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Families, advocates press committee to expand ‘Nikki’s Law’ to MassHealth day habilitation programs

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Summary

Witnesses urged the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities to extend the state's abuser registry to MassHealth-funded day habilitation programs so caregivers found guilty of abuse cannot be rehired in those settings.

Cheryl Ryan Chan, the mother of a man identified in testimony as Nikki, urged the Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities to expand the state's abuser registry to include MassHealth-funded day habilitation programs, saying the existing law leaves people vulnerable during daytime services. "If we do not continue to expand the protections that Nikki's law provides, we have failed to complete the critical mission of simply exercising our responsibility to protect those who need protection," Chan said.

Supporters, including Senator Moore and Paul Joyce, described how the registry enacted in 2020 has already removed people from direct-care roles…

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