- Office of the Child Advocate
Media Contact
Ari Fertig, Press Contact
The Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) today released a detailed report analyzing data from its activities spanning Fiscal Years 2019 (FY19) through 2025 (FY25), with a particular focus on FY25.
As part of its statutory mandate, the OCA operates a Complaint Line and receives and reviews critical incident reports from child-serving state agencies as well as supported reports of abuse and neglect in out-of-home settings.
The OCA received and reviewed 1,750 reports and Complaint Line inquiries involving nearly 2,000 children in FY25. This is the highest total volume of reports/inquiries in the OCA’s history, pointing to heightened awareness of the OCA, rising demand for assistance navigating state systems, and shifts in harm experienced by children across the Commonwealth.
In FY25, the OCA received 993 Complaint Line inquiries, an 87% increase from FY24 and a 203% increase since FY20. This reflects concerted efforts to help make the public aware of the OCA and its Complaint Line, which can serve as a resource for anyone with concerns about a child or youth receiving state services.
In addition, there was a fourfold increase in direct youth engagement through the OCA’s Youth Engagement Initiative, which reached 195 children in congregate care placements in FY25.
“We are seeing a substantial increase in calls to the OCA’s Complaint Line and are pleased by the strong response to our youth engagement efforts. The numbers in this report reflect both a rising public awareness of the Office of the Child Advocate and the ongoing need for the Office's oversight work,” said Maria Mossaides, Director of the OCA. “Every day, OCA staff are working to ensure concerns are heard and addressed, and that children in the Commonwealth are receiving appropriate, timely, and high quality state services.”
Other key data insights from the data report include:
- There was a 15% decline in the number of critical incident reports sent to the OCA, driven by a reduction in the number of reports of a child witnessing an overdose. This aligns with a statewide reduction in overdose deaths. (Critical incident reports are sent to the OCA when a child receiving state services sustains a fatality, near fatality, serious bodily injury, or emotional injury.)
- At the same time, critical incident reports involving physical abuse more than doubled (from 11 in FY24 to 27 in FY25).
- The OCA received the highest number of supported reports of abuse or neglect in institutional settings on record (491), continuing a multi-year upward trend.
- Supported reports of physical abuse increased from FY24 to FY25 across multiple out-of-home settings, including congregate care (driven by an increase in reports from residential schools), foster care (driven by an increase in reports from kinship foster care placements), public schools, and child care settings.
To strengthen system accountability and improve outcomes for children, the OCA conducted 1,262 reviews of Department of Children and Families cases, identifying case practice concerns in 38% of these reviews. Additionally, the OCA provided case-specific feedback to state agencies more than 460 times, contributing to individualized improvements, increased coordination, and broader system learning.
“The OCA believes that sharing this data is critical to supporting informed policymaking,” said Director Mossaides. “By increasing transparency and elevating lessons learned from serious incidents, the OCA helps policymakers and agencies identify opportunities to strengthen safeguards, improve coordination across systems, and address gaps in services.”
Additional information regarding OCA activities can be found in the OCA’s FY25 Annual Report, released in February of this year.
Individuals with questions or concerns about a child receiving state services can contact the OCA Complaint Line at (617) 979-8360 or by emailing childadvocate@mass.gov.
To read the full Data Report, visit: https://www.mass.gov/doc/office-of-the-child-advocate-annual-data-report-fiscal-year-2025-0/download
###
About the Office of the Child Advocate
The Office of the Child Advocate is an independent executive branch state agency with oversight and ombudsperson responsibilities, established by the Massachusetts Legislature in 2008. The OCA’s mission is to ensure that children receive appropriate, timely and quality state services, with a particular focus on ensuring that the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable and at-risk children have the opportunity to thrive. Through collaboration with public and private stakeholders, the OCA identifies gaps in state services and recommends improvements in policy, practice, regulation, and/or law. The OCA also serves as a resource for families who are receiving, or are eligible to receive, services from the Commonwealth.
###
Media Contact
