‘Nicky’s Law’ puts abusers of disabled in their place

It looks as though state lawmakers are finally prepared to put protections in place to safeguard the commonwealth’s most vulnerable citizens.

Last week the House approved legislation that would create a new state registry to prevent caretakers accused of abusing individuals with disabilities from being hired by additional providers.

Members voted 154- 0 for “Nicky’s Law,” named after a nonverbal young man with autism who was abused by his caretaker; it closely resembles a bill the Senate approved in October.

The legislation would require the state Disabled Persons Protection Commission to create a confidential registry listing any care providers against whom the commission substantiated a claim of abuse or financial extortion. Both the commission and employers would need to check the list before any hiring, and individuals listed could not work with the developmentally or intellectually disabled.

Advocates have warned that abusers remain active in the industry because their current employers are often unaware of any past issues.

Rep. Kay Khan, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities, explained that more than 13,000 of the 20,000- plus calls to the DPPC hotline in fiscal 2019 reported sexual, emotional or physical abuse against those with disabilities.

About 2,200 of those cases were referred to prosecutors, she said.

We’ve seen far too many examples of this loathsome behavior.

In 2015, two nurses’ aides were charged with abusing elders at a Lowell nursing home by posting humiliating videos of them on social media. In 2018, a 55-year-old Tewksbury man was charged with abusing an 85-year-old woman in his care. The woman, who has since died, was determined by authorities to have suffered from malnourishment and neglect.

And just past year, three workers a group home in North Chelmsford operated by Northeast Residential Services were indicted for assault and battery on a person with an intellectual disability.

And as those figures supplied by Rep. Khan indicate, similar incidents occur at an alarming rate.

The Senate bill approved in the last session failed to gain House support because of due-process-rights concerns for the accused.

Lawmakers say they resolved those issues in the latest version of the House bill.

According to Khan, a Newton Democrat, accused caregivers would receive notice and be given an opportunity to appeal; their names would only be added to the registry if the finding is upheld.

After five years on the registry, individuals can petition for their name to be removed if they demonstrate a preponderance of evidence that it’s no longer in the public’s best interest to prevent them from working in that industry.

We don’t see any reason why this measure should be held up any longer. It’s been debated and dissected long enough, since state Rep. Linda Dean Campbell proposed creating a state Disability Abuse Registry back in April of 2017. Unfortunately, the Methuen Democrat’s measure never made it out of committee.

Protecting younger people and adults with physical and cognitive disabilities — as well as those who develop these conditions due to advancing age — from the mental and physical abuse of unscrupulous caretakers would surely be enhanced by a system that could identify those who have previously taken advantage of their controlling position to inflict physical or psychological harm.

Lawmakers should move expeditiously to pass this bill.