MDAA’s Report on the Status of Child Abuse and Neglect Cases for fiscal year 2022 did not include data from 2 of the 11 DA offices. MDAA did not use any additional resources to gather data from the Middlesex DA or the Northwestern DA regarding the status of child abuse and neglect cases in their districts, after MDAA requested this information twice.
Further, in fiscal year 2023’s report, we found a numerical error in the category titled “Criminal Cases Disposed without Conviction.” More specifically, MDAA reported that 932 criminal cases were disposed without conviction. Using templates completed by the 11 DA offices, we calculated that the total was 941 criminal cases that were disposed without conviction, a difference of 9 cases that were not included in the fiscal year 2023 report.
Because the recipients of the Report on the Status of Child Abuse and Neglect Cases may use the information for research, debate, deliberations, and proposed legislation, inaccuracies or missing information in the report may hinder legislators’ and other policy makers’ efforts to sufficiently address child abuse and neglect issues.
Authoritative Guidance
Section 20D of Chapter 12 of the General Laws states:
The executive director shall annually report on the status of child abuse and neglect cases that have been referred for criminal prosecution, including the number prosecuted, the results of those prosecutions, the principal reason for decisions not to prosecute, and what resources would have assisted in those investigations and prosecutions. The report shall be filed with the clerks of the senate and the house, the senate and the house committees on ways and means, the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities, the joint committee on the judiciary, the child advocate, and the governor.
Reasons for Missing and Inaccurate Information
MDAA stated that the DAs are not statutorily obligated to provide the information that is required in the Report on the Status of Child Abuse and Neglect Cases. MDAA stated that it was aware of the missing information from the fiscal year 2022 report, and that the report disclosed that the information was not available from two DAs. MDAA made multiple attempts to obtain the missing data but was unable to obtain all the data before the reporting deadline. However, MDAA is obligated by law to collect this data for its annual reports, and yet it did not seek alternative methods to collect the data, such as contacting the Executive Office of the Trial Court to obtain this information.
Regarding fiscal year’s 2023 report inaccuracy, MDAA stated that a transcription error was made when compiling source data into the Report on the Status of Child Abuse and Neglect Cases. Additionally, MDAA did not have controls requiring that a review of the data be performed before publishing it in MDAA’s annual report.
Recommendations
- MDAA should work with all DA offices, the Executive Office of the Trial Court, and any other pertinent agencies to ensure that each Report on the Status of Child Abuse and Neglect Cases is accurate and complete before MDAA submits the report to its recipients.
- MDAA should implement controls to identify and address inaccuracies when compiling the report before submitting it to its recipients.
Auditee’s Response
During the audit period, MDAA reported on the status of tens of thousands of child abuse and neglect cases. MDAA regrets and acknowledges that a transcription (typographical) error in the [fiscal year] 2023 report resulted in the underreporting of nine cases that were closed without conviction. . . .
In [fiscal year] 2022, to comply timely with MDAA’s obligation to submit a status report annually, MDAA filed a report explaining that two identified counties’ information was missing for a single fiscal year. None of the status report recipients contacted MDAA indicating that the missing information was needed to debate, deliberate, or draft proposed legislation. The Governor, the Legislature, and the Child Advocate may, and often do, contact MDAA and the District Attorneys for information needed for their work. Indeed, MDAA and the District Attorneys are required to respond to all requests for information pursuant to the public records law.
Auditor’s Reply
MDAA acknowledges that it made a transcription (i.e., typographical) error in the fiscal year 2023 report and that information for two counties was excluded from the fiscal year 2022 report.
This transcription error likely occurred because of a lack of internal controls over the reporting process. A segregation of duties that required multiple reviews could help detect this error. Also, alternative resources were available to obtain the data for the two missing counties, but these resources were not used. As a result, the annual report was published without the data from the two counties. We encourage MDAA to consider both of our recommendations to ensure that the issues identified in this finding do not reoccur in the future.
| Date published: | November 17, 2025 |
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