DCF Family Assessment - What's involved?

I was recently asked, "How many meetings are in the assessment?"

The answer is essentially "It depends."

The Family Assessment policy says that there must be a minimum of 3 face-to-face contacts with "the family" and 2 of those must be in the home.

But there are also information gathering requirements and monthly meeting requirements that can increase the 3 meetings to 4 or even 7. If the worker doesn't touch on all the relevant subject areas during the first 3 meetings, they will have to insist on another. If the assessment starts near the end of a calendar month or is scheduled to end after the beginning of the next month, they will have to come at least once during each of those months if only for a "quick view of the children".

See https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/03/05/Family_Assessment_and_Action_Planning_Policy.pdf pp. 11 & 13-15.