NCJ Number
86653
Date Published
Unknown
Length
12 pages
Annotation
In 1977-78, there will be over 6,450 children identified as Children in Need of Services (CHINS) by Massachusetts juvenile and district courts.
Abstract
The Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare is expected to deliver services to about 45 percent of these children statewide. The report describes characteristics of the CHINS population, the court process, services, and costs. Legal aspects of the CHINS program are examined to determine how legislation specifically guides the process of delivering services to the CHINS population. The report recommends that the State Department of Mental Health be statutorily mandated to provide on a regional basis throughout the State adequate diagnostic, short-term and longer term treatment services to adolescent children, including provisions for residential and outpatient treatment. In addition, emergency intake shelters for runaways should be provided on a regional basis by the Department of Public Welfare. As many CHINS children as possible should be diverted from the formal court process and be kept within the family unit. The formal court process should be used only when all voluntary efforts have failed or when the court's authority is needed to secure proper services. No references or data tables are given.