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DSS changes name and policies

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



SPRINGFIELD As someone who worked in the Hampden County District Attorney's Office as an advocate working with the Department of Social Services (DSS), State Rep. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera said, "I was aware there were holes in the system, problems with the system."

And now thanks to a sweeping piece of legislation it even changes the name of DSS approved by the Governor, the new "Act Protecting Children in the Commonwealth" will help reform and improve that system.

Coakley-Rivera, as the House Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities, has been working on this bill for about a year and said it has been an almost two-year process. She credited the origins of the bill to House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi.

She said the bill was a reaction to the incidences of the past few years in which children have suffered harm while in the DSS system.

Currently, the department receives about 70,000 reports of suspected abuse cases every year and removes about 8,000 children a year from their homes.

DSS, now named the Department of Children and Families (DCF), will have to report child abuse cases to the police and stay in contact with local district attorneys. Coakley-Rivera said that in the past the goal of DSS was to keep families together as much as possible and counsel them through issues of abuse.

She explained that in the past when a mandatory reporter of abuse filed a report with DSS there was first a 15-day period in which DSS substantiated the abuse incidence. She said that law enforcement officials might not be informed about the abuse.

Now, any case of "serious abuse" would trigger a report to local law enforcement, Coakley-Rivera said. She aded that area police have advocated for this change.

Among the bill's provisions are the following:

Creates the Office of the Child Advocate who reports to the Governor. The Advocate's job is to review and investigate critical abuse reports.

Requires the DCF to immediately notify the Child Advocate, the District Attorney and the police of multiple abuse reports about the same child or in the same family.

Requires law enforcement to be notified immediately of "serious bodily injury to a child."

Requires hospitals to immediately report to the Department, police and the local District Attorney any evidence of abuse and neglect.

Requires the DCF to commence investigations when a child is in immediate danger within two hours and all other investigations within two days.

Increases the penalties for frivolous reports of abuse.

Mandates that those persons who are required to report abuse and neglect complete training to recognize all types of child abuse.

Requires police to be instructed on the procedures to follow when handling young children of persons who are arrested or placed in police custody.

Requires an immediate search for a child's adult relative and siblings for placement purposes.

Requires all social workers to have a bachelor's degree and all supervisors to have a master's degree in social work.

Creates an Advisory Commission on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.

Creates a foster care provider registry to be used for hiring purposes.

Allows the DCF to assist those transitioning out of the Department with services until the age of 22.

Provides waivers for tuition and fees at public institutions of higher education for certain people who have been adopted or who received services from the DSS.

Prohibits guardianship by a person who is being investigated or has charges pending for assault and battery.

"I am proud to have been a part of the Conference Committee negotiating this bill to better protect our children," Coakley-Rivera stated. "This bill is a continuing commitment to our children."