Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S120 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1684 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 120
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Susan L. Moran
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act to eliminate disproportionality and inequities for at-risk children.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Susan L. MoranPlymouth and BarnstableJoanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and Worcester3/1/2023James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester3/6/2023Mark C. MontignySecond Bristol and Plymouth3/6/2023 1 of 6
16	16	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1684 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
17	17	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 120
18	18	By Ms. Moran, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 120) of Susan L. Moran, Joanne M.
19	19	Comerford, James B. Eldridge and Mark C. Montigny for legislation to eliminate
20	20	disproportionality and inequities for at-risk children. Children, Families and Persons with
21	21	Disabilities.
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
25	25	(2023-2024)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act to eliminate disproportionality and inequities for at-risk children.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 18C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
31	31	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the eighth paragraph the following
32	32	3paragraphs:-
33	33	4 “Disproportionality”, a situation in which the demographics of a particular group differs
34	34	5substantially from the demographics of the population at large. Examples of demographic
35	35	6categories for which disproportionality may exist include race, cultural background, ethnicity,
36	36	7gender identity, sexual orientation, transgender status or disability.
37	37	8 “Inequity”, a situation in which members of a particular group are given an unequal share
38	38	9of treatment, status, or opportunity. Examples of group categories which may experience
39	39	10inequities include race, ethnicity, cultural background, gender identity, sexual orientation,
40	40	11transgender status, or disability. 2 of 6
41	41	12 “Child Serving State Entities”, state entities that provide services to children, including
42	42	13the executive office of health and human services, the department of children and families, the
43	43	14department of developmental services, the department of mental health, the commission for the
44	44	15deaf and hard of hearing, the department of youth services, the department of public health, the
45	45	16department of transitional assistance, the department of early education and care, MassHealth,
46	46	17the department of elementary and secondary education, the trial court, and the Massachusetts
47	47	18probation service.
48	48	19 SECTION 2. Chapter 18C of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
49	49	20section 14 the following section:-
50	50	21 Section 15: Collection and Reporting of Information on Inequity in Child Serving Entities
51	51	22 Subject to appropriation, the child advocate shall produce a report on disproportionality
52	52	23and inequity in services provided by child-serving state entities. The report shall include, to the
53	53	24extent available, statistics on:
54	54	25 (a) the level and type of involvement of children in various demographic groups in each
55	55	26of the state's child serving entities, including the points of entry and exit, and at each point at
56	56	27which a critical decision is made;
57	57	28 (b) the number of children in low-income families involved in each of the state's child
58	58	29serving entities; and
59	59	30 (c) any short and long-term outcomes of that involvement, including but not limited to
60	60	31the results of critical decisions and any other outcomes identified by each child-serving state
61	61	32entity. 3 of 6
62	62	33 The demographic categories to be examined shall include, but are not limited to:
63	63	34 (a) race and ethnicity;
64	64	35 (b) sexual orientation;
65	65	36 (c) gender identity;
66	66	37 (d) transgender status; and
67	67	38 (e) disability status.
68	68	39 The report shall also identify outcomes and how they are measured. The report shall
69	69	40provide a detailed description of any relevant data that was not available to the child advocate in
70	70	41writing the report.
71	71	42 The initial report shall be produced within one year of passage of this law and updated
72	72	43annually thereafter. The report shall be submitted to the governor, the secretary of health and
73	73	44human services, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on children, families and
74	74	45persons with disabilities and the chief justice of the trial court. The report shall also be made
75	75	46publicly available on the child advocate’s website.
76	76	47 The child advocate shall request data from child-serving state entities holding data
77	77	48necessary to complete the aforementioned report.
78	78	49 The office of the child advocate shall additionally annually produce a public report with
79	79	50detailed recommendations for addressing inequities in child serving state entities. Topics that
80	80	51may be examined include, but are not limited to: 4 of 6
81	81	52 (a) statewide data reporting systems that ensure child serving state entities collect
82	82	53accurate, consistent, and comprehensive data that measures disproportionality and inequity;
83	83	54 (b) staff trainings on implicit bias, privilege, cultural awareness and professional practice;
84	84	55 (c) existing and new early intervention and preventive programming services and
85	85	56curriculum for children involved with state care including, but not limited to:
86	86	57 (1) strength-based approaches to engage and promote positive outcomes;
87	87	58 (2) community based, wraparound services;
88	88	59 (3) educational advocacy and support services;
89	89	60 (4) school based referrals to mental health care, the department of children and families,
90	90	61the department of youth services and the department of mental health;
91	91	62 (5) programming that supports collaborative relationships among community, faith based,
92	92	63private, and public organizations;
93	93	64 (6) home based prevention services in the child serving state entities;
94	94	65 (7) transitional services for foster youth and former foster youth;
95	95	66 (8) child and family teams for youth in state entities; and
96	96	67 (9) other early intervention and preventive programming services;
97	97	68 (d) model procurement language and contract oversight that supports culturally accessible
98	98	69services for children, youth and families; 5 of 6
99	99	70 (e) a strategic plan to recruit and retain diverse professionals and staff level employees
100	100	71throughout all service delivery systems;
101	101	72 (f) recommendations on existing policies that have reduced disproportionality and
102	102	73inequities for youth and children within Massachusetts, nationally, and in other states and
103	103	74localities including but not limited to:
104	104	75 (1) blind removal meetings;
105	105	76 (2) accountability, quality assurance, and improvements structures to measure outcomes
106	106	77and ensure fidelity;
107	107	78 (3) nondiscrimination policies and implementation; and
108	108	79 (4) recruitment of affirming foster parents and appropriate kin;
109	109	80 (g) recommendations for administrative and legislative actions related to appropriate
110	110	81programs and services to reduce and eliminate disparities in the child serving state entities and
111	111	82improve the long-term outcomes for children who are served by state entities; and
112	112	83 (h) performance measures for implementing the recommendations.
113	113	84 The child advocate shall write both reports in consultation with individuals and groups
114	114	85with relevant expertise, including expertise in the operation of child-serving entities, experience
115	115	86interacting with child-serving entities, and expertise in identifying and addressing
116	116	87disproportionality and inequity in government policies and practices.
117	117	88 Based on the findings of either report, each child serving state entity will be required to
118	118	89publicly produce a corrective action plan to ensure that it collects accurate, consistent, and 6 of 6
119	119	90comprehensive data that measures disproportionality and inequity, and identifies and implements
120	120	91effective policies and practices for reducing disproportionality and inequity – which may include
121	121	92recommendations from the report. The office of the child advocate shall review the corrective
122	122	93action plans and make recommendations for their improvement.
123	123	94 The child advocate shall issue guidance or promulgate regulations for the administration
124	124	95and enforcement of this section, including guidance or regulations establishing schedules for the
125	125	96submission, transmission and publication of the data and the format and form that the data from
126	126	97child-serving state entities shall take, including any requirements that data should be available
127	127	98for manipulation or disaggregation, and the format that transmission of the data shall take. The
128	128	99child advocate may request, and if such a request is made all child-serving state entities shall
129	129	100provide, individual level data to facilitate analysis, provided that the child advocate shall be
130	130	101bound by any limitations on the use or release of information imposed by law upon the party
131	131	102furnishing such information as described in section 12 of this chapter.