Care and Protection Isaac

Constitutional Law, Separation of powers, Judiciary. Judge. Department of Social Services. Minor, Care and protection, Custody. Parent and Child, Care and protection of minor, Custody of minor. Administrative Law, Judicial review. GREANEY, J. On or about April 30, 1993, Isaac 1 and his four siblings were adjudicated children in need of care and protection pursuant to G. L. c. 119, § 26 (1992 ed.), by a Judge of the Gloucester District Court sitting in juvenile session. Custody of the children was granted to the Department of Social Services (department). On October 26, 1993, the mother filed a motion requesting increased visitation with one of the children. At a hearing on that motion, before another Judge, the guardian ad litem appointed to monitor the provision of services to the family raised a question concerning the residential placement of Isaac, whose emotional state had required commitment to the child and adolescent psychiatric treatment program at McLean Hospital (hospital). Isaac's treating psychiatrist had recommended that the child be discharged from the hospital and returned to his previous placement at the Robert F. Kennedy Children's Center (school), with an additional staff member assigned to him full time to control his behavior. The guardian ad litem endorsed this recommendation. The department, which had been seeking an alternative residential placement for Isaac, opposed the recommendation to return Isaac to the school, in part because the school proposed to charge the department $160 per day (beyond the $169 per day charged for a standard residential placement) for the services of the additional staff member.