Massachusetts Statutes

Section 36. (a) The department, in consultation with the bureau of program integrity, established pursuant to section 16V of chapter 6A, shall develop a fraud detection program. The fraud detection program shall analyze the risk of fraud and refer any cases of suspected fraud to …

Section 37. The department shall allow applicants or recipients, who are employed, a monthly $200 work-related expense deduction from gross wages in determining eligibility and the amount of the cash assistance grant. The department shall promulgate regulations in accordance with…

Section 38. The department shall not approve an application for new benefits for any person required to register pursuant to sections 178C to 178P, inclusive, of chapter 6 and who has failed to register until the individual registers as required by said sections 178C to 178P, inc…

Section 39. The department shall develop protocols for coordinating information with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and the administrative office of the trial court regarding recipients of publicly-funded benefits who are the subject of felony warrants. The pro…

Section 4. The commissioner shall appoint a deputy commissioner and such assistant commissioners, not to exceed four in number, as the commissioner may determine to be necessary or desirable to carry out the work of the department. The deputy and assistant commissioners shall be …

Section 5. The commissioner shall establish such divisions, bureaus, sections or other offices within the department as he shall from time to time determine to be necessary or proper for the efficient and economical administration of the comprehensive transitional assistance prog…

Section 5B. Any person or institution which knowingly makes a false representation or, contrary to a legal duty to do so, knowingly fails to disclose any material fact affecting eligibility or level of benefits to the department of public welfare or its agents, for the purpose of…

Section 5C. Any vendor under any assistance program administered by the department shall submit to the department, within six months of the last day of the month in which such service was rendered, a bill for the same; except that, in cases in which services have been rendered in…

Section 5D. Any vendor procuring a payment under any assistance program administered by the department who violates any of the provisions of section five B or of sections twenty-one A to twenty-one G, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and eighteen E shall be ineligible to partici…

Section 5E. Any recipient or vendor who receives payment under any assistance program administered by the department, to which he is not entitled, shall return such payment to the commonwealth by paying the same to the state treasurer as soon as demand is made upon him.

Section 5F. A father who leaves his family for the purpose of qualifying them for assistance under any of the programs administered by the department shall be punished by a fine of not less than two hundred nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than t…

Section 5G. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise: ''Claimant'', a person who suffers a loss from property damage, accident, illness, injury or otherwise for which monies may be provided by…

Section 5H. Notwithstanding any other provision of general or special law, rule or regulation, the department shall be subrogated to the right of any recipient of medical assistance provided pursuant to chapter one hundred and eighteen E to proceed against any health care insurer…

Section 5I. (a) As used in sections 5I and 5J the following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— ''Access device'', a card, code or other means of access that can be used, alone or in conjunction with another access device, to …

Section 5J. (a) The department shall maintain policies and practices as necessary to prevent direct cash assistance from being used in electronic benefit transfer transactions at: liquor stores; casinos, gambling casinos or gaming establishments licensed pursuant to chapter 23K; …

Section 5K. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, whoever embezzles, steals or obtains by fraud any funds, assets or property provided by the department of transitional assistance and whoever receives, conceals or retains such funds, assets or property for h…

Section 5L. (a) As used this section and section 5M, "food stamp benefits'' shall mean benefits issued pursuant to the federal Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, 7 U.S.C. §&sec 2011 to 2029, inclusive, as amended, including such benefits contained on an electronic benefit transfer c…

Section 5M. (a) As used in this section, ''organization'' shall mean a corporation for profit or not-for-profit, partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, unincorporated association, estate, trust or other commercial or legal entity; provided, however, that ''organization'…

Section 5N. The department shall develop and make available on its website for download a sign specifying the department's fraud hotline. Business associations may also maintain a downloadable form of the sign on the business associations' websites. Such sign shall be posted in a…

Section 7. There shall be established for each community service area a community service area board, the members of which shall be appointed for three-year terms by the commissioner, two of whom shall be recipients of assistance under chapter one hundred and eighteen, two of who…

Section 8. The provisions of section nine A of chapter thirty and the provisions of chapter thirty-one shall not apply to the office of commissioner, deputy commissioner or assistant commissioner. If an employee of the commonwealth or of a political subdivision, as defined in sec…

Section 9. The commissioner shall appoint and may remove all employees in the department. All such appointments and removals shall be made in accordance with chapter thirty-one except as provided in section seven of chapter thirty and except for superintendents and assistant supe…

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…

Section 1. There shall be a department of children and families, in this chapter called the department.

Section 10. The commissioner may appoint a member of the Massachusetts bar a legal counsel who shall be placed in grade 30 of the classification and pay scale of the commonwealth. Said legal counsel shall devote full time to the duties of the office. The commissioner may also, su…

Section 11. The commissioner may, subject to appropriation, establish regional offices at such locations in the commonwealth as may be deemed necessary to ensure the development and maintenance of effective administration in the provision of social services therein. The commissio…

Section 12. The commissioner, with the advice of the area board, shall appoint an area director in each area, and, subject to appropriation, such other employees as the commissioner may deem necessary. Each area director shall be qualified by training and experience to perform th…

Section 13. In each area established under section 3, there shall be a children and families area board, in this chapter called the area board, which shall be an agency of the commonwealth and shall serve in the department. The area board shall consist of 23 members, who shall be…

Section 14. To facilitate the appointment of the members of the area board, the commissioner shall appoint in each area a selection committee of seven members, who shall be residents of or workers in the area, and who shall be interested in and knowledgeable about social services…

Section 15. The area board shall have the following duties and powers: (a) to act as the representative of the citizens of the area; (b) to advise regarding local needs and resources in the development of comprehensive social services for children and families; (c) to advise in t…

Section 16. There shall be a statewide advisory council which shall consist of one member from each area board, elected by the members thereof, to serve for a term of one year. Said council shall advise the commissioner in matters of statewide interest relating to the delivery of…

Section 17. The department may establish centers for children and families in any facility owned or rented by the commonwealth other than state schools, hospitals or prisons, in any area if space is available or suitable for the purpose and shall, if feasible, locate these center…

Section 18. The commissioner may receive funds in trust for the use of children born out of wedlock or other persons under the care or supervision of the department. The commissioner shall deposit such funds in savings banks in the commonwealth or in savings accounts in trust com…

Section 19. Annually on or before November thirtieth, the commissioner shall pay to the state treasurer all unclaimed money held by the department for the benefit of any former ward of the department whose whereabouts is then unknown and has been unknown for seven years subsequen…

Section 2. The department shall provide and administer a comprehensive child welfare program for children and families, including the following services:— (1) casework or counseling, including services to families, foster families or individuals; (2) protective services for child…

Section 20. Notwithstanding section 22 of chapter 29 or any other law, funds made available by appropriation or otherwise for enabling the department to carry out the provisions of this chapter may be advanced to the department in such sums and subject to such rules and regulatio…

Section 21. The department shall establish an adoption subsidy program for the purpose of facilitating the adoption of children with special needs who are in substitute care and who would not otherwise be placed in an appropriate adoptive home or be adopted. The department acting…