reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 119 § 26c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 26c - Summary of Foster Care Providers' Employment

Section 26C. The department shall provide all children's foster care agencies acting as agents of the department and that employ foster care providers, a summary of the record of any such foster care provider's employment as a foster care provider as compiled by the department. Said summary shall include names and contacts of all other agencies that employed such person as a foster care provider, the tenure of each such employment as a foster care provider, the reasons for ending each such employment, and any other information the department deems relevant and necessary to determine the employee's fitness to continue to be employed as a foster care provider. The department shall require any foster care agency that employs foster care providers and with which it contracts to supply the information included in such summary to the department and maintain this information in a database. The department shall consult the department of early education and care if necessary to facilitate the collection of this information.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 27 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 27 - Appeals; Procedure; Notice of Right of Appeal; Time Limits

Section 27. A child, parent, guardian or person appearing in behalf of such child, or the department, may appeal from the adjudication of the court and from any order of commitment made as a result of the adjudication under the provisions of section twenty-six to the appeals court. The trial justice entering the adjudication or order of commitment shall, prior to said adjudication, or within ten days thereafter, file detailed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Pending the appeal, the child may be committed to the custody of the department or placed in the care of some suitable person or licensed children's foster care agency. The district court or juvenile court where the order of adjudication was entered shall retain jurisdiction to and may enter any order for the needs of the child. The court shall notify the child, parent, guardian or person appearing in behalf of such child of the right of appeal at the time of adjudication and also at the time of commitment.  The claim of appeal under this section shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the said division of the district court department or the division of the juvenile court department within 30 days of the entry of the adjudication or order of commitment by the court. The completion of said appeal shall be governed by the Massachusetts rules of appellate procedure.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 28 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 28 - Orders for Payment of Support; Who May Bring Action; Expiration of Order or Judgment

Section 28. (a) During the pendency of an action brought pursuant to section 24, temporary orders providing for the support of a child may be entered. The court may thereafter enter a judgment against the party chargeable with support. Any order of support entered under this section shall conform to and be enforced under section 12 of chapter 119A.  (b) Actions under this section to establish support of a child may be commenced by a parent, whether a minor or not; by the child; by the child's guardian, next of kin or other person standing in a parental relationship to the child; by the authorized agent of the department of children and families or any agency licensed under chapter 15D if the child is in its custody or is or was a recipient of any type of public assistance by the IV–D agency as set forth in chapter 119A on behalf of the department of transitional assistance, the department of children and families, the division of medical assistance, or any other public assistance program of the commonwealth. In the event that someone other than the IV–D agency commences the action, if the parent or child is or was a recipient of any type of public assistance, the court shall notify the IV–D agency of the pendency of the action and the IV–D agency shall be permitted to intervene in the action.  (c) An order, or judgment of support under this section, may be entered notwithstanding the default of the person chargeable with support or his failure to appear personally.  (d) In determining the amount of current support to be paid, the court shall apply the child support guidelines established by the chief justice of the trial court, or, in the absence of such standards, shall consider the factors set forth in section 32 of chapter 209.  (e) The person chargeable with support shall comply with this order, or judgment until it is dismissed or expires. When an action brought under section 24 is dismissed or a final order of commitment is entered, the order or judgment of support shall expire 6 months after the judgment of dismissal or final order of commitment. At the time of the dismissal or final order of commitment, the court shall notify the parties and the IV–D agency, as set forth in chapter 119A, of the expiration date of the support order or judgment.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 29a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 29a - Legal Fees of Minors in Criminal Proceedings; Liability of Parents

Section 29A. The parents of an unemancipated minor shall be liable for such reasonable legal fees and expenses of an attorney representing the minor in criminal proceedings. Except where the parent is the alleged victim, the court shall determine whether the parent or guardian of an unemancipated minor is indigent. If the parent or guardian is not determined to be indigent, the court shall assess a $300 fee against the parent or guardian to pay for the cost of any attorney that is supplied by the committee for public counsel services or assigned to represent the minor by the court and paid out of public funds in the criminal proceedings. If the parent is determined to be indigent but is still able to contribute toward the payment of some of the costs, the court shall order the parent to pay a reasonable amount toward the cost of appointed counsel. This section shall not apply to a parent who, as a result of a decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, does not have custody of the minor.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 29d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 29d - Notice of Hearing

Section 29D. The department shall provide notice of hearings held under sections 26, 29B and 39G to a foster parent, pre-adoptive parent or relative providing care for the child who is the subject of the petition and shall inform the foster parent, pre-adoptive parent or relative of his right to attend the hearing and to be heard. Nothing in this provision shall be construed to provide that such foster parent, pre-adoptive parent or relative shall be made a party to the proceeding.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 32 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 32 - Placement of Children in Private Families; Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment Standards; Individualized Health Care Plan

Section 32. Children in the care or custody of the department shall be placed in private families; provided, that any child who upon examination is found to be in need of special care, treatment or education may, if it is found by the department to be in the best interest of the child, be placed in a public or private institution or school, the primary purpose of which is the special care, treatment or education of children. The reasons for the placement of any such child shall be entered in the records of the department.  The department shall insure that every foster child upon entry into the foster care system shall be screened and evaluated under the early and periodic screening, diagnostic and treatment standards established by Title XIX of the Social Security Act, unless the child has been screened and evaluated within 30 days prior to his entry into the system.  A medically needy child who is in foster care, whether specialized or other type of care as provided by the department or its agents, may not be placed in another foster home or other placement without an individualized health care plan that is unique to the child's health care needs; provided, however, that in an emergency due to abuse or neglect, the child may be removed without a plan. The plan shall include, but not be limited to: a description of the specific health care needs of the child and specific treatment and services necessary to meet those needs; identification of health care agencies or personnel or other professionals who may conduct transitional training on the child's health care needs for the subsequent foster parents or other placement or the family to whom the child will return. The department shall also provide to the subsequent foster parents or other placement or to the family to whom the child will return information on health care resources available and health care and other personnel whose services are required by the child.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 33 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 33 - Placement of Children in Family Home Care

Section 33. In placing a child in family home care, the department, or any private charitable or child-care agency, shall consider all factors relevant to the child's physical, mental and moral health.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 33c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 33c - Congregate Care Program; Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard

Section 33C. (a) A congregate care program under contract to provide foster care to children in the care or custody of the department shall ensure that not less than 1 individual be present on-site who, with respect to any child placed at the congregate care program, is designated to be the caregiver authorized to apply the reasonable and prudent parent standard to decisions involving the participation of the child in age or developmentally-appropriate activities, including but not limited to, extracurricular, enrichment, cultural and other social activities, and who has been trained on how to use and apply the reasonable and prudent parent standard.  (b) A congregate care employee authorized and trained to apply the reasonable and prudent parent standard, and their employer, shall be immune with respect to tort claims against the employee related to the employee's decision to allow a foster child to participate in age or developmentally-appropriate activities if the employee acted in accordance with the reasonable and prudent parent standard. Immunity under this subsection shall not apply if the harm claimed was caused by an act or omission constituting: (i) gross negligence; (ii) recklessness; or (iii) conduct with an intent to harm or to discriminate based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 34 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 34 - Transportation of Children in Patrol Wagons

Section 34. A child involved in any proceeding shall not be transported in a patrol wagon from his home or from any other place to any court or institution, but if a conveyance is necessary shall convey him in such other suitable vehicle as shall be provided or designated by the department. Violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more than three months.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 35 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 35 - Furnishing Parent or Guardian Information as to Child; Permission to Visit; Notice; Parents Convicted of First Degree Murder

Section 35. If the parent or guardian of a child placed in charge of any person, association or public or private institution by any state department, town board, or by any public or private corporation or body of persons authorized by law to so place children, or if one of the next of kin of an orphan so placed in charge and without guardian, is not, upon request, informed by such department, board, corporation or body of persons where the child is, the probate court for the county where such child has his legal residence may, upon petition of such parent, guardian or next of kin, and upon notice, if in its opinion the welfare of the child and the public interest will not be injured thereby, require such department, board, corporation or body of persons to give the information and permit the parent, guardian or next of kin to visit the child at such times and under such conditions as the court orders; and the court may revise its order or make new orders or decrees as the welfare of the child and the public interest may require. No court shall make an order providing visitation rights to a parent who has been convicted of murder in the first degree of the other parent of the child who is the subject of the order, unless such child is of suitable age to signify his assent and assents to such order; provided, further, that until such order is issued, no person shall visit, with the child present, a parent who has been convicted of murder in the first degree of the other parent of the child without the consent of the child's custodian or legal guardian.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 36 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 36 - Bringing Child Into Commonwealth With View to Adoption, Guardianship, Custody or Care; Permit; Application; Bond

Section 36. No person or institution shall bring or cause to be brought into the commonwealth, or receive therein, from any other state, province or country, any child for the purpose of placing or boarding, or of procuring the placing or boarding of such child, in a family or home within the commonwealth, with a view to adoption, guardianship, custody or care by any person other than one related to him by blood or marriage, without first obtaining a permit therefor from the department. Such a permit shall not issue until a written application therefor has been filed with the department on forms by it prepared, containing such information relative to such child as the department may require, accompanied by an individual or blanket bond running to the commonwealth in such penal sum and with such surety or sureties as the department may approve, conditioned on the following:—(1) that all statements contained in such an application are true in substantial particulars; (2) that any such child becoming a public charge during his minority shall be removed from the state not later than thirty days after notice from the department; (3) that such child shall be removed from the state immediately upon his release from any penal or reformatory institution or training school to which he has been committed, within three years of his arrival within the state, for juvenile delinquency or crime; (4) that such child shall be placed or boarded under such agreement as will secure to him a proper home and surroundings, and as will render his custodian responsible for his proper care, education and training, under adequate supervision and subject to annual visitation by an agent; and (5) that such reports relative to the child shall be made to the department as it may require. In case of a breach of any condition of such a bond, the attorney general, upon request of the department, shall put the bond in suit, and the commonwealth or any city or town thereof shall be reimbursed from the proceeds for any expense incurred by reason of a breach of any such condition. Violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 37 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 37 - Rules and Regulations of Department

Section 37. The department shall make rules and regulations concerning the administration of its duties.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 38 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 38 - Closed Hearings; Publication of Names

Section 38. All hearings under sections 1 to 38A, inclusive, except those related to court orders to not resuscitate or to withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment for children in the custody of the department under a care and protection order, shall be closed to the general public. It shall be unlawful to publish the names of persons before the court in any closed hearing.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 38a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 38a - Petitions for Order to Not Resuscitate or to Withdraw Life-Sustaining Medical Treatment; Required Recommendations; Appeals

Section 38A. In any proceedings related to court orders to not resuscitate or to withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment, the department or the party petitioning for the order shall require: (i) a written opinion from the child's treating physician, (ii) a written recommendation from the ethics committee of the hospital at which the child is a patient, and (iii) a written second opinion from a physician who is certified in the same medical specialty as the child's treating physician and who is not affiliated with the hospital at which the child is a patient. The department or the party petitioning for the order shall submit these documents to the court. The commissioner shall determine and make the department's recommendation to the court. The court shall also seek a recommendation from the child's parent or guardian. The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem to make a recommendation to the court on behalf of the child. Any appeal made under this section shall be an interlocutory appeal.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 39 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 39 - Abandonment of Infant Under Age of Ten

Section 39. Whoever abandons an infant under the age of ten within or without any building, or, being its parent, or being under a legal duty to care for it, and having made a contract for its board or maintenance, absconds or fails to perform such contract, and for four weeks after such absconding or breach of his contract, if of sufficient physical and mental ability, neglects to visit or remove such infant or notify the department of his inability to support such infant, shall be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than two years; or, if the infant dies by reason of such abandonment, by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than two and one half years or in the state prison for not more than five years.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 39d (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 39d - Visitation Rights to Certain Grandparents of Unmarried Minor Children; Place to File Petition

Section 39D. If the parents of an unmarried minor child are divorced, married but living apart, under a temporary order or judgment of separate support, or if either or both parents are deceased, or if said unmarried minor child was born out of wedlock whose paternity has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction or whose father has signed an acknowledgement of paternity, and the parents do not reside together, the grandparents of such minor child may be granted reasonable visitation rights to the minor child during his minority by the probate and family court department of the trial court upon a written finding that such visitation rights would be in the best interest of the said minor child; provided, however, that such adjudication of paternity or acknowledgment of paternity shall not be required in order to proceed under this section where maternal grandparents are seeking such visitation rights. No such visitation rights shall be granted if said minor child has been adopted by a person other than a stepparent of such child and any visitation rights granted pursuant to this section prior to such adoption of the said minor child shall be terminated upon such adoption without any further action of the court.  A petition for grandparents visitation authorized under this section shall, where applicable, be filed in the county within the commonwealth in which the divorce or separate support complaint or the complaint to establish paternity was filed. If the divorce, separate support or paternity judgment was entered without the commonwealth but the child presently resides within the commonwealth, said petition may be filed in the county where the child resides.
MA Gen L ch 119 § 39f (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 119 - Protection and Care of Children, and Proceedings Against Them|Section 39f - Children in Need of Services; Right to Counsel; Determination of Indigency; Assessment of Costs

Section 39F. When an application for assistance stating the a child and family are in need of assistance is initiated the child shall be informed that he has a right to counsel at all hearings, and if said child is not able to retain counsel, the court shall appoint counsel for said child. The clerk shall cause a copy of the application for assistance and notice of the time and place of the any scheduled hearing or proceeding to be delivered to counsel at the time of appointment. When the application for assistance is filed, each parent, legal guardian or custodian of the child shall be informed of the right to be heard in any proceeding under sections 39E to 39I, inclusive, involving the child and that a parent or legal guardian has the right to counsel at any hearing or proceeding regarding custody of such child. If said parent or legal guardian is indigent, the court shall appoint counsel for said parent or legal guardian. The court shall determine whether the parent or guardian of a child stated to require assistance is indigent. If the court determines that the parent or guardian is not indigent, the court shall assess a $300 fee against the parent or guardian to pay for the cost of appointed counsel. If the parent is determined to be indigent but is still able to contribute toward the payment of some of said costs, the court shall order the parent to pay a reasonable amount toward the cost of appointed counsel.