Parties see abuser registry bill as poised to advance

BOSTON -- A legislative committee, after working with advocates, families, state agencies and others to settle on mutually-agreeable language, last week released a version of legislation that has been a major priority for advocates for people with disabilities.

The new draft (S 2343) of a bill that would create a "registry of abusers of persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities" and add to the list any care provider against whom the Disabled Persons Protection Commission substantiates a claim of abuse or financial extortion got a favorable report from the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities and now is under review by the Senate Ways and Means Committee, often the last stop before a full Senate vote.

Under the bill, the Department of Developmental Services and employers would be required to check the registry before hiring or contracting with a caregiver and would be prohibited from hiring or contracting with anyone named on the registry.

The idea of an abuse registry has been a priority for the Arc of Massachusetts since at least last session, when a similar bill passed the Senate but did not come up in the House.

"The Arc is grateful for the leadership of our bill sponsors, the chairs, and members of the committee who passed the bill unanimously," the organization said in an announcement. "The bill is headed to Ways and Means and will need further advocacy."

Concerns last session around due process rights for those accused led to new legislation this year and a series of meetings this summer to get the Arc, families of people who have been abused, the DPPC, organized labor groups, and others on board with the committee's redraft.

"I am proud that we were able to bring together many organizations, advocates and legislators invested in bettering the lives of people with disabilities," Rep. Kay Khan, the committee's House chair, said.

At a hearing on the legislation earlier this year, House lead sponsor Rep. Linda Dean Campbell said she thought the concerns that sunk the bill last session have been addressed to everyone's satisfaction. The DPPC will notify the caretaker of their right to appeal the decision to the Division of Administrative Law Appeals and a caretaker whose name is on the registry could petition for removal after five years.

"We feel comfortable at this point the issues are resolved," she said at the hearing.

In Massachusetts, there was a 30 percent increase in abuse allegations called into the independent Disabled Persons Protection Commission's hotline between 2013 and 2018, and a nearly 20 percent increase in allegations of sexual abuse against people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, DPPC Executive Director Nancy Alterio told lawmakers last year.

"The testimony of families and caretakers of victims makes clear that this legislation is required to protect our fellow human beings who most often cannot communicate that they are being abused," Campbell said. "I am thankful to the families and the many organizations supporting the disabled for their participation in drafting this legislation, and their unwavering determination to ensure that this legislation becomes law."

In announcing that it had reported the new draft out favorably, the Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities said that the underlying bills (H 101/S 71/S72) it consolidated into its latest draft "received broad bipartisan support among members of the Massachusetts Legislature, with 158 legislators co-sponsoring the bill."

The redrafted bill includes an effective date of Nov. 2, 2020, and says that its provisions are to apply "to all substantiated findings of registrable abuse made by the Disabled Persons Protection Commission on or after November 2, 2020, regardless of when such registrable abuse took place."