An Act relative to families and children in need of assistance

This bill establishes a statewide network of community-based services and family resource centers designed to support families and children in need of assistance. The Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services would create these centers to help families keep children at home and in their local schools while addressing needs such as mental health care, housing, food, and education. The law requires the use of standardized assessment tools to identify family strengths and needs, along with a data collection system to track service gaps and outcomes. Additionally, the bill mandates that annual reports to the legislature include detailed statistics on the number of families served, program results, and demographic information broken down by race, ethnicity, gender, and age.