The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) is the state agency whose primary mission is to protect children who have been abused or neglected. DCF also provides preventative services to children and families where there is a risk of abuse or neglect.
51A refers to the legal statute number or law that specifically addresses the requirement to report "reasonable suspicions" of a child being abused or neglected, or when there is "reasonable cause to believe" abuse has occurred or is occurring. Over time, the process of filing with DCF has been shortened to be called "filing a 51A" which means that a representative of the school system who is familiar with the case (frequently a school administrator) calls DCF to make a verbal report of the concern and then completes and faxes the state mandated form to DCF. (Click here if you would like to view the DCF webpage.)