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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2999 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 273 |
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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 | | Samantha Montaño |
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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 a maltreatment coding system. |
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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:Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk1/16/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2999 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 273 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Montaño of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 273) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Samantha Montaño relative to the creation of a maltreatment coding system. Children, Families |
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| 20 | 20 | | 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 a maltreatment coding system. |
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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 51B of Chapter 119 of the General Laws, as so appearing in the |
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| 30 | 30 | | 22022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after subsection (a) the following |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3paragraphs:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 (1) The department shall create and utilize a comprehensive maltreatment coding system |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5that provides a standardized method for categorizing instances of abuse and neglect by severity |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6for families during the initial investigation phase. |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7 (2) Categories should include, but are not limited to: (i) parental abuse; (ii) imminent risk |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8of serious harm (iii) labor trafficking; (iv) emotional abuse; (v) neglect; (vi) physical abuse; (vii) |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9sexual abuse; (viii) exploitation |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10 (3) The coding system should further include coding based on abuse related to sexual |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11orientation, gender identity, and expression in an effort to provide family preservation and 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12acceptance education; as well as racial discrimination for youth who are not in the care of their |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13family of origin. |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14 (4) The coding system should be applied upon opening a case and used in conjunction |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15with existing software to assist in the assessment and continued evaluation of ongoing cases. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16 (5) The department shall review the categories of the system at least every two years and |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17update as needed. |
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