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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1429 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 158
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Tricia Farley-Bouvier
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act establishing the Massachusetts foster care review office.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Tricia Farley-Bouvier2nd Berkshire1/18/2023Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex1/25/2023David F. DeCoste5th Plymouth1/26/2023Patricia A. Duffy5th Hampden1/26/2023James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol1/27/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex2/1/2023Mary S. Keefe15th Worcester2/6/2023Jennifer Balinsky Armini8th Essex2/21/2023 1 of 11
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1429 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 158
By Representative Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 158)
of Tricia Farley-Bouvier and others relative to establishing the Massachusetts foster care review
office. Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
_______________
An Act establishing the Massachusetts foster care review office.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 18B of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section
26A.
3 SECTION 2. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after Chapter 18C the
4following chapter:-
5 CHAPTER 18D.
6 Section 1. As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the following
7meanings, unless otherwise noted:
8 “Board”, the foster care review office governing board.
9 “Council”, foster care review office interdisciplinary council.
10 “Department”, the department of children and families. 2 of 11
11 “Foster care placement”, all out-of-home placements of children, youth, or young adults
12by the department whether voluntarily or by court assigned custody.
13 “FCRO”, the foster care review office created pursuant to this chapter.
14 “Foster care review”, an administrative review of the status of each child, youth or young
15adult who is in foster care placement.
16 “Local panel”, a foster care review panel of trained volunteer citizen reviewers and
17FCRO staff created pursuant to this chapter.
18 “Parties”, all parties involved in a specific child, youth, or young adult case.
19 “Permanency”, a legal, permanent family living arrangement.
20 “Secretary”, the secretary of the executive office of health and human services.
21 Section 2. (a) There shall be an office of foster care review, which shall be independent
22of any supervision or control by any executive agency. The FCRO shall be established as an
23independent state agency, overseen and supported by the board.
24 (b) The FCRO shall conduct foster care case reviews every 6 months of every child in
25foster care placement to make determinations and recommendations regarding the placement and
26progress towards permanency; provide information and direct reporting to the legislature, the
27department, the governor, the secretary, the chief justices of the juvenile and the probate and
28family courts, and the public regarding the foster care system in Massachusetts; make
29recommendations regarding foster care policy; and ensure oversight, accountability and
30transparency regarding the foster care system. 3 of 11
31 (1) The FCRO shall designate local panels of trained citizen reviewers to conduct foster
32care case reviews for every child in foster care placement at least every 6 months while in
33placement.
34 (2) The FCRO shall create and implement the following:
35 (i) Policies and procedures regarding the duties of FCRO staff, including the scheduling
36and conduct of case reviews, advanced notice to parties to the case, development of individual
37case review reports including findings and recommendations, dissemination of individual case
38review reports to the parties, and follow-up of individual cases;
39 (ii) Guidelines regarding citizen reviewer qualifications and recruitment;
40 (iii) Training programs for citizen reviewers which shall include an initial training
41program and periodic in-service training programs;
42 (iv) Policies and procedures for local panels in the conduct of individual case reviews;
43 (v) Policies and procedures for FCRO regarding the conduct of reviews, follow-up of
44individual cases between reviews, communication with parties, structure, format and content of
45individual case review reports and access to data and information;
46 (vi) A record-keeping system for all local panel files, including individual case reviews
47and aggregate data;
48 (vii) Content and format of periodic and annual FCRO aggregate reports. 4 of 11
49 (3) The FCRO shall provide periodic and annual aggregate reports to the legislature,
50governor, secretary, the department, the chief justices of the juvenile and the probate and family
51courts and the public.
52 (4) The FCRO shall have access to all relevant information regarding any child, youth or
53young adult eligible for foster care case review including, but not limited to, data, records and
54case files provided to the FCRO by the department.
55 (5) Individual case review reports shall be provided to all parties to the legal case for
56judicial consideration and for the purposes of the safety and well-being of the child and
57permanency planning.
58 (c) The FCRO shall be the only entity that conducts periodic, administrative foster care
59case reviews as required by the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (Public Law
6060 96-272).
61 Section 3. (a) The board shall hire an FCRO executive director.
62 (b) Any person appointed to the position of executive director shall be selected without
63regard to political affiliation and on the basis of integrity and demonstrated ability in leadership,
64organizational management, collaboration, and child welfare, advocacy or law.
65 (c) The executive director may be removed from office for cause by a majority vote of
66the board. Such cause may include substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct or conviction of
67a crime. The cause for removal shall be stated in writing and shall be sent to the governor,
68attorney general, auditor and clerks of the senate and house of representatives at the time of
69removal and shall be a public document. 5 of 11
70 Section 4. (a) The board shall have no more than 15 members and be as geographically
71diverse as possible. The members shall include the child advocate or designee, a representative
72of the Children’s League of Massachusetts, a legal representative of the child and family division
73of the committee for public counsel services, a representative of the Massachusetts chapter of the
74American Academy of Pediatrics with expertise in the area of adverse childhood experiences, a
75representative of Citizens for Juvenile Justice, a representative of the Massachusetts Alliance for
76Families, a representative from Massachusetts commission on LGBTQ youth, a representative of
77the Disability Law Center, a representative of the Boston University Center for Antiracist
78Research, a representative of the Massachusetts chapter of the Foster Care Alumni of America, a
79Massachusetts-based member of FosterClub, Inc., and a representative of foster parent advocacy
80organization identified by Citizens for Juvenile Justice and the Commission on LGBTQ Youth,
81and the following persons chosen by the secretary of health and human services: 1 former
82department staff reviewer, and 2 citizen volunteer reviewers with a minimum of 5 years’
83experience as a reviewer.
84 (b) The representative of the Children’s League of Massachusetts and the representative
85from the Massachusetts chapter of the Foster Care Alumni of America shall be the co-chairs of
86the board.
87 (c) The members shall have no pecuniary interest in the foster care system and shall not
88be employed by the FCRO, the executive office of health and human services, the department, a
89child welfare agency providing services on behalf of the department, the juvenile court or the
90probate and family court. 6 of 11
91 (d) The terms of the members shall be for 3 years, with the exception of the child
92advocate who may serve while acting as the child advocate. Members shall not serve more than 2
93consecutive terms, except that members shall serve until their successors have been appointed.
94 (e) The Board shall meet at least 4 times each calendar year. Each member shall attend at
95least 2 meetings each calendar year and shall be subject to removal for failure to attend at least 2
96meetings unless excused by a majority of the members of the board.
97 (f) The board shall:
98 (1) Recommend a FCRO executive director to be appointed by a majority vote of the
99governor, attorney general and auditor.
100 (2) Hire and fire the executive director for the FCRO;
101 (3) Annually set the salary of the executive director; and
102 (4) Support and facilitate the work of the FCRO.
103 (g) The executive director shall be the administrative head of the FCRO and shall devote
104full-time to the duties of the FCRO. The executive director shall provide information and
105reporting services, provide analysis of information obtained, and oversee foster care case reviews
106and tracking. The executive director shall, through information analysis and with the assistance
107of the board, (1) determine key issues of the foster care system and make recommendations to
108improve the system, (2) identify key areas of strength and (3) make policy recommendations.
109 (h) The executive director of the FCRO shall be responsible for all human resource
110planning and management; for the duties of the office as provided by law, including the annual
111aggregate report and any periodic reporting; data collection and analysis; and oversight and 7 of 11
112training of local panels of citizen reviewers. The executive director shall meet at least monthly
113with the council to review and address issues and concerns regarding services for children, youth
114and families as well as individual case challenges that require escalation to address or resolve.
115 Section 5. (a) The FCRO shall designate local panels of citizen reviewers, in
116geographical locations that correspond with the department’s service areas, to conduct foster care
117case reviews. The number of panels required is determined by the FCRO in accordance with the
118number of children, youth and young adults in foster care placement within each service area.
119The executive director of the office shall create and implement citizen volunteer recruitment
120efforts and select citizen volunteers from local areas to serve on local panels. A person employed
121by the FCRO, the department, a child welfare agency or juvenile and probate or family courts
122shall not be appointed to a local panel.
123 (b) Each local panel, comprised of one FCRO staff reviewer and 2 trained citizen
124reviewers, shall conduct individual foster care case reviews in accordance with the policies and
125procedures created and implemented by the FCRO.
126 Section 6. (a) The foster care case review shall be conducted to determine:
127 (1) necessity, appropriateness and safety of the child, youth, or young adult’s current
128placement;
129 (2) extent of the parties’ compliance with the permanency or action plan;
130 (3) extent of progress made toward alleviating or mitigating the causes necessitating the
131placement; 8 of 11
132 (4) extent to which services in the plan are being provided and the identification of any
133barriers to receiving the needed services;
134 (5) progress made toward the permanency goal;
135 (6) whether the permanency goal should be amended;
136 (7) projected date by which child may be in a permanent placement;
137 (8) goals for the next 6 months;
138 (9) additional findings and recommendations in accordance with the child, youth, or
139young adult’s best interest; and
140 (10) well-being status of the child or youth; provided, that well-being shall be of the
141whole child or youth and includes physical health development and safety; psychological and
142emotional development; social development and behavior; and cognitive development and
143educational achievement.
144 (b) The local foster care case review meeting shall be facilitated by a FCRO staff
145reviewer who is responsible for completing the individual case review report of findings and
146recommendations.
147 (c) Anyone with a role in achieving the permanency goal for the child, youth or young
148adult shall be invited to the review. The individual case review report shall be submitted to the
149department, the juvenile or probate/family court, and all other legal parties to the case within 30
150days after the foster care case review. 9 of 11
151 (d) The department shall comply with the FCRO individual case review findings and
152recommendations, subject to an appeals process developed and agreed to by the FCRO and the
153department.
154 Section 7. (a) The FCRO interdisciplinary council shall include commissioner level or
155designee representation of the department, the office of the child advocate, the department of
156developmental services, the department of elementary and secondary education, the department
157of mental health, the department of public health, the department of transitional assistance, the
158department of youth services and the Massachusetts rehabilitation commission. Experts may be
159invited to the council meetings to address specific concerns or issues, including racial
160disproportionality, transition age youth, and issues and needs relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual,
161transgender or queer people. The council shall be chaired by the FCRO executive director and
162shall convene at least monthly. The FCRO shall ensure that appropriate services are being
163delivered in the best interest of the child, youth or young adult.
164 (b) The council shall:
165 (i) address and resolve case specific issues that have been elevated by the FCRO; and
166 (ii) address systemic issues impacting progress towards permanency and services focused
167on the best interest of children, youth and young adults in foster care placement brought to the
168council’s attention by the FCRO executive director.
169 Section 8. (a) The department shall provide the FRCO with unrestricted access to any and
170all information pertaining to the child, youth, or young adult’s needs including electronic and
171hard copy records, reports, and materials, specifically department records including evaluations
172conducted by external or independent providers and court evaluations. 10 of 11
173 (b) The department shall notify the FCRO of a child, youth, or young adult removal from
174home, placement, change to placement or case closure no later than two weeks from the date of
175the occurrence.
176 The FCRO shall be bound by any limitations on the use or release of information
177imposed by law upon the party furnishing such information.
178 Section 9. (a) The FCRO executive director shall develop internal procedures, including
179staffing and budget, subject to appropriation, appropriate for the effective performance of all
180duties and to carry out the functions of the office.
181 Section 10. (a) The FCRO executive director shall report annually to the governor, the
182president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the joint committee on
183children, families and persons with disabilities, the chief justices of the juvenile and the probate
184and family courts, the secretary and the commissioner of the department on the activities of the
185FCRO, including, but not limited to, statistics and analysis of aggregate data from the foster care
186reviews regarding strengths, issues, policy concerns, and problems which have come to the
187attention of the FCRO and the executive director from analysis of the aggregate data. The
188executive director shall make recommendations to address the issues, concerns and problems
189identified.
190 (b) The reports shall be made public.
191 Section 11. No person employed by or contracted by or volunteering for the FCRO shall
192be subject to suit directly, derivatively or by way of contribution or indemnification for any civil
193damages under the laws of the commonwealth resulting from any act or omission performed
194during or in connection with the discharge of duties within the scope of employment or 11 of 11
195appointment, unless such act or failure to act was committed with gross negligence, maliciously
196or in bad faith.
197 SECTION 3. (a) The board of the foster care review office, created under chapter 18D of
198the General Laws, as inserted by this act, shall meet no later than 90 days of the effective date of
199this act to initiate the development of a foster care review transition and implementation plan
200with a timeline. The plan shall be completed no later than 210 days of the effective date of this
201act.
202 (b) The department of children and families shall assign the Foster Care Review Unit
203Director and an executive level employee to work with the governing board of the foster care
204review office on the plan and its implementation.
205 (c) Implementation of the transition plan shall occur no longer than 15 months after the
206effective date of this act.