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NEW NATIONAL CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK LAW
Governor Patrick recently signed into law “An Act Relative to Background Checks” requiring fingerprint-based national criminal history checks for all employees and certain other individuals working in public and private schools and child care facilities in Massachusetts. The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services are currently working with the Executive Office of Education, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Department of Early Education and Care to implement this law, including information on when and how required individuals will need to submit their fingerprints for these background checks.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS NEW LAW.
Please continue to monitor this link for updates on the law and its implementation.
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- Apply for a job
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- State Criminal History Check
Statewide Fair & Impartial Policing Website Launched
With the goal of promoting communication and better understanding between law enforcement and local communities, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security has developed the Fair and Impartial Policing (FAIP) website . FAIP is a web-based initiative designed to give Massachusetts law enforcement professionals and members of the community new insight into the issues related to what is commonly referred to as "racial profiling."
"These program materials are valuable in educating law enforcement and members of the community about each others' perspective and provide effective tools necessary for positive interactions. We anticipate that these positive interactions will promote increased trust and effectiveness in community policing," stated Secretary Heffernan.
The FAIP training modules, developed with a federal grant, are accessible, free of charge, here. Topics covered in the modules include cultural influences, unconscious biases and innate biological factors that influence how individuals react during a range of community and police interactions. In each module, experts from both the police and community perspectives analyze and discuss the scenarios presented. Law enforcement and the community at large are encouraged to utilize these educational resources provided on the website.
The Massachusetts Corrections Master Plan
This plan is a blue print for the Patrick-Murray Administration’s strategy to address prison overcrowding and the escalating costs of housing and caring for inmates, building on the Governor’s comprehensive sentencing and supervision reform proposals. The plan includes recommendations for investing up to $550 million to upgrade existing facilities and add new beds over ten years.
Among the strategic investments proposed in the Master Plan are:
- Regional women centers and specialized regional sub-acute care facilities, which will eliminate redundancies in multiple existing facilities struggling to meet the specialized needs of small groupings of inmates;
- Community-based pre-release facilities to better prepare inmates for re-entry into their communities, providing a better chance for individual success and a lower rate of recidivism;
- New general custody beds in regional and/or multi-jurisdictional facilities to provide more flexibility and enable the construction of fewer buildings to address the needs of multiple jurisdictions more cost-effectively.
Secretary`s Master Plan Cover Letter 
Corrections Master Plan file size 5MB
