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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: January 15, 2020 Brian McGahie (617) 722-2380

MA House of Representatives Unanimously Passes Nicky’s Law

(BOSTON) – Legislation filed by Representative and Senator Michael Moore to protect individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities from abuse at the hands of care providers passed the House of Representatives with a unanimous vote of 154-0 on Wednesday. The bill was first filed three years ago in January 2017.

The bill, which also passed the Senate unanimously in October 2019, addresses a troubling shortcoming in the powers of the state’s Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC): when a DPPC investigation finds that a care provider has committed serious abuse against an individual with a disability, the DPPC can only communicate the investigation results to the care provider’s current employer. Unless the care provider is convicted in a criminal court, and very few are, there is no way for other employers to know that the care provider previously committed abuse. This means abusive care providers can easily seek new employment in the same line of work, where they are able to abuse again.

This was the case for Nicky Chan, for whom the bill is named. Nicky has an intellectual disability and was tragically restrained and beaten by a care provider at his day program. The care provider was fired following a DPPC investigation but was not convicted in court, in part because Nicky is nonverbal and could not testify. His abuser was thus free to find new employment working with individuals just like Nicky. With the court system unable to provide protection in these cases, a robust civil process is needed to identify abusers and prevent them from working with this vulnerable population.

Nicky’s Law addresses this need by directing the DPPC to establish a registry of care providers who are found to have committed serious abuse after a fair and thorough investigative process. Employers that serve individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities will be required to check the registry before making new hires and will not be allowed to hire anyone listed on the registry. The process includes numerous protections to ensure due process, including multiple chances for an accused care provider to appeal, and the information in the registry will be strictly confidential.

Unfortunately, there are far too many stories like Nicky’s. The DPPC’s annual report cites 13,102 reported cases of abuse last year, a 10% increase from the previous year. Roughly 10,000

of these reports were referred to other state agencies, while about 3,100 qualified for investigation by the DPPC. Given the staggering numbers, Nicky’s Law has been a top priority of the disability community for the past few years. Many families whose loved ones have experienced this abuse, including Nicky’s family, have been engaged in consistent, strong advocacy for the bill’s passage, driven largely by The Arc of and the Disability Law Center (DLC).

“The stories of these families are gut-wrenching and too numerous. As a society and a government, we should be judged in part by how well we protect our most vulnerable citizens, and this bill is important to fulfill that responsibility,” said Chair Linda Dean Campbell. “So many individual families courageously testified and never gave up on the passage of this bill – because they knew it needed to be passed. Their determination and patience is the reason we are able to confidently send this bill to the Governor. Very importantly, due to the continuous work this past summer by House and Senate leaders and sponsors, the DPPC, The Arc, the Disability Law Center, the Committee for Public Counsel Services, and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), we have crafted a bill that successfully balances the rights of accused care providers with the need to protect individuals with disabilities. I am grateful to my colleagues in the Legislature, especially for the leadership of Speaker DeLeo and Chair Khan for their determination to bring a bill to the House floor that will stand up in a court of law. We all worked together to amend the bill with a preponderance of the evidence standard, confidentiality measures, and provisions to ensure care providers receive timely communication relative to their case.”

“It was an honor to work with Speaker DeLeo, Representative Campbell, dedicated families, advocates and other stakeholders to address the abuse of individuals with disabilities,” said Representative , Chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities and one of the bill’s champions. “The creation of the registry will provide protection into the future for our most vulnerable individuals. It is deserving that Nicky’s Law is one of the lead pieces of legislation being addressed in 2020.”

“The Arc is grateful to the House of Representatives, including Chair , Speaker Robert DeLeo, and our bill sponsor, Representative Linda Dean Campbell, for prioritizing Nicky’s Law and bringing it to the floor for vote,” said Maura Sullivan, Director of Government Affairs for The Arc of Massachusetts. “We applaud their efforts on behalf of thousands of families who joined The Arc to advocate for this proposed legislation. We would also like to thank Chair Kay Khan and Vice Chair Josh Cutler, as well as Vice Chair of Ways and Means for being leaders for this legislation. For Nicky and all the individuals who have suffered abuse at the hands of a caretaker, Massachusetts must create this safety net now.”

“DLC is indebted to all of the family members who brought to the Legislature their personal and often deeply disturbing stories in order to bring us to the vote today. And we deeply appreciate State House Representatives and Senators, and their leadership, who closely followed this bill and worked to strengthen it,” said Rick Glassman, Director of Advocacy at the Disability Law Center. “Their work illustrates that we need not choose between protecting people with intellectual or developmental disabilities and providing procedural fairness to those that serve them.”

The bill now awaits final enactment and will then be sent to Governor Baker for his consideration.

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