110 Mass. Reg. 1.02 : — DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIESPrinciples And Responsibilities Of The Department Of Social Services — Principles of Service

In delivering services to children and families the Department shall:

(1) seek to ensure the safety of children;
(2) recognize that, consistent with the need to ensure the safety of children, the family is the best source of child rearing, and so require that state intervention into a family unit be used only when it is clearly needed to protect a child;
(3) reflect the understanding that every child needs stability and permanency;
(4) recognize that substitute care is a temporary solution, and require the Department and the parent(s) to direct their efforts toward reunification of child(ren) and parent(s). As soon as it is determined that reunification is not feasible, the Department shall take swift action to implement another permanent plan, such as adoption or guardianship.

The Department recognizes that it operates not in isolation but in partnership with families. The Department seeks to assist parents in meeting their parental responsibilities, among which are:

(5) to maintain meaningful contact with the child(ren);
(6) to seek and utilize appropriate services to assist family reunification;
(7) to make good faith efforts to participate with the Department in developing and implementing a service plan;
(8) to maintain contact with the Department, especially concerning any change of address;
(9) to pay reasonable sums toward the support of the child(ren) within the limits of their ability to pay.

110 CMR 1.02