111 CMR, § 1.01
The policy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and therefore of the Department of Children and Families (Department) is to strengthen and encourage family life so that every family can care for and protect its children. To that end, the Department will make every reasonable effort to encourage and assist families to use all available resources to maintain the family unit intact. However, for so long as a family cannot or does not provide the necessary amount of care and protection for its children, the Department will intervene to protect the right of children to sound health and normal physical and mental development. These dual obligations -- to protect children and yet simultaneously to respect the right of families to be free from unwarranted state intervention -- present an inherently difficult balance to strike. Yet, this is precisely the Department's mandate. The effort to balance these two basic obligations, above all others, shall govern the Department's activities.
111 CMR, § 1.01