H273 • 2025

An Act relative to a maltreatment coding system

Children

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: Samantha Montaño
Last action: 2025-10-15
Official status: Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act relative to a maltreatment coding system

An Act relative to a maltreatment coding system By Representative Montaño of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

An Act relative to a maltreatment coding system By Representative Montaño of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
273) of Samantha Montaño relative to the creation of a maltreatment coding system.
Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities.
Status: Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2025-10-15 House
Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Ways and Means
2025-06-27 Joint
Hearing scheduled for 07/08/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-1
2025-02-27 House
Referred to the committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities
2025-02-27 Senate
Senate concurred

Official Summary Text

An Act relative to a maltreatment coding system
By Representative Montaño of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 273) of Samantha Montaño relative to the creation of a maltreatment coding system. Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities.
Status:
Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

×

Bill H.273

SECTION 1. Section 51B of Chapter 119 of the General Laws, as so appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after subsection (a) the following paragraphs:-

(1) The department shall create and utilize a comprehensive maltreatment coding system that provides a standardized method for categorizing instances of abuse and neglect by severity for families during the initial investigation phase.

(2) Categories should include, but are not limited to: (i) parental abuse; (ii) imminent risk of serious harm (iii) labor trafficking; (iv) emotional abuse; (v) neglect; (vi) physical abuse; (vii) sexual abuse; (viii) exploitation

(3) The coding system should further include coding based on abuse related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression in an effort to provide family preservation and acceptance education; as well as racial discrimination for youth who are not in the care of their family of origin.

(4) The coding system should be applied upon opening a case and used in conjunction with existing software to assist in the assessment and continued evaluation of ongoing cases.

(5) The department shall review the categories of the system at least every two years and update as needed.

The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The General Court provides this information as a public service and while we endeavor to keep the data accurate and current to the best of our ability, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

Close