DCF Report on New or Updated Policies, Procedures and Guidelines

Author:

Department of Children and Families

These reports on DCF's caseload are required by DCF's budget, line item 4800-0015 which must be renewed annually. This reporting requirement remains in the FY 2018 budget. (see https://malegislature.gov/Budget/FinalBudget).

The department is mandated to submit a report detailing any changes to rules, regulations or guidelines established by the department in the previous fiscal year to carry out its duties under chapter 119 of the General Laws on an annual basis, no later than the first week of November of the fiscal year (November 1 2017 for FY 2017), to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means and the Chairs of the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities, which may include but is not limited to:

(I) criteria used to determine whether a child has been abused or neglected;
(II) guidelines for removal of a child from the home; and
(III) standards to determine what reasonable efforts are being made to keep a child in the home

DCF has published and made available reports for 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

2017