Defining the System

51A Report

Chapter 119 Section 51A is a Massachusetts law requiring professionals whose work brings them in contact with children, or “mandated reporters”, to notify the Department of Children and Families (DCF) if they suspect that a child is being abused, neglected, or both.

504 Plan

Under federal law, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act — or “504 plans” — prohibits discrimination on the basis of a student’s disability and provides students with disabilities accommodations meant to allow disabled students to meaningfully access public education. Under this law, every public school receiving federal funding in Massachusetts must employ a Section 504 coordinator to facilitate the creation and implementation of 504 plans for eligible students.

Adverse Child Experiences (ACEs) Factors

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events occurring before age 18. ACEs include all types of abuse and neglect as well as parental mental illness, substance use, divorce, incarceration, and domestic violence. A landmark study in the 1990s found a significant relationship between the number of ACEs a person experienced and a variety of negative outcomes in adulthood, including poor physical and mental health, substance abuse, and risky behavior.

Care and Protection Cases

Care and Protection Cases involve the removal of an allegedly abused or neglected child from their parents and placement in the temporary custody of the Department of Children and Families (DCF). If clear and convincing evidence proves that the child’s parents or legal guardians are currently unfit or unavailable to care for them, the child can be committed to the permanent custody of the DCF until age 18 and can request voluntary services until the age of 22.

Child Requiring Assistance (CRA)

A CRA case is one where parents, guardians, or school officials ask the court to help supervise a child. CRA cases are confidential and closed to the public. Parents, attorneys representing the parties, the probation officer, a clerk to record the hearing, a school representative (sometimes), DCF (sometimes), and the judge may all be present for the court hearing. At the hearing, the probation officer makes one of 3 recommendations:

• That the court should dismiss the case for lack of “probable cause” that the child requires services

• That the court should refer the child and parent (with their agreement) to a probation officer for informal assistance via referrals to community services 

• That the court should accept the Application for CRA and schedule the fact-finding hearing where the petitioner must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the child is a child requiring services

Congregate Care/Group Homes

Congregate care is a placement setting utilized by state custodial agencies such as DCF, DMH, and DYS that consists of 24-hour supervision for children in structured settings such as group homes, childcare institutions, residential treatment facilities, or teen parenting homes. There is great variation in the number and quality of services offered at the several levels of care that is encompassed in the term congregate care.

Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline

The Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline, a term first popularized in 2009 by Marian Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund, encapsulates the interconnected systems that disproportionately divert children and youth of color onto a path toward incarceration.

Delinquency

In Massachusetts, delinquency charges can be filed against any child who is 12 years old or older. Any crime under Massachusetts law (with the exception of murder) can be charged against a child between the ages of 12 and 18 as a delinquency case. Delinquency cases are prosecuted in the Juvenile Court, and are closed to the public, unless the youth is indicted as a youthful offender, which is a proceeding open to the public. The names of juveniles involved in delinquency cases are withheld from the public, and delinquency Juvenile Court proceedings cannot be covered by the media. The maximum penalty for all delinquency charges is a commitment of the offending child to the Department of Youth Services (DYS) until the age of 18; the maximum for youthful offender convictions can include adult sentences/imprisonment or commitment to DYS to age 21, or any sentence in between those options.

Department of Children and Families (DCF)

The Department of Children and Families (DCF) is a state custodial agency that has the responsibility of caring for children and youth placed in their care. DCF’s stated mission is to “work in partnership with families and communities to keep children safe from abuse and neglect”. When necessary, DCF provides foster care or finds new permanent families for children through kinship, guardianship or adoption.

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)

DESE is a state agency that oversees the education of children grades pre-k through 12 in Massachusetts, whose stated mission is to ensure that all students across the Commonwealth succeed educationally.

Department of Mental Health (DMH)

The Department of Mental Health is a state agency whose stated mission is to assure and provide access to services and supports to meet the mental health needs of individuals of all ages; enabling them to live, work and participate in their communities.

Department of Youth Services (DYS)

The Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) is the state’s youth correctional authority. It is a multi-faceted agency that serves youth committed as juvenile delinquents or youthful offenders and detained youth awaiting trial or held on bail. DYS’s stated mission is to “enhance community safety by improving the life outcomes for youth in our care and custody”. The agency seeks to achieve this mission by “investing in highly qualified staff and a service continuum that engages youth, families and communities in strategies that support positive youth development”.  Youth who are discharged from DYS can continue to voluntarily receive services through the agency’s Youth Engaged in Services (YES program). Over half of discharged youth avail themselves of this option.

Dually Involved Youth

Youth involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare system.

Emerging Adults

Older adolescents between the ages of 18-24. In the DCF context, this same population is referred to as TAY (transition age youth) and PYA (permanency for young adults).

Expulsion

Under Massachusetts law, expulsion is defined as exclusion from the regular classroom for a period of time in excess of ninety (90) school days. This includes permanent expulsion from school.

Expungement

Erasing of juvenile records.

Foster Care

Foster care is a temporary housing placement administered by Department of Children and Families (DCF) for court-involved children where a judge has decided that the parents are not able to give them the care that they need. According to DCF, the agency first tries to place children with relatives, but when not possible, they enter foster care.

Gang Database

Gang databases are frequently kept by urban police departments to track alleged gang involvement. Inclusion in a gang database can result in criminal consequences, such as “sentencing enhancements,” and/or immigration consequences, such as deportation. The Boston Police Department’s (BPD’s) “Gang Assessment Database” includes information about 5,000 people — almost all of them young Black and Latino men. Most of this data is unavailable to the public. A summary provided by the department shows that 66% of those in its database are Black, 24% are Latino and 2% are white. Black people comprise about 25% of all Boston residents, Latinos about 20% and white people more than 50%.

Civilians are entered into Boston’s “Gang Assessment Database” based on the number of “points” police assign to them. BPD defines “[a]ny person, whether juvenile or adult, that has been verified using the 10 Point Verification System defined by [BPD’s] Rule and has obtained at least six (6) points” as a “Gang Associate” and “[a]ny person…[that] has obtained ten (10) points” as a “Gang Member.”

Individualized Education (IEP) Plan

An individualized Education Program (IEP) is a written statement, developed and approved in accordance with federal and state special education law, that identifies a student's special education needs and describes the services and accomodations that a school district must provide to ensure that the disabled student receives a free and appropriate public education (FAPE).

Individuals with Disabilities Education (IDEA) Act

The Individuals with Disabilities Education (IDEA) Act is a four-part piece of federal legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs.

Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI)

JDAI® is a data-driven detention alternative initiative funded by the Casey Foundation. JDAI® is made up of a network of juvenile justice practitioners and other system stakeholders across the country working to build a better and more equitable youth justice system. JDAI’s mission is to ensure that “the right youth are in the right place, for the right reasons.”

Juvenile Court

The Massachusetts Juvenile Court Department oversees civil and criminal matters statewide involving children, including youthful offender, care and protection, and delinquency cases. The Juvenile Court hears delinquency cases of youth between the ages of 12-18 and youthful offender cases involving youth who have reached the age of 14 and are accused of conduct threatening or causing serious bodily harm, enumerated firearm offenses, or having been previously committed to DYS and now facing a felony charge. Juvenile sentencing allows for commitment to DYS up to age 21, and/or the possibility of sentencing up to the maximum prison terms a convicted adult would face for comparable conduct. In delinquency cases, a juvenile has the right to a six-person jury trial; in youthful offender matters a juvenile has a right to a twelve-person jury. The juvenile court also has child welfare jurisdiction over status offenses and care and protection cases. Youth in DCF custody via either a status offender or care and protection petition can request to receive voluntary services from DCF until the age of 22. The Juvenile Court has oversight of permanency planning by DCF in such cases. The Juvenile Court does not have jurisdiction of cases where a juvenile is accused of murder or over cases where the Juvenile is the petitioner or respondent on a restraining order (although the Juvenile Court does have jurisdiction over harassment prevention order matters where the Juvenile is a respondent).

Juvenile Diversion Programs

Under Juvenile Diversion programs in Massachusetts, first-time, nonviolent offenders may be offered intervention and remedial measures in lieu of traditional criminal prosecution. Diversion programs often require participation in counseling, education, and community service projects. If a case involves property damage, participants may also be held responsible for restitution. Successful completion of a pre-arraignment program results in dismissal of all charges and the charges are not placed on the juvenile’s CARI/CORI (juvenile record). Clerk Magistrates allow for pre-complaint diversion in misdemeanor cases, district attorney offices run pre-arraignment diversion programs, and in enumerated circumstances, juvenile court judges can allow for diversion and expungement of records over the Commonwealth’s objection. Juvenile justice reforms allow for dismissal offenses carrying a penalty of six months or less.

Mandated Reporter

Mandated reporters, by law, are a set of enumerated professionals, including teachers, counselors and medical personnel, whose work brings them in contact with children. Massachusetts law requires mandated reporters to immediately make an oral report to DCF when, in their professional capacity, they have reasonable cause to believe that a child under the age of 18 is suffering from abuse or neglect by calling the statewide hotline. Mandated reporters must also submit a written report under Section 51A to DCF within 48 hours.

Neglect

According to regulations (110 CMR 2) promulgated by Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, "Neglect means failure by a caretaker, either deliberately or through negligence or inability, to take those actions necessary to provide a child with minimally adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical care, supervision, emotional stability and growth, or other essential care; provided, however, that such inability is not due solely to inadequate economic resources or solely to the existence of a handicapping condition. This definition is not dependent upon location (i.e., neglect can occur while the child is in an out-of-home or in-home setting.)."

Parole

In Massachusetts, parole is the term employed in the criminal context for persons released from jail or prison, who are then supervised in the community by parole officers. For juveniles youth who are committed up to age 18 in delinquency cases, or up to age 21 in youthful offender matters, may be given conditional grants of liberty. They are supervised in the community by DYS case workers and their conditional grants of liberty may be revoked. As DYS jurisdiction ends at age 18 or 21, all youth are discharged when those ages are reached.

Placement Instability

Placement instability commonly refers to children who experience three or more placements following removal from their home. 

Probation

Probation is court-ordered community supervision by Juvenile Court, District Court, or Superior Court probation officers, following conviction of a crime. Jail time can be avoided by following the supervision of a probation officer and fulfilling certain terms and conditions.

Reentry

Reentry refers to the transition of offenders from DYS, prisons or jails back into the community.

School Resource Officer (SRO)

Under Massachusetts law, a school resource officer (SRO) is a “duly sworn municipal police officer with all necessary training, up-to-date certificates or a special officer appointed by the chief of police charged with providing law enforcement and security services to elementary and secondary public schools.”

Status Offenses

The Juvenile Court also has child welfare jurisdiction over status offenses. Status offenses are also called Child Requiring Assistance cases and consist of truancy and habitual offender petitions, stubborn child petitions, or runaway petitions. In status offense cases, youth can be placed in the temporary care of DCF until the age of 18. Truancy jurisdiction ends at age 16. The term originates from the reality that the presenting issue in these cases would not bring people into the court system but for the child’s status as a minor.

Suspension

Under Massachusetts law, the most serious disciplinary action that may be imposed for a non-serious offense is a suspension from school. A suspension may be short-term or long-term, and may be served in-school or out-of-school at the principal’s discretion.

A short-term suspension is when a student is excluded from the school premises for a period of not more than ten (10) consecutive school days (or up to ten (10) school days cumulatively for multiple disciplinary offenses in any school year).

A long-term suspension is when a student is excluded from the school premises for a period of more than ten (10) school days but no more than ninety (90) school days.

Massachusetts law dictates that a student may not be suspended for one or more non- serious offenses for more than ninety (90) school days cumulative in a school year. In addition, a long-term suspension may not extend beyond the end of the school year in which it is imposed. Exclusion from participation in extracurricular activities and school-sponsored events, which does not entail exclusion from the classroom, is not counted as suspension when calculating the number of school days for which a student was suspended.

Youthful Offender

Youthful offender is a sentencing designation given to individuals who are under the age of 21 and facing charges within the adult criminal justice system.