Bill > H1832

This bill, known as the Comprehensive Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Act of 2025, introduces comprehensive measures to prevent sexual abuse of children and youth in Massachusetts. The bill requires all schools, state-operated programs, and youth-serving organizations to provide annual, age-appropriate training to employees and students about recognizing, preventing, and reporting sexual abuse. For employees, this includes comprehensive training on identifying potential sexual abuse risks, understanding boundary-violating behaviors, and establishing policies to prevent abuse. For students, the training focuses on learning about body boundaries, recognizing inappropriate behaviors, and knowing how to communicate concerns to trusted adults. The bill also significantly strengthens hiring practices by mandating thorough employment history reviews for anyone working with children, requiring detailed disclosures about past investigations or allegations of sexual misconduct. Additionally, the bill expands mandatory reporting requirements, adds more professions to the list of mandated reporters (such as domestic violence workers and athletic coaches), and introduces new legal provisions that make it easier for sexual abuse survivors to pursue civil actions. The legislation aims to create a more robust system of prevention, detection, and accountability to protect children from sexual abuse, with most provisions taking effect on December 31, 2025.

Justice

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H1832