- Office of the Child Advocate
NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMENT
The Office of the Child Advocate, established by MGL c.18C, is holding a public comment period on the Department of Children and Family’s FY22 Annual Report and related reporting requirements.
From 2018 to 2022, the OCA and the Department of Children and Families co-chaired a Data Work Group, which was created by the Legislature and tasked with reviewing the list of legislatively-mandated DCF reports and making recommendations on the elimination of unnecessary reports and the design of new reports that would present information on DCF operations and the children and families served by DCF. This group sunset in 2022.
Released in December 2022, The Department of Children and Family’s FY22 Annual Report incorporates statutorily required data measures and progress metrics as recommended by the Child Welfare Data Workgroup Final Report and required through Item 4800-0015 of section 2 of chapter 24 of the acts of 2021, MGL c.18B, §7(e), c.18B §23, c.18B §24, c.18B §25, c.119 §23(f), c.119 §23(h), c.119 §39½, c.119 §51D.
In the spirit of continuous improvement, the OCA is seeking public input input about the utility of the report and any additional improvements you would like to see in future reports. A copy of the DCF FY22 report as well as prior year reports are available here: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/department-of-children-and-families-reports-data
Members of the public may submit written comments via email or via paper mail to the Office of the Child Advocate. Please address some or all of the following questions:
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Does the report answer critical questions you may have on DCF operations, including the profiles of the children and families served by DCF? Are there additional questions you have about DCF operations that could be answered by data, and if so, what are those questions?
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Does the report answer critical questions you may have about the extent to which DCF is meeting its state and federally-mandated statutory obligations? Are there additional questions you have about that could be answered by data, and if so what are those questions?
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Does the report answer critical questions you may have about the outcomes of the work of DCF? Are there additional questions you have that could be answered by data, and if so what are they?
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Are data in the FY22 annual DCF report presented in a way that allows you to conduct research or sufficiently understand an issue? If not, what changes in presentation would be helpful?
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What policy/research questions or concerns do you plan to address using the data in this report?
Comments must be submitted between June 14, 2023 and July 31, 2023 via the email address or mailing address below:
ChildAdvocate@mass.gov
DCF Annual Report Feedback
C/O Office of the Child Advocate
One Ashburton Place, 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02108.
The Office will respond, in aggregate, to comments received through a report posted on the Office of the Child Advocate’s website.
If you are a person with a disability who requires accommodation to participate in the open comment period, please contact the OCA at least 5 business days before the end of the open comment period via e-mail at ChildAdvocate@mass.gov or phone at 617-979-8360
