Current through Register 1527, August 2, 2024
Section 5.05 - Administrative Review(1) Supported decisions in new cases, made by the Department on or after December 1, 1988, will be automatically reviewed following the Department's assessment, by Administrative Review.(2) Each Administrative Review will consider all information gathered during assessment, as well as the original information gathered during investigation which formed the basis of the "supported" decision. The purpose of each Administrative Review is to determine whether the "supported" decision should be changed to "unsupported", because: (a) based on information available during the investigation, the decision at the time it was made was not in accordance with 110 CMR or policies, or was not reasonable; or(b) based upon new information not available during the investigation, the decision is not in accordance with 110 CMR or policies, or is not reasonable.(3) In any case where the Department changes, via the above Administrative Review process, a decision from "supported" to "unsupported".(a) The Department's Central Registry shall reflect said change, and shall be expunged according to the timetable as if the original decision had been "unsupported";(b) Any alleged perpetrator listing on the Central Registry will be automatically eliminated;(c) The parents, the mandated reporter who filed the report, if applicable, and any individual identified on the Registry of Alleged Perpetrators as a result of the supported investigation, shall be notified that the supported decision has been unsupported and that any perpetrator listing that resulted from the support decision has been eliminated; and(d) The M.G.L. c. 119, §§ 51A and 51B reports and related case record materials shall be filed with other closed record files.(4) An individual may waive his/her right to the Department's assessment and Administrative Review (for example, where the Department proposes and the individual agrees, to support the allegation(s) after investigation but to close the case thereafter).