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Advocates Urge Expanded Data, Office of the Child Advocate Authority and Education Coordination in Child Welfare Bill
Summary
Witnesses broadly supported H.262 / S.148 to enhance child welfare protections but flagged specific concerns and changes, including expanded reporting on disproportionality, clearer roles for the Office of the Child Advocate (OCA), child fatality review adjustments, and improved enrollment and records transfers for students in DCF custody.
The Joint Committee heard testimony from a range of child-welfare advocates and state officials on H.262 / S.148, an omnibus bill intended to strengthen protections and data transparency across child-serving systems.
Maria Masaitis, director of the Office of the Child Advocate (OCA), urged passage of the bill to codify practices the office currently performs by agreement, including incident reporting requirements, training for mandated reporters, and a shared chair model for the state child fatality review team. "As I near the end of my tenure, I'm proud of the OCA's work to improve outcomes for children and families," Masaitis said, and asked for statutes that would sustain those practices through leadership transitions.
Advocates called for robust data collection to identify disproportionality by race, ethnicity, disability status and LGBTQI+ status at decision points across the child welfare system. The Children's League and other groups recommended stronger cross-agency collaboration and engagement of families and people with lived experience. Education advocates urged secure, real-time data exchange between DCF, DESE and school districts to shorten enrollment and records transfer delays that hinder students in foster care: "Reporting alone won't change school experiences," said Suzanne Remington of UMass Chan Medical School; she urged technology-enabled daily notifications so schools can provide timely supports.
Several testifiers supported provisions that would require notice to counsel of placement changes and other events; the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS) and other legal groups voiced support for those protections while raising concerns about proposed expansions of OCA authority to access impounded juvenile and court records and the possibility of the OCA filing for redetermination in care and protection proceedings. CPCS asked for further discussion to protect privacy and due process.
The bill also includes provisions that overlap with other pending legislation, such as codifying protections for youth benefits (H.227/S.105) and the foster care bill of rights; advocates asked the committee to retain or strengthen those protections. No formal committee votes were taken; witnesses urged further work between the committee, OCA, legal services and agencies to refine language.
