DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH SERVICES AND MASSACHUSETTS TRAINING SCHOOLS

M.G.L. pt. Part I, tit. Title XVII, ch. c. 120

in effect

M.G.L. c. 120, § 1 Corporate status of department of youth services; holding and investing trust funds

c. 120, § 1. Corporate status of department of youth services; holding and investing trust funds Section 1. The department of youth services shall be a corporation for the purpose of taking, holding and investing in trust for the commonwealth, subject to section fifteen of chapter ten, any grant or devise of land or any gift or bequest made at any time for the use of any institution of which said department has the management, government and care, and it shall succeed to and retain the rights, powers and duties formerly held or acquired by the division of youth service and by the youth service board, except as otherwise provided in said section fifteen and in this chapter.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 2 Management, government and care of industrial schools; employment of expert personnel by director

c. 120, § 2. Management, government and care of industrial schools; employment of expert personnel by director Section 2. The department of youth services shall have the management, government and care of the Lyman school for boys at Westborough, the industrial school for girls at Lancaster, the industrial school for boys at Shirley, and of all other institutions, except correctional institutions of the commonwealth, supported by the commonwealth for the custody, diagnosis, care and training of delinquent or wayward children or habitual truants or habitual absentees or habitual school offenders or juvenile offenders. The department of youth services shall have control of the land and buildings of said schools. To carry out its duties under this chapter, the commissioner shall authorize the employment within the limits of the amount appropriated therefore, such medical, dental, psychiatric, psychological, social work, legal, investigative and other expert personnel, including experts in the fields of fiscal affairs, research and planning, and personnel administration and training, superintendents, field representatives, supervisory, clerical and other employees as he shall deem necessary, and shall prescribe their duties. Physicians, dentists and psychiatrists employed hereunder shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one or section nine A of chapter thirty.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 3 Appointment of superintendents, chaplains and physicians

c. 120, § 3. Appointment of superintendents, chaplains and physicians Section 3. The commissioner of youth services shall from time to time appoint a superintendent, chaplains and a physician of each of said schools and institutions, and shall, in accordance with law appoint all other officers and employees required at said schools and institutions and shall prescribe their duties.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 4 Rules and regulations; by-laws

c. 120, § 4. Rules and regulations; by-laws Section 4. The commissioner of youth services shall establish rules, regulations, and by-laws for the government of each institution and shall see that its affairs are conducted according to law and to such rules, regulations, and by-laws; but the purpose thereof and of all education, employment, training, discipline, recreation and other activities carried on in the institutions shall be to restore and build up the self-respect and self-reliance of the children lodged therein and to qualify them for good citizenship and honorable employment.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 5 Examination and study of children committed; re-examinations; records; discharge

c. 120, § 5. Examination and study of children committed; re-examinations; records; discharge Section 5. (a) When a person has been committed to the department of youth services, it shall, under rules established by it, forthwith examine and study him and investigate all pertinent circumstances of his life and behavior. (b) The department of youth services shall make periodic reexamination of all persons within its control. These examinations may be made as frequently as the department considers desirable, and shall be made with respect to every person at intervals not exceeding one year. (c) The department of youth services shall keep written records of all examinations and of the conclusions based thereon, and of all orders concerning the disposition or treatment of every person subject to its control. (d) Failure of the department of youth services to examine a person committed to it, or to reexamine him within one year of a previous examination, shall not of itself entitle the person to discharge from the control of the department, but shall entitle him to petition the committing court for an order of discharge, and the court shall discharge him unless the department upon due notice satisfies the court of the necessity for further control. (e) Within eighteen months of the original commitment of a child to the department by a court of competent jurisdiction, and periodically thereafter, the committing court shall reconvene upon petition of the department, in accordance with rules established by the chief administrative judge of the trial court, to determine the future status of the child as to whether or not it is in the child's best interests to be returned to his home. All such determinations shall indicate whether, after the departmental placement of the child, reasonable efforts were made to make it possible for the child to return to his home.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 6 Liberty under supervision; confinement; reconfinement; revocation or modification of order; discharge

c. 120, § 6. Liberty under supervision; confinement; reconfinement; revocation or modification of order; discharge Section 6. When a person has been committed to the department of youth services, it may after an objective consideration of all available information— (a) Permit him his liberty under supervision and upon such conditions as it believes conducive to law-abiding conduct; or— (b) Order his confinement under such conditions as it believes best designed for the protection of the public; or— (c) Order reconfinement or renewed release as often as conditions indicate to be desirable; or— (d) Revoke or modify any order, except an order of final discharge, as often as conditions indicate to be desirable; or— (e) Discharge him from control with notice to the court, except as provided in section twelve, when it is satisfied that such discharge is consistent with the protection of the public.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 6A Correction of socially harmful tendencies

c. 120, § 6A. Correction of socially harmful tendencies Section 6A. As a means of correcting the socially harmful tendencies of a person committed to it, the department of youth services may— (a) Require participation by him in vocational, physical, educational, and correctional training and activities. (b) Require such modes of life and conduct as seem best adapted to fit him for return to full liberty without danger to the public. (c) Provide such medical or psychiatric treatment as is necessary.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 7 Powers and duties of superintendent

c. 120, § 7. Powers and duties of superintendent Section 7. The superintendent of each school or other institution, with the subordinate officers, shall have general charge of and be responsible for the welfare and custody of the children lodged therein, and for carrying out the rehabilitative program prescribed by the commissioner of youth services. He shall be a constant resident at the school, and, under the direction of the commissioner of youth services, shall seek to establish relationships and to organize ways of life that will meet the moral, physical, emotional, intellectual and social needs of the children under his care as those needs would be met in adequate homes.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 8 Bond and accounts of superintendents; accounting to commissioner of youth services

c. 120, § 8. Bond and accounts of superintendents; accounting to commissioner of youth services Section 8. Each superintendent shall before entering upon his duties give bond to the commonwealth, with sureties approved by the governor and council, in such sum as the comptroller may prescribe, conditioned that he shall faithfully perform all his duties and account for all money received by him as superintendent. The bond shall be filed in the office of the state treasurer. Each superintendent shall have charge of all the property of the institution within the precincts thereof. He shall keep accounts of all his receipts and expenditures, and of all property intrusted to him, showing the income and expenses of the institution; and shall account to the commissioner of youth services, in such manner as said commissioner may require, for all money received by him. His books and all documents relative to the school shall at all times be open to the inspection of the commissioner of youth services.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 9 Rogers fund

c. 120, § 9. Rogers fund Section 9. The superintendent of the industrial school for girls, under the direction of the commissioner of youth services, shall purchase books with the income and profits and according to the terms of the donation of Henry B. Rogers.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 10 Use of public or private facilities, institutions and agencies; control; acceptance and control of delinquent children; inspection; effect of placement of person in or release from institution or control by department

c. 120, § 10. Use of public or private facilities, institutions and agencies; control; acceptance and control of delinquent children; inspection; effect of placement of person in or release from institution or control by department Section 10. (a) For the purpose of carrying out its duties and effectuating the decisions of the department of youth services with respect to the classification, placement for training and treatment, transfer, release under supervision and discharge of persons committed to the department the commissioner of youth services is authorized to make use of law enforcement, detention, supervisory, medical, educational, correctional, segregative, and other facilities, institutions and agencies, whether public or private, within the commonwealth wherever feasible, otherwise outside the commonwealth; provided however, that the department shall not transfer custody of any person who was committed to the department by a juvenile court or district court juvenile session and who is under eighteen to a penal institution. The commissioner of youth services may enter into agreements with the appropriate private or public officials for separate care and special treatment in existing institutions of persons committed to the department. In cases where a person has been adjudicated a delinquent for a violation of section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-five, the commissioner of youth services may, with the concurrence of the commissioner of correction, transfer the custody of said child to the department of correction, provided that such person has reached his eighteenth birthday. At least twice annually, the commissioner of youth services with the assistance of the executive secretary to the advisory committee shall be responsible for convening and programming a meeting of a youth services coordinating council composed of the commissioners of public health, mental health, education, transitional assistance, corrections, and probation, and the commissioner of administration and finance or their designees. The youth services coordinating council shall meet for the purposes of providing for the coordination and mutual assistance in the carrying out and evaluation of all the programs relating to youth services in the commonwealth. Said council shall jointly prescribe and from time to time amend rules and recommendations of their various departments for the aforementioned purposes. (b) Nothing herein shall be construed as giving the department of youth services control over existing facilities, institutions or agencies other than those listed in section two, or as requiring such facilities, institutions or agencies to service said department inconsistently with their functions, or with the authority of their officers, or with the laws and regulations governing their activities, or as giving said department power to make use of any private institution or agency without its consent, or to pay a private institution or agency for services which a public institution or agency is willing and able to perform. (c) Public institutions and agencies are hereby required to accept and care for delinquent children or convicted persons sent to them by the department in the same manner as they would be required to do had such persons been committed thereto by a juvenile court, district court, superior court or probate court. (d) The department is hereby given the right and shall be required periodically to inspect all public and all private institutions and agencies whose facilities it is using. Every institution and agency, whether public or private, is required to afford the department reasonable opportunity to examine or consult with persons committed to the department who are for the time being in the custody of the institution or agency. (e) Placement of a person by the department in any institution or agency not operated by the department or the release of such person from such an institution or agency shall not terminate the control of the department over such person. No person placed in such institution or under such an agency may be released by the institution or agency without the approval of the department.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 10B Involuntary room confinement prohibited

c. 120, § 10B. Involuntary room confinement prohibited Section 10B. A person detained by and committed to the department of youth services shall not be placed in involuntary room confinement as a punishment, harassment or consequence for noncompliance or in retaliation for any conduct.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 11 Places for detention and diagnosis; treatment and training facilities; facilities to aid persons given conditional releases; forest or farm school camps

c. 120, § 11. Places for detention and diagnosis; treatment and training facilities; facilities to aid persons given conditional releases; forest or farm school camps Section 11. When funds are available for the purpose, the commissioner of youth services may (a) establish and operate places for detention and diagnosis of all persons committed to the department; (b) establish and operate additional treatment and training facilities necessary to classify and segregate and handle delinquents, youthful offenders and juvenile offenders of different ages, habits and mental and physical condition according to their needs; (c) establish facilities to aid persons given conditional release or discharged by the department to find employment and to lead a law-abiding existence, and shall establish, on land under the control of the department of environmental management or upon other sites approved by the commissioner of conservation and recreation, forest or farm school camps to which children placed in the care of the department of youth services may be sent for such education and training as may be deemed best for their readjustment, the work projects of which may be assigned in farming or reforestation, maintenance and development of state forests and recreational areas as may be approved by the commissioner of conservation and recreation.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 12 Release under supervision; placement into families or homes

c. 120, § 12. Release under supervision; placement into families or homes Section 12. The department may direct release under supervision at any time, and may place children in its custody in their usual homes or in any situation or family that has been approved by the department; provided, however, that if the child has been committed to the department of youth services for murder in the first or second degree, as defined by section one of chapter two hundred and sixty-five; or manslaughter, as defined by section thirteen of said chapter two hundred and sixty-five; or rape, as defined by section twenty-two or section twenty-two A of said chapter two hundred and sixty-five; or aggravated rape of a child under 16 with force, under section 22B of said chapter 265; or a repeat offense, under section 22C of said chapter 265; or kidnapping, as defined by section twenty-five of said chapter two hundred and sixty-five; or aggravated rape and abuse of a child, under section 23A of said chapter 265; or a repeat offense, under section 23B of said chapter 265; or indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen years, as defined by section thirteen B of said chapter two hundred and sixty-five; or aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, under section 13B1/2 of said chapter 265; or a repeat offense, under section 13B3/4 of said chapter 265; or assault on a child under the age of sixteen with intent to commit a rape, as defined by section twenty-four B of said chapter two hundred and sixty-five; or unnatural and lascivious acts with a child under the age of sixteen, as defined by section thirty-five A of chapter two hundred and seventy-two; then the department shall notify the police authority, of the city or town of which such child is a resident and as the police authority of the city or town where the offense occurred, of the intention to place such child in his usual home. Such notification shall occur at least seven days prior to the placement of any such child in his usual home. The commissioner of youth services may, subject to appropriation, employ agents for investigating places and for visiting and supervising children, and may provide for the maintenance, in whole or in part, of any child so placed in the charge of any person. Immediately on placing children in families or homes, the commissioner of youth services shall notify the commissioner of transitional assistance of the name of each child so placed and of the name and residence of the person to whose care he is entrusted. The department may at any time, until the expiration of the period of commitment, resume the care and custody of any child released under supervision. The department shall place children in families or homes of the religious belief of such children, but if this be impracticable, then due regard shall be had to the locality, and, if practicable, the home shall be such that the children shall have the opportunity to attend religious worship of their own belief.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 13 Escape; breach of parole; arrest; detention

c. 120, § 13. Escape; breach of parole; arrest; detention Section 13. The department may issue a warrant for the arrest of any person committed to it who has escaped from a facility or who has been released on parole and broken the conditions thereof. Such person may be arrested with or without such warrant by a police officer, sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable or person employed or authorized by the department and may be kept in custody in a suitable place and there detained until such person may be returned to the custody of the department.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 13A Compensation for property damage caused by inmates; notice of damage; claim; filing

c. 120, § 13A. Compensation for property damage caused by inmates; notice of damage; claim; filing Section 13A. Upon written request of the department, there shall be paid out of the state treasury, from such funds as may be available therefor, to any person determined by the attorney general to be entitled to compensation for damage to his property caused by the act of any inmate of the Lyman school for boys at Westborough, the industrial school for girls at Lancaster, the industrial school for boys at Shirley, the department of youth services reception center at Westborough or any other institution of which the department has management, government and care under the provisions of section two while escaping therefrom, such sum as the attorney general shall determine to be just and reasonable and as the governor and council shall approve; provided, that written notice of said damage and claim for compensation therefor be filed with the department within one year next after the date on which such damage occurred.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 14 Applications for new commitments for persons with a mental illness, persons with a developmental disability or sexually dangerous persons

c. 120, § 14. Applications for new commitments for persons with a mental illness, persons with a developmental disability or sexually dangerous persons Section 14. Whenever the department finds that any person committed to it is mentally ill, within the meaning of chapter one hundred and twenty-three, developmentally disabled or a sexually dangerous person, within the meaning of chapter one hundred and twenty-three A, or a potential psychotic as defined and determined by the assistant commissioner of the bureau of clinical services, the department may make application to the proper court for a new commitment to the appropriate agency in accordance with law.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 15 Transfers from Massachusetts reformatory and reformatory for women

c. 120, § 15. Transfers from Massachusetts reformatory and reformatory for women Section 15. With the consent of the department, the commissioner of correction may transfer to the care of the department any boy under 18 sentenced to the Massachusetts reformatory, or any girl under 18 sentenced to the reformatory for women, for such disposition as in the opinion of the department, after study, will best serve the needs of the boy or girl and best protect the interests of the public.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 16 Discharge of persons committed as delinquent child or youthful offender

c. 120, § 16. Discharge of persons committed as delinquent child or youthful offender Section 16. Every person committed to the department until the age of 18 as a delinquent child, if not already discharged, shall be discharged upon reaching the person's eighteenth birthday. Every person committed to the department until the age of 19 as a delinquent child, if not already discharged, shall be discharged upon reaching the person's nineteenth birthday. Every person committed to the department until the age of 20 as a delinquent child, if not already discharged, shall be discharged upon reaching the person's twentieth birthday. Every person committed to the department until the age of 21 as a youthful offender, if not already discharged, shall be discharged upon reaching the person's twenty-first birthday. The department may continue to provide, for any person covered in this chapter under 22 years of age, specific educational, rehabilitative or transitional services and supports, under conditions agreed upon by both the department and such persons and terminable by either. Such services must be offered prior to the person's discharge date as provided herein; however, a person may request and the department shall consider any such request for the services described after the person's effective date of discharge, even where the person has previously declined services or services were terminated for non-compliance, and may reach an agreement with the person, terminable by either, to provide the services described herein until such person attains the age of 22.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 17 Control beyond age limit; persons physically dangerous to public

c. 120, § 17. Control beyond age limit; persons physically dangerous to public Section 17. Whenever the department is of the opinion that discharge of a person from its control at the age limit stated in section sixteen would be physically dangerous to the public, the department shall make an order directing that the person remain subject to its control beyond the period and shall make application to the committing court for a review of that order by the court. The order and application may be made at any time prior to the date of discharge stated in said section sixteen. The application shall be accompanied by a written statement of the facts upon which the department bases its opinion that discharge from its control at the time stated would be physically dangerous to the public, but no such application shall be dismissed nor shall the order be discharged, merely because of its form or an asserted insufficiency of its allegations; every order shall be reviewed upon its merits.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 18 Notice of application for review of order; hearing; appointment of counsel; court order

c. 120, § 18. Notice of application for review of order; hearing; appointment of counsel; court order Section 18. If the department applies to the court for review of an order as provided in section seventeen, the court shall notify the person whose liberty is involved, and if he or she be not sui juris, his parent or guardian (if such person can be reached and if not the court shall appoint a person to act in the place of the parent or guardian), of the application, and shall afford him an opportunity to appear in court with the aid of counsel and of process to compel attendance of witnesses and production of evidence. When he is unable to provide his own counsel, the court shall appoint counsel to represent him. Said proceedings shall be conducted according to the provisions of sections fifty-five A, fifty-five B and fifty-six of chapter one hundred and nineteen. If after a full hearing the court is of the opinion that discharge of the person to whom the court order applies would be physically dangerous to the public, the court shall confirm the order of the department. If the court is of opinion that discharge of the person from continued control of the department would not be physically dangerous to the public, the court shall disapprove the order of the department and shall order the person to be discharged from its control.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 19 Continued control; later discharge; transfer to appropriate institutions

c. 120, § 19. Continued control; later discharge; transfer to appropriate institutions Section 19. When an order of the department is confirmed as provided in section eighteen, the control of the department over the person shall continue, subject to the provisions of this chapter; provided, however, unless the person is previously discharged in accordance with section six (e), the department shall discharge the person upon his twenty-first birthday. The department shall have the power, in order to protect children and adolescents, to transfer the custody of any person eighteen years of age or older to the department of correction for placement in an appropriate institution.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 21 Effect of commitment on application for public service; discharge; restoration of civil rights; records; inspection; consent; evidence in other proceedings

c. 120, § 21. Effect of commitment on application for public service; discharge; restoration of civil rights; records; inspection; consent; evidence in other proceedings Section 21. Commitment to the care of the department of a delinquent child or youthful offender shall not operate to disqualify said child in any future examination, appointment or application for public service under the government either of the commonwealth or of any political subdivision thereof. Whenever a person committed to the department by a court upon conviction of a crime is discharged from its control such discharge shall, when so ordered by the department, restore such person to all civil rights and shall have the effect of setting aside the conviction. The conviction of such a person shall not operate to disqualify him for any future examination, appointment or application for public service under the government either of the commonwealth or of any political subdivision thereof. The records of commitment to the department shall be withheld from public inspection except with the consent of the department, but such records concerning any child who at the time of commitment was between seven and 18 years of age shall be open, at all reasonable times, to the inspection of the child, his or her parent or parents, guardian or attorney, or any of them. A commitment to the department shall not be received in evidence or used in any way in any proceeding in any court except in subsequent proceedings for waywardness or delinquency against the same child, and except in imposing sentence in any criminal proceeding against the same person.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 22 Inquiry into effectiveness of treatment methods; information; annual report; contents

c. 120, § 22. Inquiry into effectiveness of treatment methods; information; annual report; contents Section 22. The department shall conduct continuing inquiry into the effectiveness of the treatment methods it employs in seeking the reformation of juvenile and youthful offenders. To this end the department shall obtain from the commissioner of probation all court record information on its wards compiled subsequent to their discharge from the jurisdiction of the department, and with the cooperation of the commissioner of probation tabulate and analyze these data so that they may be used to evaluate the relative merits of methods of treatment. The results of such studies shall be made available to the public in each annual report of the department. The department shall make an annual report to the governor and to the general court containing, in addition to other matters required by law, a statement of the number of persons committed to the department during the preceding fiscal year and of the disposition made of such persons and of all other persons under its supervision during said year. The report shall include such inventories as the institutions under the department's supervision are required by law to make, a statement of the condition and needs of the facilities under its supervision, and of the progress made towards an integrated rehabilitory system capable of giving the most effective individual treatment for rehabilitation. The report shall include such recommendations for legislation as the department may wish to make.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 23 Power of department to act as guardian of children

c. 120, § 23. Power of department to act as guardian of children Section 23. The department may act as guardian for a child under 18 years of age in its charge who has neither parent living, or of whom neither parent can be located, and for whom no guardian has been appointed. In such instances, the department may act with all the power and authority conferred by chapter 201, except that once a guardian is appointed, the powers herein conferred shall cease. The department may, without need for parent or guardian approval, serve as the fully authorized representative of a child in its charge not living with his parents or guardian for the purpose of completing and submitting an application on the child's behalf to the division of medical assistance for benefits or assistance under chapter 118E or to the department of transitional assistance for benefits or assistance which said department is authorized to provide under chapter 18.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 23A Disposition of unclaimed money held for former ward; records

c. 120, § 23A. Disposition of unclaimed money held for former ward; records Section 23A. Annually on or before November thirtieth, the department shall pay to the state treasurer all unclaimed money held by it for the benefit of any former ward of the department whose whereabouts are then unknown to it and have been unknown for seven years subsequent to his becoming of age. At the time of so paying over any such money, the department shall certify to the comptroller the amount of such money then held for the benefit of each former ward, his full name, age, if known, and last known address, the names of his parents, if known, and such further information as it deems relevant; and said comptroller shall make and keep a record thereof.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 24 Expenditure of gifts

c. 120, § 24. Expenditure of gifts Section 24. The department may expend any money given for the purpose in erecting houses or other buildings on the land of the commonwealth at Lancaster, for increasing the accommodation and facilities of the industrial school, if the plans therefor are first approved by the bureau of building construction.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 25 Children committed by United States courts

c. 120, § 25. Children committed by United States courts Section 25. The provisions of this chapter relative to commitment to the care of the department shall extend to boys and girls committed by authority of the courts or magistrates of the United States.

M.G.L. c. 120, § 26 Escape; attempted escape; aiding or assisting

c. 120, § 26. Escape; attempted escape; aiding or assisting Section 26. Whoever escapes, or attempts to escape from the department or aids or assists a child in the custody of the department to escape or attempt to escape shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two years.

Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter120Fetched: 10/20/2026