Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities

Event Details

Status:: Completed
Event Date:: Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Start Time:: 1:00 PM
Location:: A-1 and Virtual
Event Description: Department of Children and Families

This hearing will be chaired by House Chair Jay Livingstone. 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 September 20, 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, July 18, 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 Herrmann 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 - 7-22-2025	7/22/2025 1:00 PM	01:59:36

Department of Children and Families 1:00pm - 3:15pm

Bill	Bill Title	Sponsor
H.204	An Act requiring the documentation of child counsel appointments	Donald R. Berthiaume, Jr.
H.206	An Act fast-tracking adoptions for children in DCF custody	Donald R. Berthiaume, Jr.
H.218	Resolve establishing the Harmony commission to study and make recommendations related to the welfare and best interests of children in care and protection cases	Carol A. Doherty
H.229	An Act to assure quality foster care	Tricia Farley-Bouvier
H.244	An Act relative to the family medical history of adopted children	Jessica Ann Giannino
H.250	An Act relative to foster care recruitment	Bradley H. Jones, Jr.
H.259	An Act relative to educational support for children in foster care	David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf
H.268	An Act to keep siblings together in foster care	Joan Meschino
H.269	An Act strengthening parenting time plans	Joan Meschino
H.270	An Act relative to the consideration of a child’s racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic identity	Joan Meschino
H.271	An Act promoting the placement of foster children with family members and preventing discrimination against potential foster parents based on irrelevant convictions	Joan Meschino
H.288	An Act preventing funds deposited in children’s savings accounts from counting against cash assistance benefits	Chynah Tyler
H.293	An Act to establish an office of youth development	Bud L. Williams
S.114	An Act to establish miranda rights for families under investigation by the department of children and families	Sal N. DiDomenico
S.131	An Act to assure quality foster care	Adam Gómez
S.164	Resolve establishing the Harmony commission to study and make recommendations related to the welfare and best interests of children in care and protection cases	Michael O. Moore

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)

Aaron L. Saunders (HOU)

Danillo A. Sena (HOU)

Alyson M. Sullivan-Almeida (HOU)

No Reason Given (1)

James J. O'Day (HOU)

Hearing DetailsJoint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities

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