Some helpful resources on the Massachusetts CRA law:
MassLegalHelp: Children in Need of Services
CPCS Resources - including summary of the law, flow chart of a case, forms and handbooks.
Flow Chart of a CRA Case and other resources on the new law from childrensleague.org.
Other jurisdictions may still refer to children requiring assistance as status offenses. A status offense is conduct that is only illegal when engaged in by a juvenile. Common status offenses are underage drinking or truancy. For more basic information about status offense see the following web pages:
Children's Rights Under the Law by Department of Children and Families
The Department of Children and Families (formerly the Department of Social Services) is the state agency responsible for protecting children and helping families in need. The DCF posts unofficial versions of their regulations and polices on this website. Other information found here includes: description of services provided by DCF; other publications and reports; and some forms.
Department of Youth Services
The Department of Youth Services oversees a number of programs for juvenile offenders including clinicial, health, and educational services. The DYS webpage contains information about the services offered by this agency, links to policy documents (in Word), a DYS region map and contact information for all regions.
Mass Legal Services - Many helpful resources organized by topic inlcuding general resources, court materials, and very select agency decisions from DDS, DHCD, and BSEA.
Children's Law Center - many helpful resources under Publications, including this Quick Guide to Child Requiring Assistance Cases [PDF].
The Massachusetts Juvenile Court Department has general jurisdiction over delinquency, children requiring care, care and protection petitions, adult contributing to a delinquency of a minor cases, adoption, guardianship, termination of parental rights proceedings, and youthful offender cases. There are eleven divisions of the juvenile court with sessions in more than forty locations. The names and territorial jurisdictions are contained in G.L. c.218, s.57.