Massachusetts General Laws ch. 233 sec. 20N – Disclosure of home address or personal telephone number of social worker employed by the department of children and families; service of process, summons or subpoena upon social worker; state-issued identifica
Section 20N. (a) No court shall permit or require the disclosure of the home address or personal telephone number of a social worker employed by the department of children and families; and no witness shall be required to disclose such social worker’s home address or personal telephone number in any court proceeding or in any proceeding preliminary thereto or in any documents filed with the court, except as otherwise ordered by the court, for good cause shown; provided, however, that an order of the court shall include, if possible, conditions to limit the disclosure of any such address or phone number so as to protect the privacy and safety of the social worker.
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 233 sec. 20N
- Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
(b) Service of process, summons or subpoena upon a department of children and families social worker in any court proceeding and in any proceeding preliminary thereto shall be made upon the agency employing the social worker and in accordance with the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure or the Massachusetts Rules of Criminal Procedure governing any such service of process, summons or subpoena. For the purpose of making such service, the employing agency, upon request, shall certify to the summoning party the name and work address of any such social worker as disclosed by its records, and a summoning party may serve the social worker at the work address so certified.
(c) Each social worker employed by the department of children and families shall be provided with a state-issued identification card showing the name and position of the worker and containing a recent picture. In performing any of the social worker’s duties, the social worker shall display the identification card and such card shall be accepted as proof of the social worker’s identity unless the person to whom it is displayed has a good faith basis for denying its authenticity.
(d) No person, facility, school or law enforcement agency, jail or house of correction shall require a social worker employed by the department of children and families to provide, in connection with the performance of the social worker’s duties: (i) documentation including, but not limited to, a driver’s license, other than the state-issued identification card described in subsection (c); or (ii) the social worker’s home address or personal telephone number.
(e) The home address and personal telephone number of a social worker employed by the department of children and families shall be redacted from law enforcement agency reports before such reports are released to any person.