Tatiana Rodriguez v. Department of Children and Families (SPR 20253406)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 1, 2025 SPR25/3406 Steven S. Treat, Esq. Assistant General Counsel Department of Children and Families 1 Ashburton Place, Third Floor Boston, MA 02108 Dear Attorney Treat: I have received the petition of Tatiana A. Rodriguez, of Family Matters 1st, Inc., appealing the response of the Department of Children and Families (Department/DCF) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On July 1, 2025, Ms. Rodriguez made the following request: Please supply copies of public records containing the following information from January 1, 2019 to the present, broken down by calendar year, fiscal year, or any other annual format in which such data is maintained (referred to hereafter as “year”) unless otherwise specified: [1] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of children who were the subject of reports of child abuse or neglect pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51A (“51A Reports”), including all such documents reflecting a breakdown of such number by year, allegation type (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment, substance abuse, excessive corporal punishment, educational neglect), and/or Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (“DCF”) Area Office. a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of children who were the subject of 51A Reports broken down by the race or ethnicity of the children who were the subject of 51A Reports. [2] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of 51A Reports, including all such documents reflecting a breakdown of such number by year, allegation type, and/or DCF Area Office. One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832 • Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Steven S. Treat, Esq. SPR25/3406 Page 2 December 1, 2025 [3] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of 51A Reports that DCF identified as emergencies, including all such documents reflecting a breakdown of such number by year, allegation type, and/or DCF Area Office. a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of 51A Reports that DCF identified as emergencies broken down by the race or ethnicity of the children who were the subject of those 51A Reports. [4] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of 51A reports of child abuse or neglect that DCF identified as non-emergencies, including all such documents reflecting a breakdown of such number by year, allegation type, and/or DCF Area Office. a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of 51A Reports that DCF identified as non-emergencies broken down by the race or ethnicity of the children who were the subject of such 51A Reports. [5] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of investigations conducted by DCF pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(b) that included a home visit, including all such documents reflecting a breakdown of such number by year, allegation type, and/or DCF Area Office. a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of investigations conducted by DCF pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(b) that included a home visit broken down by the race or ethnicity of the family subject to the home visit. [6] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of home visits conducted by DCF in connection with investigations pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(b), including all such documents reflecting a breakdown of such number by year, allegation type, and/or DCF Area Office. a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of home visits conducted by DCF in connection with investigations pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(b) broken down by the race or ethnicity of the family subject to each home visit. [7] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of investigations conducted by DCF pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(b) where searches of a child’s body were performed, including all such documents reflecting a breakdown of such number by year, allegation type, and/or DCF Area Office.

Steven S. Treat, Esq. SPR25/3406 Page 3 December 1, 2025 a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of investigations conducted by DCF pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(b) where searches of a child’s body were performed broken down by race or ethnicity, and/or age of the child subject to a search of their body. [8] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of searches of a child’s body performed during an investigation conducted pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(b), including all such documents reflecting a breakdown of such number by year, allegation type, and/or DCF Area Office. a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of searches of child’s body performed during an investigation conducted pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(b) broken down by the race or ethnicity and/or age of the child subject to a search of their body. [9] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of judicial warrants obtained for home visits conducted by DCF in connection with investigations pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B, including all such documents reflecting a breakdown of such number by year, allegation type, whether the 51A Report was screened in as an emergency or non-emergency, and/or DCF Area Office. a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of judicial warrants obtained for home visits conducted by DCF in connection with investigations pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B broken down by race or ethnicity of the family subject to the warrant. [10] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of home visits conducted by DCF in connection with investigations pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B that were authorized by a judicial warrant, including all such documents reflecting a breakdown of such number by year, allegation type, whether the 51A Report was screened in as an emergency or non-emergency, and/or DCF Area Office. a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of home visits conducted by DCF in connection with investigations pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B that were authorized by a judicial warrant broken down by race or ethnicity of the family subject to the warrant. [11] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of investigations conducted pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(b) that resulted in response decisions of: (i) supported, (ii) substantiated concern, or (iii) unsupported, including all such documents reflecting any breakdown of such

Steven S. Treat, Esq. SPR25/3406 Page 4 December 1, 2025 number by year, allegation type, whether the 51A Report was screened in as an emergency or non-emergency, and/or DCF Area Office. a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of investigations conducted pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(b) that resulted in response decisions of: (i) supported, (ii) substantiated concern, or (iii) unsupported, broken down by race or ethnicity of the child subject to the response decision. [12] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of investigations conducted pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(b) that resulted in a child being removed from their home pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B or M.G.L. c. 119 § 24. [13] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of removals DCF conducted on an emergency basis (i.e., “emergency removals”) pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(c) or (e), including all such documents reflecting any breakdown of such number by year, allegation type, and/or DCF Area Office. a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the total number of children removed on an emergency basis pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(c) or (e) broken down by race or ethnicity. b. All data, reports, memoranda or other documents reflecting the total number of children removed on an emergency basis pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(c) or (e) broken down by whether or not there were any allegations of domestic violence. [14] All data, reports, memoranda, and other documents reflecting the total number of emergency removals where a juvenile court judge issued a temporary order transferring custody to DCF pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 24 after the removal of the child, including all such documents reflecting any breakdown of such number by year, allegation type, and/or DCF Area Office. a. All data, reports, memoranda, and other documents reflecting the total number of children removed on an emergency basis where a juvenile court judge issue a temporary order transferring custody to DCF pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 24 after the removal of the child, broken down by race or ethnicity. [15] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the time it took for a custody hearing to be held subsequent to an emergency removal pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(c) or (e) (for illustration, whether such hearings were conducted within a week, two weeks, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, 180 days, more than 180 days or otherwise as such data is maintained), including all

Steven S. Treat, Esq. SPR25/3406 Page 5 December 1, 2025 such documents reflecting any breakdown of such number by whether the 51A Report was investigated on an emergency or non-emergency basis. [16] All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the length of time children were remanded to DCF custody in conjunction with an investigation before they are returned to their families (for illustration, whether such length of time was up to 30 days, up to 60 days, up to 90 days, up to 180 days, up to 12 months, between 12 and 24 months, more than 24 months, or otherwise as such data are maintained), including all such documents reflecting any breakdown of such number by whether or not the child was removed on an emergency basis pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119 § 51B(c) or (e) and whether the 51A Report was investigated on an emergency or non-emergency basis. a. All data, reports, memoranda, or other documents reflecting the length of time children were remanded to DCF custody, broken down by race or ethnicity for each child that falls into the time periods outlined above, or as otherwise maintained by DCF. [17] All records, including but not limited to handbooks, policy manuals, written guidance, or training materials, reflecting DCF’s current policies and procedures on: a. Screening of reports of child abuse or neglect; b. Investigating reports of child abuse or neglect; c. The use of any AI tools, predictive technology, or other risk or safety assessment tools for screening 51A Reports or otherwise investigating child abuse or neglect; d. Determining whether a report of child abuse or neglect warrants an emergency response; e. Notifying parents or families of their legal rights in connection with investigations, including home visits; f. Conducting home visits, including when a DCF worker is refused entry into a child’s home; g. Conducting searches of a child’s body during a visit and interview with a reported child, including when a DCF worker is denied consent to search the child’s body by the child’s parent or guardian; h. Circumstances in which judicial warrants should be sought to enter a home or remove a child; i. Substantiating reports of child abuse or neglect; or j. Placing children in DCF custody, including on an emergency basis. The Department responded on August 21, 2025 and November 4, 2025. Unsatisfied with the Department’s responses, Ms. Rodriguez petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/3406, was opened as a result.

Steven S. Treat, Esq. SPR25/3406 Page 6 December 1, 2025 Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, I learned that the Department provided a further response on November 26, 2025. Where this appeal was opened based on the Department’s August 21, 2025 and November 4, 2025 responses, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. If unresolved issues remain, Ms. Rodriguez may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s November 26th response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Tatiana A. Rodriguez