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Termination of parental rights cases in the probate and family court : recommendations for improvements to the system : a report PDF

70 Pages·1995·1.9 MB·English
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IMS'? 3\^.3l\~T 57 . UMASS/AMHERST \ 1 1 1 1 government 3i20fc.bDib5«^ibs documents COLLECTION AUG 0 3 1998 University of Massachusetts Depository Copy Termination of Parental Rights Cases in the Probate and Family Court: Recommendations for Improvements to the System A Report by the Probate and Family Court Department Honorable Mary C. Fitzpatrick ChiefJustice March 1995 1, I Termination of Parental Rights Cases in the Probate and Family Court: Recommendations for Improvements to the System A Report by the Probate and Family Court March 1995 1, THE STATUTORY MANDATE 1 INTRODUCTION 1 THE METHODOLOGY UTILIZED 3 IDENTIFICATION OF ISSUES AND ANALYSIS OF DATA 5 Tremendous Increases in Volume 5 Chart 1 6 Chart 2 6 Chart 3 6 Chart 4 6 Lack ofResources 7 Lengthy DSS Involvement before Court Filing 8 Systemic Time Delays 8 Chart 5 10 Chart 6 10 Chart 7 11 . Chart 7 11 Lack ofAccountability and Case Management 11 Uniform Practices ofthe Probate Courts Xa 12 CONCLUSIONS 12 THE FEASIBILITY OF PROPOSED SOLUTIONS 13 Establish pilot 210 sessions 13 Create a 210 Case Manager Position 14 Additional Judicial Resources 15 Investigate feasibility ofCourt Stenographer Contract 15 Adopt Proposed Rules ofChild Welfare Procedure 16 Examine the feasibility ofan intermediate appellate review board 16 Bifurcate the services offered by the Department ofSocial Services 17 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS BY THE PROBATE AND FAMILY COURT 19 Digitized by the Internet Archive 2014 in https://archive.org/details/terininationofparOOinass I THE STATUTORY MANDATE An outside section ofthe Massachusetts Appropriations for 1995 "Budget Bill" (st. 1994, ch. 60, sec. 215) requires "[t]he chief justice ofthe probate and family court, in consultation with the department ofsocial services, [to] conduct a study to examine the causes ofthe backlog ofcases seeking termination of parental rights in the probate courts. Said study shall also propose and examine the feasibility ofsolutions to address the backlog. Proposed solutions shall redeploy existing resources whenever possible. Proposed solutions shall include, but not be limited to, a special session ofthe probate court and a temporary recall ofjudges." This provision became effective in July 1994. Data gathering efforts began in September 1994 and continued through February 1995. Meetings with representatives from the Department ofSocial Services, including Commissioner Linda K. Carlisle and Alec Gray, General Counsel, among others, were held on November 14, 1994; December 4, 1994; and February 9, 1995. INTRODUCTION The statutory equivalent ofa termination ofparental rights case in Massachusetts is a petition to dispense with parental consent to adoption pursuant to M.G.L. c. 210 § 3 (hereinafter "210".) These are the cases where ajudge must make the Solomon-like1 decision. First thejudge must find that the parent is unfit to parent the child who is the subject ofthe petition and second, that the placement plan submitted by the Department ofSocial Services (hereinafter "the Department" or "DSS") is in the best interest ofthe child. Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645 (1972) 1 Usually a 210 petition is filed with the Probate and Family Court after the child has come into the Department's custody through a care and protection action brought by the Department in the District or Juvenile Court. An investigation conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital and the Boston Juvenile Court followed 206 children through the court process.2 This study reported that the mean length oftime from the Department's introduction to the child (first report of mistreatment) to the initial filing ofa court action is 2.7 years. The child then spends an average of 1.4 years awaiting a determination that he or she is in need ofcare and protection in the Juvenile Court. Until legislation was passed last year3, the child would have experienced an additional 1.6 years in the Department's care while a separate 210 case was litigated in the Probate and Family Court for a decree dispensing with the consent ofthe parent(s) to a subsequent adoption. Thus, a child who is mistreated by a parent/caregiver at the age ofsix months could, ifthe parent is unable to comply with court orders and the Department's service plans, spend the next 5.7 years in the Department's care and custody. This child, on average, would not be secure in a final placement until he or she is six years old.4 A civil case which takes five or six years to proceed "Serious Child Mistreatment in Massachusetts: The Course of206 Children Through the Courts" Michael S. Jellinek, et al, 16 Int'l J. Child Abuse and Neglect 179 (1992). Hereinafter "Jellinek Report." The enactment ofst. 1993, ch. 303 allows a Juvenile or District Court (juvenile session) to grant a petition to dispense with consent to adoption at the dispositional phase ofthe care and protection case. This alleviates the need for a subsequent filing in the Probate and Family Court. The study followed thejuvenile court cases through the entry ofa decree on the 210 petition. Thus, any appeal taken ofthe 210 case was not included in the time factors reported. 2 * I through the court system usually causes no harm to the parties or to a third party. However, a five or six year span to secure a permanent placement for a young child is detrimental to the child's physical and emotional development. The Probate and Family Court is committed to upholding a parent's constitutionally protected right to rear his or her child. Moreover, the Court must also guard the best interest ofthe child. Focusing on these oftentimes competing interests, the Court is frequently frustrated by the diminution ofresources and personnel available to assist in expediting the decision-making process. This opportunity to describe the barriers that impede the process and an occasion for introspective identification ofareas for improvement to the child welfare system is welcomed. This report also proposes alternative strategies to handling cases at DSS and managing cases within the courts which would ameliorate delay. The accompanying narrative includes a discussion ofthe methodology employed by this office in conducting this study. Pursuant to the statutory mandate, the analysis section discusses the problem areas identified by the data. The final section proposes recommendations for improvements to the system to alleviate the backlogs in 210 cases. Also contained in this report are seven (7) charts to which the reader is referred within the narrative. These charts are contained in the appendix section. THE METHODOLOGY UTILIZED To begin a study ofthe backlog in 210 cases, the Probate and Family Court, in consultation with the Commissioner and General Counsel ofthe Department ofSocial Services, identified the initial questions requiring 3

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