YOU FILED A CRA. WHAT HAPPENS IN COURT NOW?

Child requiring Assistance CRA.jpg

A Child Requiring Assistance (CRA) claim is a court case in which the Juvenile Court is asked to help parents and/or school officials with the supervision and/or management of a child who is at least 6 but not yet 18 years old. There are five types of CRA but below are the four most commonly filed:  

1.       Runaway: Child 6 to 18: A child between the ages of 6 and 18 who “repeatedly runs away from the home of a parent, legal guardian or custodian having custody of the child.”  

2.       Stubborn: Child 6 to 18: A child between the ages of 6 and 18 who “repeatedly refuses to obey the lawful and reasonable commands of said parent or guardian resulting in said parent’s or guardian’s inability to care for and protect said child…”

3.       Truant: Child 6 to 16: A child between the ages of 6 and 18 who “is not excused from attendance in accordance with the lawful and reasonable regulations of such child's school, has willfully failed to attend school for more than 8 school days in a quarter…” 

4.       School Offender: Child 6 to 16:  “A school district may initiate an application for assistance in said court stating that said child is not excused from attendance in accordance with the lawful and reasonable regulations of such child's school, has willfully failed to attend school for more than 8 school days in a quarter or repeatedly fails to obey the lawful and reasonable regulations of the child's school.”

If after a preliminary hearing the Court decides the child requires assistance, the case will be scheduled for future court hearings. Below is an overview of the most frequently used types of hearings in a CRA case:

What happens at a Fact-Finding Hearing?

At the Fact-Finding Hearing, each party has a right to be heard and has the right to have a trial in front of a different judge who conducted the preliminary hearing. [Although this requirement is stated in the statute, this does not always happen. You could have the same judge from the initial filing to the disposition.]  The applicant, whether it be a parent or a school official, who filed the application must present evidence that shows to the judge, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the child requires assistance. If the judge finds that the child requires assistance, the court will schedule a case conference and disposition hearing.

What happens at a case conference?

The case conference allows the parties and any third-party collaterals (i.e. probation officer, representative from child’s school, clinicians, Department of Children and Families (DCF) if involved with the family, etc.) to collaborate and agree on plan for the child. The parties should be cautioned to only agree to tasks that they will follow through with. If a party agrees to do a task at the case conference that they have no intention of following through with, when the court gets a report on the progress of the plan it will be reported as a failure.

What happens at disposition?

At disposition the judge will order the child: to remain at home (and may impose conditions for the child to stay at home); into the custody of a relative or other appropriate adult; or into the custody of DCF (and may also order that DCF place the child out of the home).

Once the court places the child in DCF custody, DCF decides where to place the child. The disposition is first reviewed by the court after 120 days. At that review (or between reviews), the case can be dismissed, the court can change the custody order or conditions, or the case can continue with the same orders in place. There are three more reviews that happen after the first every 90 days.

 

Have questions or concerns about your child? Contact us to discuss further:

 

E.M. Curran & Associates LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 406
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549
ellen@emcurranlegal.com

IS YOUR CHILD FACING CONSEQUENCES FOR THEIR BEHAVIOR AT SCHOOL?

What rules do the school's need to follow? 

The Massachusetts Statute that applies depends on what the student did:

  1. If the student brought drugs or weapons to school and/or assaults a member of the school staff Rule 37H applies.

  2. If the student is charged with a Felony and “principal or headmaster determines that the student's continued presence in school would have a substantial detrimental effect on the general welfare of the school" then Rule 37H 1/2 applies.

  3. If the student's behavior does not fall into either of the above categories then their behavior will more likely than not be classified as a "violation of the student handbook" which would mean that Rule 37H 3/4 would apply.

School Discipline

Suspensions and Expulsions

There is a lot of if X then Y should happen in this area. You should seek individualized advice based on your specific student's behavior as soon as possible. Here are some general points to be aware of...

  • All students excluded for any length of time must be given the opportunity to make up all missed work. This includes projects, quizzes, tests, assignments etc.

  • Your student is entitled to hearing before they are suspended.

  • If your student is to be excluded for more than 10 school days, they are entitled to some form of educational service. This could be an alternative placement (see below), tutoring and in some districts online learning.

  • A recent decision from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Problem Resolution System (PRS) has reiterated the requirement that a suspended or expelled student must be provided with a minimum of two options for receipt of educational services (In re: Intake 1561).

  • If the school calls you and ask you to pick up your child due to the child's behavior, ask if the child is being suspended out. If they say NO but you need to pick the child up - then they are technically suspending the child as he's not being allowed to remain in school. Whether or not you go and pick up your child is a judgment call only you can make. But this call should be documented and if it happens enough you should ask for some changes (BIP, FBA, IEP Meeting are a few suggestions).

Interim Alternative Educational Setting

A student may be unilaterally placed in an 'alternative' educational setting for up to 45 school days for the following behaviors:  bringing weapons to school, bringing drugs to school and/or causing bodily harm or injury to a person while at school or a school sponsored event. These placements can be made without the consent of the parent but at the end of the 45 school days a Team meeting will be held to discuss what options are available to the student. 

This link will bring you to a chart that highlights the Massachusetts Student Discipline Statutes and Regulations on the state's Education Department website. 

If your student is a student with a disability, they receive more protections in discipline matters.

According to the IDEA, a student with a disability is a child who receives special education services as part of an IEP. A student also may be considered to have a disability even if the school has not tested or identified the child as such. If the school "knew or should have known" of the child's disability, the student may still be protected by special education law. (We will be sharing post that focuses on the rights of student's with disabilities and discipline in a few weeks.) 

Have questions or concerns about your child's education? Contact us to discuss further:

E.M. Curran & Associates LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 406
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549
ellen@emcurranlegal.com

@emcurranlegal