Massachusetts News 
By Edward G. Oliver 

December 1--Rep. Marie Parente, Chair of the Legislative Committee on Foster Care, tells Massachusetts News she wants to be sure to recognize the agency’s many dedicated social workers and other professionals. She says her committee could not have made progress without the help of concerned DSS employees, some who have risked their careers by stepping forward to make suggestions for improvement.  

She praised the many caring social workers who have brought clothes from their homes for children, taken children to movies and collected money and toys around the holidays. 

On the subject of qualifications for social workers, Parente says she is proud of the progress made on that front by her Committee which has not been given due credit. She points out, "We finally got DSS to accept the notion that as a minimum, a person managing a case should have a degree in social work."  

Parente hopes that goal will come to fruition because DSS tells her it needs about five years to make the transition. She tells Massachusetts News the ideal qualification for a social worker would be a master’s degree in clinical psychology. She admitted her committee hasn’t checked local college curriculums in a few years; but the last time they did, none of the courses prepared social workers for criminal or medical investigations or psychological evaluations. 

Parente wants psychological testing of social workers instituted only as a safeguard "for that scattered case," but she does not want anyone to infer Massachusetts social workers have mental health problems because they may be tested.  

Regarding her mention (in a previous interview) of social workers viewing children in a state of nudity, Parente wants to clarify that she was speaking of one case in particular but "does not want to leave the impression that DSS indiscriminately strips kids."  

She reiterated, however, she does not approve of any instances where a social worker or anyone untrained in pediatrics should view nude children, explaining it has happened in some cases resulting from accusations made during custody battles. 

Parente displayed a book prepared for the Governor’s "Blue Ribbon Commission on Foster Care" titled, TRAUMA OF THE ERRONEOUS OR FALSE 51A REPORT: Harm to Innocent Families In an Hysterical Atmosphere: The Case for Re-examination of the Massachusetts Child Protection System.  

She wants all DSS employees to read the book but sympathized by saying it’s no easy task for a social worker to determine what is going on in a household. She stressed again the importance of having qualified social workers who are able to weigh all the factors involved in reporting on families.  

Progress Is Seen 

Detailing progress made over the last decade, Parente lists what her committee was able to enact into law: 

Child Abuse Prevention: Notification to biological parents if a child has been abused in foster care. New categories of mandated "reporters" have been added (professionals who are required to report suspected child abuse and neglect.) 

Notifying Mandated "Reporters": Required state boards of registration and other certification departments to notify license applicants in health, educational and various other professional fields that they are mandated reporters of child abuse. 

Foster Child Profile: Requires DSS to provide foster parents with a child profile which would follow the child from placement to placement. The profile contains vital information concerning education, medical, mental health and behavioral information.  

District Attorney Notified of Serious Abuse: Requires dual notification to DSS and District Attorneys in certain cases of serious physical injury in a timely manner in order to coordinate investigative efforts. 

Criminal Check of All Foster Parents: Requires DSS to perform CORI state and federal criminal check on all potential foster homes prior to approval and for DSS to establish uniform guidelines for utilizing the information. 

Innocent Persons Removed from Central Registry: If a report of abuse is found to be unfounded, frivolous or false during the initial screening period of an investigation, the report is declared "allegation invalid" and the accused’s name is removed from the Central Registry. 

Rights of Grandparents and Others: Affords rights of visitation to grandparents of children removed from homes subsequent to a report of abuse or other circumstances. Visitation rights are to be scheduled by DSS and grandparents are informed of their rights, which shall not be suspended without notification and an appeal process. 

Visitation by Siblings: Allows visitations between and among siblings placed in foster or adoptive care or substitute care, through reasonably scheduled visits. Allows children, who are twelve and over and who are foster or adoptive children, to request visitation with siblings. 

Protections from Juvenile Sex Offenders: Ensures protection of children in foster care from sex offenders who are also placed in foster care. Requires a safety plan so that juvenile offenders may not be placed with children of certain ages. 

Licensing of Social Workers: Requires DSS to develop and implement a licensure program and requirements for the licensure of all social workers currently unlicensed, within a specific time-frame. 

Licensing of Foster Homes: Requires specific procedures and standards to be developed and implemented by DSS for approval and certification of foster homes, including background checks, CORI evaluations and other reviews of all household members. 

Levels of Care: Varying levels of types of foster homes to meet needs of children and teens needing varying levels of care. 

Created Statutory Definitions: The definitions of these words are now in the statutes: "best interest," "parental unfitness" and "reasonable efforts" which were previously undefined and arbitrary. 

Parente says her committee has improved what it can and now is determined to tackle due process. "This is the year for constitutional rights for our committee. We have done all the other things we think will improve the system and this piece is left, the constitutional rights of the families, the children and the foster parents." 
 

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