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Service coordinators ask committee to classify DDS coordinators as Group 2 retirement employees
Summary
A large panel of Department of Developmental Services service coordinators testified in support of House Bill 2943, saying their work involves daily direct care, transport, crisis response and increased safety risks that meet Group 2 retirement criteria.
Service coordinators and supervisors from the Department of Developmental Services testified in a grouped panel urging the Joint Committee on Public Service to report House Bill 2943 favorably. The witnesses described frequent direct contact with individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, many of whom also have behavioral-health issues, substance-use disorders, housing instability or involvement with the criminal justice system.
Barbara Papa, a service coordinator supervisor in the Fall River area office, told the committee that coordinators regularly confront hazardous conditions during home visits, including hostile family members, drugs and firearms. "We are in the midst of all of this with them," she said, describing instances of encountering guns and neighborhood shootings while performing home visits.
Other witnesses described being required to perform direct personal care in state-operated group homes during staffing crises, escort and transport duties, and supervising or intervening during violent or self-harm episodes. Kathy Cole, a transition service coordinator, said she worked up to three shifts weekly in group homes during staffing emergencies while maintaining a caseload of roughly 95 youths.
Panelists said the scope of their duties meets the Group 2 standard for "care, custody and instruction," and that exclusion from Group 2 for some titles creates inequities and retention problems. Several witnesses described assaults, threats, and other violence directed at staff. "This job puts service coordinators in actively dangerous situations," Faith Joyce said, summarizing multiple individual accounts of threats and assaults.
SEIU Local 509 representatives and multiple regional vice presidents pressed the committee to include all bargaining-unit titles that perform direct care, including case aids, investigators, supervisors and other support staff. Witnesses argued that the violence and role responsibilities do not reliably vary by job title, and excluding roles undermines retention and public-safety goals.
The committee did not take a vote on the bill during the hearing; testimony will be part of the committee’s record as members consider next steps.
