Opinion: Advocacy Needed to Pass Background Check Legislation

By Maureen Gallagher

A driver who allegedly crashed a passenger van in Newton recently, injuring his adult passengers with special needs, had a long history of traffic violations and criminal offenses in another state. According to recent news accounts, officials in Massachusetts performed the required state Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check on the driver, but they were unaware of his lengthy record in New York – including a drug possession charge -- because a national criminal background check is not mandated for prospective employees of state-funded agencies working with people with developmental disabilities.

Recently, The New York Times focused on disturbing incidents of abuse of elders and people with developmental disabilities by employees at large state-run group homes in New York. Even more shocking was that many of these offenders were transferred to other jobs within the institution or to group homes in the same state.

The findings of The Times’ investigation show that hundreds of thousands of New York’s most vulnerable residents are at daily risk of abuse at the hands of known abusers. The question is: If one of these abusers were prosecuted for their crimes, could they possibly land a job in Massachusetts working with our citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities? Yes, they could.

These problems stem from a gaping hole in Massachusetts’ existing criminal background law, which requires that employees hired to work with people with intellectual disabilities undergo a state criminal background check, but no national check. In other words, agencies serving many of the 180,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the Commonwealth have no way of knowing if a prospective employee has a criminal record beyond our state borders. 

Unless the alleged abuser/employee has a criminal record in Massachusetts, the current system will not reveal at the time of hire if the employee has a criminal record in another state. The only way to conduct a complete criminal record background check is to utilize the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System as envisioned by House Bill 523. 

That bill is now before the Judiciary Committee which includes Chairman Eugene O’Flaherty, who represents Charlestown. The bill would require candidates under consideration for employment in positions that require interaction with individuals served by the Department of Developmental Disabilities undergo a national criminal check, in addition to the currently-used statewide Criminal Offense Registry Information (CORI) check. 

This is not a new bill. The Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, along with other disability organizations in the state, has strongly advocated for the passage of the National Background Check bill for a number of years. The time is long overdue for the Massachusetts Legislature to pass this bill.

The Massachusetts Disabled Person Protection Commission (DPCC), the independent state agency responsible for investigating instances of abuse against persons with disabilities, has received numerous reports in which the alleged victim lived in Massachusetts and the alleged abuser/employee, although working for a Massachusetts entity, resided in a neighboring state.  Over the past ten years, the DPPC received almost 1,000 cases in which the employee worked in Massachusetts but resided in one of the five bordering states. 

Two cases of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse of individuals with physical and developmental disabilities were uncovered recently by the DPPC. One alleged abuser had been convicted of drug trafficking in Texas and had served time in federal prison; another alleged abuser had extensive criminal records in New York and Florida.  Their out-of-state criminal records were not revealed as part of their background check when these individuals were hired to work with individuals with developmental disabilities in Massachusetts.

One can only wonder: If the National Background Check Bill had been in effect in Massachusetts, would these two most recently-reported cases never have happened? As a state that prides itself on doing everything possible to protect its most vulnerable residents, why has the Massachusetts Legislature declined to enact the National Criminal Background check bill that would serve as an additional safeguard against acts of physical, sexual and emotional abuse of our citizens with intellectual and developmental disabilities?

As reported in the investigative series by the New York Times, predators often target people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  Until the Massachusetts Legislature votes to implement a National Background Check bill, our vulnerable children and adults in Massachusetts will continue to remain at risk.

Gallagher is the Executive Director of Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress.