The Law Office of Michael L. Rich

Custody of Unaccompanied Minor

2025-12-23T12:59:00.000-05:00

This child custody nerd (well staturory interpretation nerd in general) who is also profoundly interested in the handling of immigration issues, found this case fascinating. Custody of Vale Mass. App. Ct. 24-P-1190 (12/23/2025) involved two brothers (12 and 17) from Honduras who were apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in Texas and placed with an "uncle" in Indianapolis, Indiana, under the auspices of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).

They ran away from Indiannapolis and ended up in Revere, MA. A missing person report was filed in Indianapolis. Evenutally, a neglect report (51A) was filed with Mass. DCF. A DCF worker started working with the "Vale" and his brother. They then moved to Brockton, MA, without telling the DCF worker.

MA DCF filed a care and protection petition (Mass. Gen. Laws c. 119, § 24) and the Juvenile Court judge questioned whether Mass. or Ind. had jurisdiction under the Mass. Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (MCCJA) and had DCF contact Indiana authorities. IN then filed a requisition under the rules of the Interstate Commission on Juveniles (ICJ). Though DCF reported to the MA judge that no one in IN had had custody of the children prior to the filing of the C&P, the judge decided that the children needed to be returned to IN. By the time of the appeal, Vale's brother had turned 18, so he was not part of it, and from here on I will refer only to Vale or the child.

The uncle told the ORR that he did not want the child back and then disappeared from IN.

My rendtion of these facts may be out of chronological order. I wanted to highlight the intersting events without spending too much time getting the order of events exactly right. The primary relevant event is that the MA C&P was filed before any IN court action.

The child's lawyer filed a motion to stay removal to permit them the opportunity to appeal. It was denied. They appealed to a single justice in the Mass. Appeals Court (MAC), who stayed the removal, which allowed Vale to stay in MA while the case was considered.

Vale ran away from IN because the uncle was demanding that they pay him $8,000.00 for the costs of getting them into the country and compelled them to work for him to work off the debt. The U.S. Office on Trafficking in Persons found that Vale was, therefore, a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons.

The MAC ruled that because no one in IN had custody of Vale before DCF was awarded temporary custody in the MA C&P, the ICJ did not apply and because MA had jurisdiction under the MCCJA, which has provisions required by the federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act and was similar to the IN child custody law, MA had jurisdiction and IN did not.

So Vale got to stay with his MA foster parents.

Thirteenth Amendment Ratified 12/6/1865

2024-12-06T09:54:00.000-05:00

Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States.

The Amendment says:

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Three quartters of the state legislatures (27) passed it on this date in 1865 and it became effective immediately.

Unfortunately, the exception clause, which exempted from abolition the use of involutary servitude "as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted". That left open the continued use of chain gangs for incarcerated citizens and for states and private prison companies to make money by leasing out incarcerated citizens as unpaid laborers.

Tax Processing Unit Scam

2024-04-19T10:37:00.000-04:00

Letters from

Tax Processing Unit
__________ County Public
Judgment Records
TOLL FREE: (###) ###-####

proclaiming that a

Distraint Warrant

has been issued against you are a scam, phishing attempt, fraud.

I don't usually post outside of family policing law issues here but a client came to me asking about such a letter. When I Googled "Tax Processing Unit, Middlesex County Public, Judgment Records" I saw alerts from a couple of state governments, a couple of out-of-state county governments, and a couple of law firms but none from Massachusetts or any Massachusetts County, so I thought I'd share the alert.

The IRS does have an alert about how to report letters and phone calls that purport to be from the IRS. The Middlesex County Sheriff's Department has a press release about IRS phone scams. I think it might be mail fraud or attempted mail fraud, so I advised the client to report it to their local post office.

Don't call the number listed in the letter. If you do owe taxes to either the IRS or DOR and you haven't already been in touch with them and don't have a payment plan worked out contact them through IRS.gov or Mass.gov/DOR or a phone number listed there to talk to apply only for one or to talk to a legitimate agent. If your issue is complex or involves large amounts of money consider contacting a tax accountant or tax attorney first.

This post is a public service of your local Children's and Family Law attorney and should not be taken as legal or tax advice.

Homeless Youth Handbook

2023-07-06T10:40:00.000-04:00

The Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law and Justice has published a handbook for unhoused youth.

The Homeless Youth Handbook contains the following chapters:

Safety and Stability

Police Interactions

Status Offenses

Foster Care

Turning 18

Housing and Contracts

LGBTQ+

Education and Schools

Employment

General Criminal Law

Healthcare and Medical Rights

Mental Health and Substance Abuse

Birth Control, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Dating and Domestic Violence

Identification

Consumer and Credit

Public Benefits

Going to Court and General Civil Law

Immigration & Undocumented Youth

Trafficking

The first time you open the Handbook a general disclaimer pops up with a specific head note:

Disclaimer: On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion. The ruling leaves it to the individual states to decide whether to protect the right to an abortion. The HYH has not yet been updated to address these recent developments. We are working on updates.

You can access the disclaimer on subsequent visits by going to www.homelessyouth.org/en/disclaimer.

The Handbook seems to be a great resource. Mass Appleseed's June update newsletter says, "If your organization is interested in receiving a training on the Homeless Youth Handbook, reach out to our staff!

SCOTUS: ICWA constitutional

2023-06-15T11:53:00.002-04:00

The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act in Haaland v. Brackeen. ICWA wins by a 7-2. The majority opinion was written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Justice Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion. Justices Thomas and Alito dissented. Here is a link to the PDF: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/21-376_7l48.pdf

IL Court rules that parents have a right to obtain their child’s full electronic medical record

2022-09-09T13:16:00.000-04:00

The Family Justice Resource Center reports in its Summer 2022 Newsletter:

In a new Circuit Court ruling (Cook County IL), Prieto v. Rush University Medical Center, Judge James N. O'Hara ruled that parents have a right to obtain their child’s full EMR and that a hospital’s failure to release a full EMR, complete with the audit log and revision history, is a violation of the Supreme Court’s discovery rules, as well as federal information blocking regulations.

It addresses the issues that come up in child abuse cases when hospitals refuse to give parents access to their children's electronic medical record once the child protection team becomes involved or a report has been made to the government child protective services agency. The article says that under HIPAA and HITECH "Parents are entitled to their child’s EMR as long as parental rights have not been terminated." I believe the federal CURES Act highlights and broadens parents' rights to obtain and share their children's complete EMR.

Often the records that medical providers give to parents or their attorneys in response to release authorizations and to courts in response to subpoenas are incomplete and inaccurate, leaving out statements that do not support the allegations of abuse and entries that were subsequently edited out or amended.

Practice note: Attorneys for all parties in care and protection (dependency) cases need to seek the full EMR including audit trails.

Family Integrity & Justice Works

2022-01-28T13:44:00.002-05:00

I just read some of the articles and reviews of the inaugural issue of The Family Integrity & Justice Quarterly Journal, the publishers of which describe it as:

a forum for bold, actionable movement toward replacing many traditional child welfare approaches that do not support family unity and strengthening with approaches that focus on preventing the need for child welfare involvement by keeping families safely together.

I highly recommend it, as do several of my colleagues. I look forward to reading the rest of the first issue and expect future issues will be as on point for my practice as the first. See more and the free, peer reviewed, journal here: fijw.pubknow.com/quarterly-journal/

PARENT GUIDE TO SCHOOL DISCIPLINE

2021-09-30T10:23:00.001-04:00

The Massachusetts Appleseed Center for Law & Justice has released the comprehensive-seeming "PARENT GUIDE TO SCHOOL DISCIPLINE: WHEN MY CHILD IS DISCIPLINED AT SCHOOL, A Guide for Massachusetts Families."massappleseed.org/projects/parent-guide-en/

Mass. Mandated Reporting Law under consideration

2021-03-30T10:53:00.000-04:00

The CommonWealth Magazine article,

State considering major expansion of child abuse reporting laws

Proposal raises fears of racial disproportionality , Shira Schoenberg, March 29, 2021

takes a close look at both sides of the proposal to add more categories

to the Massachusetts list of people who are required to report to DCF

when they suspect children are being abused or neglected.

See the current list Mandated Reporters here: Mass. General Laws

Chapter 119, section 21. This subsection tells when mandated

reporters "in [their] professional capacity" are required to

"immediately communicate with the department orally and,

within 48 hours, shall file a written report with the

department detailing the suspected abuse or neglect":

reasonable cause to believe that a child is suffering physical or emotional injury resulting from: (i) abuse inflicted upon him which causes harm or substantial risk of harm to the child's health or welfare, including sexual abuse; (ii) neglect, including malnutrition; (iii) physical dependence upon an addictive drug at birth, ... or (iv) being a sexually exploited child; or (v) being a human trafficking victim as defined by section 20M of chapter 233. Mass. Gen. Laws c. 119, sec. 51A(a)

Section 51B, the DCF 2009 Intake Regulation, and DCF's 2020 Protective Intake Policy lay out what DCF is supposed to do when it receives a 51A report of child abuse or neglect. Yes, there are unresolved discrepancies between the policy, which are DCF's directions to its employees, and the earlier regulation, which has the force of law. For these reasons, the significance of the consequences of becoming involved in the DCF investigation / intake process, and reasons set out in my 2012 post, "When DCF Comes a-Calling: How to Try to Stay Out of the Fire When You're Already in the Frying Pan" you should definitely consider seeking counsel if someone tells you they are reporting you to DCF or if you get a call or visit from DCF. If you cannot afford and attorney, seek out a Legal Services program for free representation

If, after reading the above and maybe also "The Mandated Reporter Commission Status Report to the Legislature, December 28, 2020," you have an opinion on whether the definitions of "mandated reporter," "abuse," "neglect," when things must be reported to DCF, what protections people who report to DCF should have, and what rights and remedies people should have when they have been reported to DCF, consider contacting your State Representative or State Senator to inform them. If you don't know who they are, use this form from the Secretary of the Commonwealth to find out.

The Prosecutor's Story

2021-02-19T17:24:00.000-05:00

Prosecutors say that they only charge people when they have a strong case.

Is it true?
Is it trash talk, like that of basketball players?
Is it legitimate public relations?
Is it a form of jury tampering?

I was listening to a former federal prosecutor recently discussing whether the twice-impeached, former POTUS would be prosecuted for his criminal behavior. I want exPOTUS45* to be held responsible for the many harms he has caused and his civil, moral, and criminal misdeeds. I was a bit disheartened by the commentator's presentation, which seemed to say that there was a less than 100% chance of some of the prosecutions I hope to see.

Then, my defense attorney conscience kicked in and asked me the questions above.

Despite the presumption of innocence set out in our Bill of Rights and taught as an essential part of our government legal systems, jurors and even judges often come to the process of adjudicating the facts of a case with an assumption that the defendant wouldn't be here, the government wouldn't have brought a case against them, law enforcement personnel wouldn't have arrested them, child protective services wouldn't have taken their children away, if they didn't do anything wrong.

I suppose it's natural for people who have never been wrongly accused or who have been taught in school or by popular media that law enforcement personnel follow the law and the evidence and, like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, "always get their man," to believe where there's smoke, there's fire or when there's a case something bad happened. Hearing the prosecutors' drumbeat that they won't charge without a strong case made me worry that it would overwhelm the presumption of innocence for most audiences. It would be consistent with their preconceived notions of justice and the legal system.

The concept of confirmation bias says that people more readily accept ideas that are consistent with what they already believe. The concept of cognitive dissonance says that people tend to reject ideas that do not conform to their preconceived notions.

I think it would be improper for a prosecutor to include an assertion about the inherent strength of a case in an opening statement or closing argument. It may even be improper to ask a witness a question that would produce such a self-affirming response.

But doesn't the statement have a similar effect, of degrading the presumption of innocence, when the vast majority of jurors and judges hear it or read it every day from the news sources they seek out and trust?

DCF Protective Intake Policy

2020-06-26T18:28:00.001-04:00

DCF has updated its Protective Intake Policy

Protective Intake Policy 86-015 updated June 22, 2020

The DCF Protective Intake Policy, which had a major update on February 28, 2016, had some additional changes that went into effect June 22, 2020. According to CPCS Attorney Laura Bouliane and Social Worker Julianne Dowd, "Despite some changes to the format and language used, the substance of the policy is largely the same."

The Protective Intake Policy Revised 6/22/2020 may be found here: www.mass.gov/doc/dcf-protective-intake-policy-june-2020/download. I hope to get back to this post and highlight the changes soon. For the moment, my favorite change is that is is posted as a searchable and copyable pdf instead of the page view image-type pdf of most of their other policies.

Shaken Baby Syndrome debunked (again)

2020-06-07T18:30:00.000-04:00

Catching up on my podcast listening, I finally listened to and highly recommend:

Rottin' in Denmark blog's "Shaken Baby Syndrome" episode from October 8, 2018

Mike tells Sarah how an over-simplified diagnosis, over-confident doctors and over-zealous prosecutors got thousands of innocent parents thrown in prison. Digressions include food poisoning, Sherlock Holmes and 1950s medical ethics. Mike wanted to mention Louise Woodward but he forgot.

Links!

Rottin' in Denmark - Shaken Baby Syndrome

Latest Mass. Juvenile Courts COVID-19 Order

2020-03-26T12:56:00.000-04:00

The Massachusetts Juvenile Court buildings are still largely closed to the public due to COVID-19. They are taking cases by email and hearing cases both by telephone and videoconferences.

Here is a link to Court system response to the coronavirus pandemic:

Court system response to COVID-19.

Included is the Trial Court Help Line, where you can "call to ask general questions about their civil and criminal cases and [get] help ... navigat[ing] the court system."

The Juvenile Court COVID-19 FAQ's and Standing Orders are here.

Working From Home - Making Homes Safe

2020-03-20T10:08:00.000-04:00

While schools have been closed and many service providers have resorted to virtual interactions my workload has decreased significantly.

Unfortunately that doesn't mean every one is safe from the things that bring clients to me or to the attention of caring professionals. Renée Graham highlights Suffolk County District Attorney Rachel Rollins' concerns that home may not be a safe place for victims of domestic violence or emotional, physical, or sexual abuse in this article:

When home isn’t the safest place to be

My career has been devoted to helping parents navigate the Massachusetts child protective services (CPS) system; repesenting them in cases when they have been reported to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) for suspicion of abusing or neglecting their children (51A), helping get their children back when DCF has taken custody (51B(c)) and filed care and protection (C&P) or termination of parental rights (TPR) cases, and more. Zealous advocacy on behalf of accused parents and other caregivers does not prevent me from recognizing that there are children who need protection, parents who need help to make life better for their children, and caregivers and domestic partners who do abuse and neglect their partners or children in their care.

We need to follow DA Rollins' advice and find ways to increase social connections, be a community of caring, and be lifelines for one another even as we maintain physical distance to prevent the spread of the virus.

Be safe, stay healthy, and be a good neighbor.

DCF Fair Hearings

2020-02-12T18:19:00.002-05:00

The DCF Fair Hearing Unit has created a useful set of links regarding Fair Hearings.

The main page is here www.mass.gov/fair-hearing-unit.

If you already know you want to request a fair hearing, you can now do so using an online docusign form:

na3.docusign.net/Member/PowerFormSigning.aspx?PowerFormId=909c4a80-0b8a-46c6-ae66-fc290b3cd01c&env=na3-eu1.

I haven't used it yet, so I don't know if it sends a copy to the Area Office or only the Fair Hearing Unit, but it seems as if it should have that capacity.

Their Guide to Fair Hearings is pretty comprehensive and seems to be written in plain English:

www.mass.gov/doc/dcf-fair-hearing-guide-2019/download.

Proof of Child Sexual Abuse?

2019-11-11T11:38:00.000-05:00

It has been several years since my last case in which a parent was accused of sexually abusing a young child based on evidence of shared pathogens. The one I was reminded about today was the father of a 4 or 5 year old girl who was accused because his daughter was found to have Chlamydia in her throat. Yes, horrible, I know.

The child abuse pediatrician with whom I consulted told me she thought the abuse would be confirmed if father tested positive for the same strain of the bacteria. I was only handling the child custody part of the case, not any criminal charges that may have resulted. My involvement ended quickly when the mother agreed to keep the father away from their daughter while the cases were pending.

I was reminded about it today when the headline Biomarker Diagnoses Deadly Infant Disease appeared in my inbox from the Breaking Science News email from Technology Networks. The article mentioned in the subject line was about "A diagnostic study of 136 premature infants [that] found that a protein involved in managing harmful bacteria in the human intestine is a reliable biomarker for the noninvasive detection of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)."

I haven't had any cases in which NEC was mistaken for child abuse, but a different article at the top of the Top Headlines list caught my attention: Genetic Tools To Explore Zoonotic Chlamydia. A Zoonotic disease is, "an infectious disease that is transmitted between species from animals to humans (or from humans to animals)." www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/animal/zoo/index.html via Google.

Interestingly, the MN article doesn't list chlamydia. But the www.technologynetworks.com write up of the Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden article Targeted Gene Modification in Animal Pathogenic Chlamydia says:

The human pathogenic bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common sexually transmitted bacterial pathogen worldwide. It is estimated to infect more than 100 million people each year and is a frequent cause of infertility. Moreover, Chlamydia trachomatis also causes eye infections and represents the most frequent infectious cause of blindness in developing areas of the world.

Less widely known is that Chlamydia affects not only humans, but also animals. By causing disease in farm animals, such as in cows, sheep, pigs and chicken, Chlamydia can cause significant economic damage. Moreover, Chlamydia also infects pet animals, such as cats, guinea pigs, and parrots. While the Chlamydia species that infect animals are biologically different from the human pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis, some animal pathogenic Chlamydia can occasionally also infect humans. These zoonotic infections in which the bacteria are transmitted from an infected animal to a human can be severe and life-threatening.

Not knowing to question whether the pediatrician's assertion that father and daughter having the same strain of a pathogen was proof that father transmitted it to daughter, I didn't even inquire if they had any pets or handled farm animals. Similarly, until Attorney Randy Gioia brought a couple of Evidence Based Medicine physicians to speak at the Massachusetts Juvenile Bar Association annual conference a decade ago, I didn't think that there might be scientific evidence to rebut presumptions of causation tendered by the medical witnesses the state had proferred.

Practice note for lawyers: Listen to your clients. Do scientific as well as legal research. Don't easily write off pleas of "But I didn't do anything like that to my child."

Practice note for accused parents: Do scientific research. Insist that your attorney does so as well. Make it easier for them to find the articles, experts, and lawyers who have gone before them and found innocent explanations for conditions that the state has said couldn't have caused the conditions your child exhibited and you know you didn't cause.

I should have known re: Massachsuetts General Laws online

2019-07-21T08:46:00.000-04:00

Now I know why I often can't find new statutes or language that I know was amended when I go to the Massachusetts General Laws links that I have saved for myself. Thanks to an alert that the Trial Court Law Libraries recently added to the top of the mass.gov "General laws, session laws & bills" pages, I realized that:

Mass. General Laws online have not been updated since February 28, 2017

Warning: Mass. General Laws on the Legislature's site have not been updated in over 2 years

The Trial Court Law Libraries strongly discourage users from relying on the Mass. General Laws provided online by the Legislature, because they are over 2 years out of date.

We are working to compile a collection of laws that have changed in that time. Please try Mass. General Laws amended since January 1, 2017 first, whenever you are searching for laws.

If you need a law, and it is not in the list of amended laws, please use the Legislature's online Mass. General Laws as a finding aid only, and then use our free document delivery service to request a current version of the law.

By Mass. Trial Court Law Libraries, www.mass.gov/alerts/mass-general-laws-online-have-not-been-updated-since-february-28-2017, 7/10/2019

DCF Family Assessment - What's involved?

2019-03-27T10:14:00.000-04:00

I was recently asked, "How many meetings are in the assessment?"

The answer is essentially "It depends."

The Family Assessment policy says that there must be a minimum of 3 face-to-face contacts with "the family" and 2 of those must be in the home.

But there are also information gathering requirements and monthly meeting requirements that can increase the 3 meetings to 4 or even 7. If the worker doesn't touch on all the relevant subject areas during the first 3 meetings, they will have to insist on another. If the assessment starts near the end of a calendar month or is scheduled to end after the beginning of the next month, they will have to come at least once during each of those months if only for a "quick view of the children".

See https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/03/05/Family_Assessment_and_Action_Planning_Policy.pdf pp. 11 & 13-15.

Persnickety Reporters

2018-02-09T16:19:00.000-05:00

What to do when they keep reporting.

I was asked if there is any way to stop school personnel from reporting minor incidents that are not an indication of children being at risk of abuse or neglect. My response, edited to remove identifying information, was:

Since DCF is not allowed to tell you or confirm your suspicions about who filed a report and since reporters do not have to answer about whether they filed a report, the response from system stakeholders in situations such as yours is often that you should be happy the system worked the way it was supposed to. That is, someone believed there was some reason to worry about one of your children and reported it to DCF. DCF inquired and came to the correct conclusion that your children are not at risk of injury from or experiencing abuse or neglect.

The mandated reporting statute makes it a crime to "knowingly and willfully file[ ] a frivolous report of child abuse or neglect." (Mass. General Laws Chapter 119, section 51A(c).) But it seems it would need to be DCF who would have to make the determination of frivilosity, since you would have no proof of who made the report. On page 17 of the DCF Protective Intake Policy (which may be found in the "Intake" section at this link www.mass.gov/lists/review-dcf-policies, you will find the following criteria for when a report may be "screened out":

3. Screen Out
This is a determination that:

the report does not involve a child or the allegations are not within the Department’s mandate concerning child abuse and neglect; and/or

there is no indication that a child(ren) has been or may have been abused or neglected or may be at risk of being abused and/or neglected by a caregiver; and/or

the alleged perpetrator has been identified and was not a caregiver, and the child(ren)’s caregiver is safely protecting the child(ren) from the alleged perpetrator, unless the allegations involve sexual exploitation or human trafficking; and/or

the specific injury or specific situation being reported is so old that it has no bearing on the current risk to the reported or other child(ren); and/or

there are NO other protective concerns, and the only issue is maternal use of appropriately prescribed medication resulting in a SEN(s), AND the only substance affecting the newborn(s) was appropriately prescribed medication, AND the mother was using the medication(s) as prescribed which can be verified by a qualified medical or other provider.

It's on page 17 because there are bunches of steps and inquiries that the DCF Screener must make before they are permitted to decide that an allegation is frivolous.

You may want to start with obtaining all of your family's records from DCF. See it's records regulations, here - www.mass.gov/files/documents/2017/09/12/110cmr12.pdf - about how to request those files. Those would be the first things I would need to look at to determine whether there was any readily apparent frivilosity or bad faith in the school's reporting, and it often takes quite some time to get the records from DCF.

You also might want to look through your School Committee's Policies and Procedures Manual and any staff training material to see if there are definitions and defined procedures for deciding when and how something must be reported and how incidents are to be vetted and documented. It is possible that a report could fall within DCF's definitions but not be something that Anytown Public Schools (APS) permits to be reported. And APS may have record keeping and disclosure rules that are different from the rules governing reports once they are communicated to DCF.

DCF Law, Regulations, and Policies

2017-06-06T09:48:00.000-04:00

Mass.gov is a great resource

Check out its "Laws by Source" page http://www.mass.gov/courts/case-legal-res/law-lib/laws-by-source/. To find DCF law and regulations, look under the "Massachusetts" heading. Sources of Mass. law are listed in their order of priority - each one of the links there goes to a category of law.

Regulations or Policies

Note that "Regulations" are listed there but policies aren't. That is because regulations have the force of law once they are published in the Massachusetts Record for public comment, then amended based on the comments, then approved by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, then published in the Code of Mass. Regulations. But policies do not.

Statutes relating to DCF

DCF has an enabling statute, which is Mass. General Laws chapter 18B. Sections 2, 3, and 4 tell them what they can and have to do. Then, Mass. General Laws chapter 119 is about child protection law. It is where the "51A report" and "51B investigation" get their names; i.e., sections 51A and 51B of chapter 119. There are other statutes in which DCF is involved, but these are the two main ones for purposes of this article.

DCF Regulations

DCF and all state agencies are required to write regulations that expand on and provide specifics about the statutes. You can find DCF regulations at the Title 110 link following the "Code of Massachusetts Regulations" link at the Trial Court Law Libraries "Laws by Source" page to the "Alphabetical list" or the "100-199" to "110"and at DCF's Regulations and Policies page.

DCF Policies

Most agencies, DCF included, have policies, which further flesh out the regulations and are what their people are trained to follow. DCF just (August 17, 2017) linked a slew of their policies on their website -
www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/laws-regs/dcf/regulations-and-policies.html

Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, MCLE®, periodically publishes a manual with a CD including then current DCF policies and the Massachusetts Juvenile Bar Association recently developed a thumb drive that included the regulations and policies, amongst other things; but I am not sure if it is available for purchase. Once you know the name and number of any DCF policy, you can have them emailed or faxed to you by the Mass. Trial Court Law Libraries using their Document Delivery Service.

Amendments

At the DCF Regulations and Policies page you will notice that there are also "Proposed Amendments" to a few regulations and a few policies. But, the proposed amendments to effectuate the, most relevant, 2/28/2016 "Protective Intake Policy" and the 2/17/2017 "Family Assessment and Action Planning Policy" are not there. Those regulations, though they have already been written and open to public comment, for some stupid reason, are published at a link in the "News" section of the top page of DCF's website - "Regulation Review: Proposed Changes to DCF Regulations". They seem to be pretty close to final so I don't know what they are waiting for to add them to the actual Regulations page.

Check with your attorney

If you are involved in an investigation, assessment, or case with DCF, always talk to your attorney about which constitutional provisions, statutes, regulations, court rules, or policies affect your case. Feel free to use the Web Resources page of my main website for the links in this article and others, which you may find useful in your DCF or child protection law research. Read my Initial Consultation Policies page if you need to consider retaining counsel for your DCF matter.

DCF Interviews at School

2014-03-27T21:37:00.000-04:00

It is a pet peeve of mine that DCF investigators think they can talk to children at school and that schools let them.

It has been a major debate in several federal appeals courts, amongst attorney members of the National Association of Counsel for Children, on the American Bar Association Child / Parent Attorneys email discussion list, amongst members of the National Association of CPS Defenses Attorneys and even at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Unfortunately it remains an open question. But I lean toward the proposition that schools should not permit DCF personnel, police or other employees of outside agencies to interview children, who are not in the custody of the interviewing person, at school.

My answer to the question "is it legal?"on avvo.com, which lays out some of my reasoning, can be found here: http://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/my-child-is-being-questioned-at-school-by-dcf.

If your school committee has a policy about visitors or interviews and you know or suspect that your child might be a target for an interview, consider adapting the form letters in my previous post to your situation.

And consult with an attorney who is familiar with DCF policies and practices.

Dear Principal: No DCF or law enforcement interviews

2013-08-31T10:02:00.000-04:00

If you think your child may be about to be interviewed at school by DCF or law enforcement, you might want to consider having him/her carry a card similar to the one in my previous post and sending this letter to the Principal and school district administration:

Dear Principal ____________:

My/Our child, [Child's Name], has been instructed not to discuss any non-academic matters with school administrators and not to speak at all with personnel from any outside agencies until one or both parents or my/our attorney is/are present. The only exception would be an emergency that concerns the immediate safety of my/our child or other children. Under no circumstances is my/our child to sign any document or write out any statement unless I/we am/are present.

If any [Name of School] administrator desires to question my/our child regarding any incident, please inform me/us immediately and I/we will come to the school as soon as possible. If anyone from an outside agency desires to meet with or question my/our child, please inform them that you do not have parental permission for them to meet with my/our child at school and ask them to schedule an appointment with me/us. My/Our home number is [Home Phone]. My/Our work numbers, for school emergencies only, do NOT provide to outside agencies except in a medical emergency, are [Name, Work Phone, Name, Work Phone].

I/We intend to cooperate with school officials regarding appropriate matters and will require that my/our child also cooperate. We simply ask that you wait until I/we are present to undertake any questioning.

Respectfully,

[Parent's(s’) Name(s)] [Address(es)]
[City(ies), State(s) Zip(s)]

Form copied from:
www.MIchaelRichLaw.blogspot.com

The blog of Atty. Michael L. Rich*
Concentrating in Children’s and Family Law
37 Middlesex Circle – Unit 21
Waltham, MA 02452
781-373-1582, fax: 339-368-7662
Emergencies: 339-707-0050
mike@michaelrichlaw.com
www.MichaelRichLaw.com

*Atty. Rich does not represent this child or family unless his signature appears on the form.

Available to copy at www.michaelrichlaw.blogspot.com and for group members for download at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/kidlawrich.

It is strongly suggested that you have an attorney and consult with him/her before sending this form to your child's school.

When you think DCF is going to talk to your child at school

2013-08-31T09:38:00.000-04:00

For students to carry with them:

My Right to Remain Silent

My parents agree that I have the following rights*:

1. To refuse to talk to any school official, police officer, counselor or social worker about anything that is not related to my school work.

2. To refuse to sign any forms or discuss anything related to my family.

3. To deny consent to any search of my person or articles in my possession.

4. To insist that the school call my parents and ask my parents to come to the school immediately if I am to be questioned.

In the exercise of these rights:

I will be respectful to all officials at all times.

I will not be threatening or aggressive in my resistance.

__________________ ___________________

Child’s signature Parent(s)’ signature(s)

* Many of these "rights" have not been specifically recognized by the legal system. Some derive from case law, some from Massachusetts statutes and regulations, some from model school department policies and some are merely desired interpretations.

Form copied from:

www.MichaelRichLaw.blogspot.com

A service of Atty. Michael L. Rich*

Concentrating in Children’s and Family Law

37 Middlesex Circle – Unit 21

Waltham, MA 02452

781-373-1582, Fax 339-368-7662

Emergencies 339-707-0050

Available as a post at www.michaelrichlaw.blogspot.com and to group members for download at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/kidlawrich

*Atty. Rich does not represent this child or family unless his signature appears on the form.

Go over this form and the situation with your child, preferably after retaining a DCF/CPS defense attorney in your area. If you are unable to connect with an attorney before the next school day, consider whether to send the form to school with your child.

Arlington Mass. Gun Buyback Program

2013-08-25T07:34:00.001-04:00

Several faith communities in Arlington have gotten together with the Arlington Police Department and sponsors from around Town to offer grocery gift cards in exchange for unwanted firearms.

The event will be held on Saturday, September 28, 2013, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Arlington DPW lot at 51 Grove Street.*

Here is a video clip from Arlington Community Media, Inc., in which I am being interviewed about the event --

* Rain date Saturday, October 5, 2014.

For more information go to www.arlingtongunbuyback.org.

Arlington, MA, Police Arrest Innocent Man in New York

2013-05-18T16:44:00.000-04:00

Not really.

But the reporting of the arrest here: http://www.yourarlington.com/archive/news-archive/374-police1/5895-abuse-51813 and here: http://arlington.patch.com/articles/arrest-made-in-arlington-boys-girls-club-sexual-abuse-investigation bumps up against one of my pet peeves.

Mr. ___ is innocent until proven guilty.

If he is "innocent", why did they arrest him? What they are talking about is the constitutional presumption of innocence. The presumption of innocence says that we must treat a criminal defendant AS IF he is innocent until he is proven guilty. Mr. ___ may actually be innocent. His arrest on a warrant just means that the police thought and convinced a judge or magistrate that they had probable cause to believe he had committed a crime. What the APD should have said in its press release, and what I will say here, is "The charges are only allegations at this point. Mr. ___ is presumed innocent until proven guilty."

In actuality, if someone IS actually innocent, he will remain that way EVEN IF he is convicted in court. Unfortunately, we have way too many incidents of innocent people being convicted or even pleading to crimes to ignore the irony of misrepresenting the constitutional provision.

Innocent people are convicted but they remain innocent nonetheless.