable accommodations required to ensure people with disabilities can participate fully in the committee process, please email: Olivia Mathot in Chair Kennedy’s Office, at (Olivia.mathot@masenate.gov) or Audrey Herrman in Chair Livingstone’s Office, at (Audrey.Herrmann@mahouse.gov).

The bills will be heard in the order displayed on the hearing notice with House and Senate companion bills heard together. Please be advised that the schedule and agenda are subject to change at the discretion of the Chairs.

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Item Name	Start Time	Duration	Webcast
Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities	5/13/2025 1:00 PM	02:30:14

Human Services and Child Welfare 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Bill	Bill Title	Sponsor
H.225	An Act to amend the structure of the Commission of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren	Paul J. Donato
H.227	An Act protecting benefits owed to foster children	Tricia Farley-Bouvier
H.234	An Act relative to child fatality review	Michael J. Finn
H.247	An Act updating the juvenile justice policy and data board	Natalie M. Higgins
H.262	An Act enhancing child welfare protections	Jay D. Livingstone
H.283	An Act relative to a loan repayment program for human services workers	Jeffrey N. Roy
S.105	An Act protecting benefits owed to foster children	Joanne M. Comerford
S.108	An Act protecting youth during custodial interrogations	Cynthia Stone Creem
S.116	An Act updating the juvenile justice policy and data board	Sal N. DiDomenico
S.119	An Act establishing a loan repayment program for human services workers	Sal N. DiDomenico
S.133	An Act relative to child fatality review	Adam Gómez
S.135	An Act to ensure parity in social work licensure	Adam Gómez
S.136	An Act improving emergency housing assistance for children and families experiencing homelessness	Adam Gómez
S.148	An Act enhancing child welfare protections	Robyn K. Kennedy
S.157	An Act establishing a commission on the status of children and youth	Joan B. Lovely

Present (10)

Jay D. Livingstone (HOU)

Kate Donaghue (HOU)

Michelle M. DuBois (HOU)

Judith A. Garcia (HOU)

David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf (HOU)

John J. Marsi (HOU)

Thomas W. Moakley (HOU)

James J. O'Day (HOU)

Aaron L. Saunders (HOU)

Danillo A. Sena (HOU)

No Reason Given (1)

Alyson M. Sullivan-Almeida (HOU)

Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities

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