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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3101 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 236 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Carole A. Fiola |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to training of mandated reporters. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Carole A. Fiola6th Bristol1/16/2025John R. Gaskey2nd Plymouth1/28/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3101 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 236 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Fiola of Fall River, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 236) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Carole A. Fiola and John R. Gaskey relative to mandated reporting of child neglect. Children, |
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| 20 | 20 | | Families and Persons with Disabilities. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act relative to training of mandated reporters. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 51A of Chapter 119 of the General Laws is hereby amended by |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2striking out subsection (k) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:- |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 (k) A mandated reporter who is professionally licensed by the commonwealth shall |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4complete training at least every two years to recognize and report suspected child abuse or |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5neglect. The training shall have a curriculum that has been approved by the Office of the Child |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6Advocate. |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7 SECTION 2: Section 5 of Chapter 18C of the General Laws is hereby amended by |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8adding the following subsection:- |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9 (i) The child advocate shall be responsible for approving curricula for mandated reporter |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10trainings in accordance with M.G.L. c. 119 ยง 51A(k). Such curricula shall include, but not be |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11limited to, recognition of the signs of child neglect or abuse and related reporting requirements, |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12bias and cultural considerations in reporting, information on how to address concerns with 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13families and children when those concerns do not rise to the level of requiring a maltreatment |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14report, information about connecting families with needed supports and resources and how to |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15understand what qualifies as neglect. |
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