June 1, 2012

The Honorable Robert A. DeLeo Speaker of the House of Representatives State House, Room 356 , MA 02133

The Honorable Brian Dempsey Chairman, House Committee on Ways and Means State House, Room 243 Boston, MA 02133

Dear Speaker DeLeo and Chairman Dempsey,

We represent organizations based in cities and towns across the Commonwealth that provide services and supports to tens of thousands of children and parents each day. We work with them in their homes, in residential programs, hospitals, outpatient clinics, schools, after-school programs and the courts. Our collective areas of expertise include juvenile justice, family law, mental health, substance abuse, child abuse and neglect and developmental disabilities. We have come together to urge the House of Representatives to pass S. 1963 – An Act Regarding Families and Children Engaged in Services – which is currently under consideration by the House Ways and Means Committee after being passed by a unanimous 39-0 vote by the full Senate.

This legislation would replace the existing Children in Need of Services (CHINS) system, which is widely regarded as broken and not meeting the needs of children and families in the Commonwealth, with a new Families and Children Engaged in Services (FACES) system.

The CHINS system was established in 1973 in order to provide assistance to children and families of children who are “habitually truant, run away from home or refuse to obey the lawful and reasonable commands of their parent(s) or guardian(s) and/or the rules of their school.” While CHINS has helped many children and families, there is a fundamental contradiction in the system that undercuts its effectiveness: it relies on the juvenile justice system to keep children and families from becoming involved in the juvenile justice system.

Our courts and probation officers already have enough to do dealing with youth who have transgressed the law. They have neither the time nor the resources to help children and families assess their underlying needs and access the kinds of services, such as mental health care (nationally 50 percent of children involved in juvenile justice have diagnosable mental health disorders), that will keep families together and keep children from getting into further trouble.

Furthermore, although we know that intervention is much more effective when it involves both the family and the child, CHINS often pits parents and caregivers against children in an adversarial process. Parents are thus often reluctant to engage this system because they’re looking to support their children, not confront them. They also fear they will lose custody of their children.

The FACES bill would replace CHINS with a new system that that will provide preventive services that have been demonstrated to be successful in keeping children in their homes and schools and without requiring overburdened courts, police and probation to solve family issues. FACES would create a statewide system of community-based programs that will provide direct access to mental health or substance abuse counseling and effective and timely services aimed at addressing both the child’s behavioral issues and problems in the family -the root causes of delinquent behavior.

Families will still be able to utilize the juvenile justice system when it is most appropriate for their child. The FACES legislation will streamline the juvenile court procedures when parents need to go this route.

FACES would be gradually implemented over four years through a reallocation of resources. It would actually save the state money by facilitating early and more effective intervention and by keeping kids out of the correctional system.

We can do better for the 8,000 families with children who are not attending school, not responding to parental guidance, and may be struggling with mental health, domestic violence, bullying or other issues who each year are routed through the ineffective CHINS system. Every month we delay, hundreds of children are subject to a broken system.

In the nearly 40 years since CHINS was adopted, we have learned a great deal about how best to help troubled children and families; we need a new system that reflects that deeper understanding. Given the strong consensus behind the FACES bill, we respectfully urge the House of Representatives to pass this legislation.

If you have questions please feel free to contact Nancy Allen Scannell at 617-587-1510 or [email protected].

We greatly appreciate your consideration – as will thousands of Massachusetts families and children.

Sincerely,

Adoption & Foster Care Mentoring, Colby Swettberg, Ed.M, LCSW, Executive Director Association for Behavioral Healthcare, Vicker V. DiGravio III, President/CEO Arbor Associates, Inc., Joyce Yee, Managing Director Bay State Community Services, Kenneth Tarabelli, LCISW, President & CEO Berkshire Children and Families, Carolyn Mower Burns, President & CEO Boston Children’s Hospital, David R. DeMaso, MD Chief, Department of Psychiatry Brandon Residential Treatment Center, Inc., Dr. Timothy M. Callahan, Executive Director Cambridge Family and Children's Services, Maria Zoe Mossaides, Executive Director Casey Family Services, Meme Wheeler, Massachusetts Division Director Catholic Charities,Deborah Kincade Rambo, LICSW, President Child and Family Services, Inc., Anne Sampaio, LCISW, Executive Director Children's Friend and Family Services, Carla Saccone, President & CEO Children's Friend, Inc., Karen Ludington, President & CEO Children's Services of Roxbury, Pamela A. Ogletree, President & CEO Children's Study Home, Eliza Crescentini, Executive Director Children’s League of Massachusetts, Barbara J. Talkov, Executive Director Children’s Mental Health Campaign, Marion Freedman-Gurspan, Coordinator Citizens for Juvenile Justice, Lael Chester, Executive Director Community Caring, Gerry Wright, President Community Counseling of Bristol County, Philip Shea, President & CEO Community Resources for Justice, John J. Larivee, CEO COMPASS, John Lydon, Executive Director Dare Family Services, Greg McDermott, President & CEO Delta Projects, Inc., Diane Iagulli, President Devereux, Stephen Yerdon, LICSW, Executive Director Doc Wayne Athletic League, David S. Cohen, Executive Director Eliot Community Human Services, Kate Markarian, President & CEO EPOCA, (Ex-prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement), Delia Vega, Executive Director Family Continuity, Earl "Skip" Stuck, CEO Family Service of Greater Boston, Randal Rucker, CEO Gandara Mental Health Center, Inc., Henry Julio East-Trou, Executive Director Health Care for All, Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, Executive Director The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, Inc., Janice B. Yost, Ed.D., President Jewish Family Service, Stephen Slaten, Ph.D., Executive Director Justice Resource Institute, Andrew Pond, LICSW, President The Home for Little Wanderers, Joan Wallace-Benjamin, Ph. D., President & CEO The KEY Program, Inc., William Lyttle, President Latham Centers, Inc., Anne McManus, Executive Director Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE), Lisa K. Funaro, Executive Director Massachusetts Association of Behavioral Health Systems, David Matteodo, Executive Director Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Georgia Katsoulomitis, Executive Director Massachusetts Mentor, Patricia Donovan, State Director Massachusetts Alliance for Families, Cheryl Haddad, President Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, Bernard Carey Jr., President Massachusetts Psychological Association, Elena J. Eisman, EdD, ABPP, Executive Director Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, Alex N. Sabo, M.D. Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC), Marylou Sudders, MSW, ACSW, President & CEO MA Association for School-Based Health Care, Nancy W. Carpenter, Executive Director Mothers for Justice and Equality, Monalisa Smith, President National Alliance on Mental Illness- Mass, Laurie Martinelli, Executive Director National Association of Social Workers, MA Chapter, Carol Trust, Executive Director Nurses United for Responsible Services, Sharon Reynolds, PMHCNS, BC Parent Professional Advocacy League, Lisa Lambert, Executive Director Parents Helping Parents, Randall Block, Executive Director The Plummer Home for Boys, James Lister, Executive Director Providers’ Council, Michael Weekes, President & CEO Riverside Community Care/ The Guidance Center, Scott M. Bock, M.Ed., President & CEO Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps, Edward P. Kelley, President & CEO Rosie's Place, Sana Fadel, Director of Public Policy Roxbury Youthworks Inc., Mia Alvarado Executive Director South Bay Mental Health Center, Peter, Scanlon, Ph.D., CEO St. Ann's Home, Inc., Denis Grandbois, President & CEO St. Vincent's Home, Jack Weldon, Executive Director Stevens Treatment Programs, Thomas A. Drooger, MSW, Executive Director Walden School of the Learning Center for Deaf Children, Karen Bishop, Director Wayside Youth and Family Support Network, Eric L. Masi, Ed. D., President & CEO YOU, Inc., Maurice Boisvert, MA, LICSW, President & CEO Youth Villages, Inc., Matthew Stone, Executive Director of Massachusetts & New Hampshire

CC: Majority Leader Speaker Pro Tempore Assistant Majority Leader Second Assistant Majority Leader Kathi-Anne Reinstein Division Chair Division Chair Michael Moran Division Chair Paul J. Donato Division Chair Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr Assistant Minority Leader George N. Peterson, Jr. Second Assistant Minority Leader Third Assistand Minority Leader Elizabeth A. Poirier