Section 215 Interagency child welfare task force; membership; goals - Massachusetts Statutes

[First paragraph effective until June 30, 2009. For text effective June 30, 2009, see below.]

Section 215. There shall be an interagency child welfare task force. The secretary of health and human services shall serve as its chair. The member agencies shall include the department of children and families, the department of youth services, the department of transitional assistance, the department of mental health, the department of mental retardation, the department of public health, the department of elementary and secondary education and the department of early education and care.

[First paragraph as amended by 2008, 451, Sec. 11 effective June 30, 2009. See 2008, 451, Sec. 187. For text effective until June 30, 2009, see above.]

There shall be an interagency child welfare task force. The secretary of health and human services shall serve as its chair. The member agencies shall include the department of children and families, the department of youth services, the department of transitional assistance, the department of mental health, the department of developmental services, the department of public health, the department of elementary and secondary education and the department of early education and care.

The task force shall establish interagency goals each year to coordinate and streamline services to children and families and shall examine, among other issues: interagency collaboration to increase medical and mental health consultation; the availability of health and behavioral health services to children and families; collaboration with law enforcement as it relates to children and families involved with the criminal justice system; the availability of supportive child care for children in the care of the department of children and families; domestic violence awareness programs; children awaiting discharge from psychiatric inpatient units; and interagency training initiatives for staff, communities and providers.