Bill > S71

This bill aims to minimize trauma to children and families by implementing the following key provisions: 1. It requires the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to report quarterly on the number of cases where it took custody of a child without first obtaining a court order, the total number of children involved, the median time between DCF taking custody and requesting court approval, and the number of cases where it took more than four hours to request court approval. This data will be broken down by area office and made publicly available. 2. It allows a justice acting under section 9(vi)(B) of chapter 211B to grant emergency relief authorized under section 24 of chapter 119 when the juvenile court is closed. The department must then appear in court when it is next open to file a written petition under section 24. 3. It requires DCF to obtain judicial approval within four hours if it takes a child into temporary custody without a court order, and to provide a sworn affidavit stating the basis for the reasonable cause determination. 4. It removes subsection (e) of section 51B of chapter 119, which previously allowed DCF to take a child into custody without a court order in certain circumstances.

Health and Social Services

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/S71