Procedures

(1) After making a mandatory or discretionary referral to a District Attorney, the Department may provide documentation or discuss information obtained by the Department in connection with the 51A report or 51B response with the District Attorney 4.53: continued (a) Upon request from the District Attorney, the Department shall release additional documents from the Department's files to the District Attorney, if the Commissioner or designee determines that: 1. The requested documents are directly relevant to the investigation or prosecution of the matter referred to the District Attorney; and 2. Release would not be contrary to the best interests of the child(ren) in question. (2) Prior to completing the Department's 51B response, the Department should not inform the family when the Department notifies or refers to the District Attorney(s) and local law enforcement authority(ies), unless notification is necessary to schedule victim interviews. The response worker may inform the family a referral to the District Attorney and law enforcement is a possible outcome of the response. Following completion of the Department 51B response, the Department shall follow notification procedures as defined in 110 CMR 4.33 through 4.34 and applicable polices. Any documents from the Department files which are subpoenaed directly from the Department for a criminal matter to which the Department is not a party, are governed by judicial determinations as set forth in the procedures described in the Appendix of Commonwealth v. Dwyer, 448 Mass. 122 (2006). Department files and documents contained therein, are designated confidential pursuant to M.G.L. c. 119, § 51E - 51F and M.G.L. c. 66A and M.G.L. c. 112, § 135 - 135B as applicable, and a specific order is required to produce Department records in a criminal manner.