Chapter 18A

Section 1. There shall be a department of youth services, in this chapter called the department, which shall be under the supervision and control of a commissioner of youth services, in this chapter called the commissioner. The secretary of health and human services shall appoint…

Section 10. (a) All current or prospective department employees, interns, volunteers or subcontractors providing residential or support services with the potential for unsupervised contact with youths committed to the care or custody of the department shall be subject to a backgr…

Section 2. The department shall provide a comprehensive and coordinated program of delinquency prevention and services to delinquent children and youth referred or committed to the department by the courts; community services for the prevention of juvenile delinquency through its…

Section 3. The commissioner shall appoint, with the approval of the secretary of health and human services, a deputy commissioner who shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one and to whom the provisions of section nine A of chapter thirty shall not apply, but w…

Section 4. There shall be in the department the following bureaus: the bureau of clinical services; the bureau of after-care, delinquency prevention and community services; the bureau of educational services; and the bureau of institutional services. Each bureau shall be under th…

Section 5. The bureau of clinical services shall review, upon commitment or referral, the social histories and diagnostic data concerning all persons referred or committed to the department, shall conduct such further study and evaluation as may be required for clinical classific…

Section 6. The bureau of after-care, delinquency prevention and community services shall be responsible for the noninstitutional programs of the department, including but not limited to foster home care, group home care, after-care services to children in their own homes, after-c…

Section 7. The bureau of educational services shall establish and maintain programs and curricula for the educational service functions of each institution of the department and for coordinating educational services for individual youths at each stage of departmental jurisdiction…

Section 8. The bureau of institutional services shall operate the Residential Treatment Unit, Oakdale, the Lyman School for Boys at Westborough, the Industrial School for Boys at Shirley, the Institute for Juvenile Guidance at South Bridgewater, the Industrial School for Girls at…

Section 9. There shall be in the department an advisory committee consisting of the commissioner of youth services, the commissioner of welfare, the commissioner of the department of early education and care, the commissioner of mental health, the commissioner of education, the c…