Caregiver abuse registry delayed in state budget

The fiscal 2021 budget sitting on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk since Friday includes sections that would delay for six months the implementation of a new state law establishing a registry of caregivers found to have abused individuals with disabilities and barring providers from hiring them.

Under the new law known as Nicky’s Law, the Disabled Persons Protection Commission will establish and maintain a registry of care providers against whom the commission has made a “substantiated finding of registrable abuse.”

The law includes language outlining the ability of accused abusers to appeal and also requires the commission to notify the Department of Developmental Services, the last known employers of the care provider, and the victim of the abuse and their guardian of any finding of abuse, any appeal challenging an abuse determination, or any petition to remove a care provider from the registry.

It also requires the department and employers contracting with providers to determine whether an individual is listed on the registry before hiring them. If the applicant is listed, their hiring would be prohibited. The law is set up to require that the names of abusers stay on the registry for a minimum of five years.

The law was to take effect Jan. 31, 2021, and the first statutorily-required audit of the abuse registry was to be completed and summarized for the Legislature by Dec. 31, 2021. But tucked into the $46.2 billion compromise budget for FY 2021 are policy sections that would push the start of Nicky’s Law back to July 31, 2021, and move the deadline for the first registry audit to Oct. 31, 2022. Baker has until Dec. 14 to act on the budget.

Maura Sullivan, director of government affairs for The Arc of Massachusetts, said the advocacy group was made aware earlier this session that the COVID-19 pandemic had limited the Disabled Persons Protection Commission’s ability to work on implementing the law. She said The Arc is understanding of the delay and is working closely with the DPCC’s advisory board on the implementation. A spokesman for House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, who served as the House’s lead budget negotiator, said Monday the DPCC had requested additional time to implement the registry. Senate Ways and Means Chair Sen. Michael Rodrigues’ office did not respond to an inquiry.

Baker officially signed the new abuse prevention law on Feb. 13, but he held a signing ceremony in his office on March 3 to mark the occasion with advocates and lawmakers.

“The real heroes are the people who have survived abuse, people with disabilities who have the right to live lives of dignity and safety, and for whom that was taken away at some point,” Cheryl Chan, who helped lead the push for a Massachusetts law after her son, Nicky, was abused, said at the March ceremony. “It happens every day. That happens all the time, across Massachusetts and around the country and certainly around the globe, but every step that we can take to somehow curb that abuse is a step forward, not just for Massachusetts but for humanity and the dignity of those that we represent.”