The House and Senate have each passed versions of “An Act requiring health care employers to develop and implement programs to prevent workplace violence,” and a Conference Committee is now negotiating the final version of the legislation.
This is the final opportunity to ensure the bill does not unintentionally harm people with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
The Arc of Massachusetts strongly supports the goal of preventing workplace violence, especially in healthcare settings. However, we remain deeply concerned that the bill as written unintentionally criminalizes disability-related behavior by including group homes as healthcare facilities and by failing to ensure that healthcare professionals receive specialized training to support people with autism and IDD.
- Remove group homes from the bill’s definition of covered healthcare facilities.
- At a minimum, support the Senate language delaying implementations of the arrest provisions for group homes for one year while appropriate alternatives are evaluated.
- Strengthen the bill’s training requirements, so healthcare workers have the tools needed to safely support patients with autism and IDD. This should include training on best practices for supporting individuals with autism and IDD when they are boarding in the emergency department (ED).
While addressing this legislation, we also encourage legislators to continue to support our priority bill “An Act to enhance standards of care for those with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities” (H.242/S.149), which would establish meaningful training standards for healthcare professionals and help prevent many of the situations this bill seeks to address.
Your advocacy can help ensure Massachusetts improves workplace safety while protecting the rights and dignity of people with disabilities.
