The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Disabled Persons Protection Commission
300 Granite Street • Suite 404 • Braintree • Massachusetts • 02184
MAURA T. HEALEY NANCY A. ALTERIO
GOVERNOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
KIMBERLEY L. DRISCOLL
LT. GOVERNOR Phone: (617) 727-6465
JAMES T. BRETT FAX (617) 727-6469
CHAIRPERSON Hotline: (800) 426-9009
KACY C. MAITLAND
COMMISSIONER
MARY BETH McMAHON
COMMISSIONER
October 15, 2024
The Honorable Michael J. Rodrigues, Chair
Senate Committee on Ways and Means
The State House, Rm. 212
Boston, MA 02133
The Honorable Aaron Michlewitz, Chair
House Committee on Ways and Means
The State House, Rm. 243
Boston, MA 02133
The Honorable Robyn K. Kennedy, Senate Chair
Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities
State House, Rm. 507
Boston, MA 02133
The Honorable Jay D. Livingstone, House Chair
Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities
State House, Rm. 146
Boston, MA 02133
Re: The Disabled Persons Protection Commission’s FY 2024 Summary of the Abuser Registry
pursuant to M.G.L. c. 19C, § 15 (f)
Dear Chair Rodrigues, Chair Michlewitz, Chair Kennedy and Chair Livingstone:
The Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC), established in 1987 by
M.G.L. c. 19C, is an independent state agency responsible for the investigation and remediation
of abuse of persons with disabilities, ages 18 through 59, in the Commonwealth. DPPC’s
mission is “to protect adults with disabilities from the abusive acts and omissions of their
caregivers through independent investigations, independent oversight, public awareness, and
prevention.” To carry out its mission, DPPC performs its own investigations, and directs and
DPPC FY 2024 Summary of the Abuser Registry Page 2 of 4
oversees investigations conducted on its behalf by the Department of Developmental Services
(DDS), the Department of Mental Health (DMH), and MassAbility.
In 2020, Massachusetts enacted a law requiring the DPPC to “establish and maintain a
registry of care providers against whom the [DPPC] has made a substantiated finding of
registrable abuse.” Acts of 2020, c. 19. The DPPC Abuser Registry became effective
July 31, 2021, and is intended to protect individuals with intellectual or developmental
disabilities (I/DD) by barring care providers who have a substantiated finding of registrable
abuse from working with persons with I/DD. M.G.L. c. 19C, § 15. A substantiated finding of
registrable abuse is a finding by the DPPC, after investigation and opportunity to appeal, that a
care provider abused a person with I/DD. Id. Prior to employing or contracting with a care
provider, the DDS or an Employer shall determine whether the person’s name and date of birth
appear on the Abuser Registry. Id. DPPC created and maintains a database to manage and track
all activities of the Abuser Registry.
Pursuant to the statute, the DPPC is required to annually perform an audit of the Abuser
Registry and provide a summary of the audit to the Clerks of the House of Representatives and
Senate, the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means and the Joint Committee on
Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities. The statute states in pertinent part:
Annually, the commission shall perform an audit of the registry to ensure compliance
with this section, including that the commission added all substantiated findings of
registrable abuse to the registry and made proper notification to the department,
employers and care providers. A summary of the audit shall be filed not later than
October 31 of each year with the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the
house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children,
families and persons with disabilities. The summary shall include, but not be limited to:
(i) the number of substantiated findings of abuse found or not found to have been
registrable; (ii) the number of people on the registry; (iii) the number of people who were
added to the registry in the last fiscal year; (iv) the number of substantiated findings of
registrable abuse that were appealed in the last fiscal year; (v) the number of
substantiated findings of registrable abuse that were overturned on appeal in the last
fiscal year; (vi) the number of requests made by employers for information from the
registry and the number of such requests that were granted in the last fiscal year; (vii)
the total number of instances in the last fiscal year in which the commission failed to
notify the department or the last known employer of a care provider who was placed on
the registry and the reasons for such failures; and (viii) the number of employers found to
have failed to meet the requirements of subsection (d) in the last fiscal year. The
information contained in the summary shall be in a de-identified and aggregate form.
M.G.L. c. 19C, § 15 (f).
DPPC FY 2024 Summary of the Abuser Registry Page 3 of 4
To ensure this summary is clear, DPPC provides the following relevant statutory definitions
contained in M.G.L. c. 19C:
Caretaker, a [person with a disability's] parent, guardian or other person or agency responsible
for a [person with a disability's] health or welfare, whether in the same home as the [person with
a disability], a relative’s home, a foster home or any other day or residential setting.
Care Provider, a caretaker who is employed by, or contracts with, the department or an
employer to provide services or supports to a person with an intellectual or developmental
disability. Care Providers include Caretakers in any program licensed, contracted, or funded by
DDS.
Department, the department of developmental services.
Employer, an entity that provides services or treatment to persons with intellectual or
developmental disabilities pursuant to: (i) a contract or agreement with the department;
(ii) funding administered by the department; or (iii) a license issued pursuant to section 15 or
15A of chapter 19B.
Registrable Abuse, an act or omission of a care provider that results in serious physical injury or
serious emotional injury or constitutes Abuse per se of a person with an intellectual or
developmental disability between 18 and 59 years of age; provided, however, that ''registrable
abuse'' shall not include instances in which the commission, upon weighing the conduct of the
care provider and its outcome, determines that the incident was isolated and unlikely to reoccur
and that the care provider is fit to provide services or supports to persons with intellectual or
developmental disabilities.
In accordance with M.G.L. c. 19C, § 15 (f), DPPC performed an audit of activities of the
Abuser Registry for the period July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, 1 to ensure that the processes
and quality of the system complied with the statutory requirements. DPPC reports as follows:
Fiscal Year 2024
Substantiated Cases Against Care Providers 2 93
Substantiated Cases that Met Criteria for Registrability3 35
Number of Care Providers Listed on the Abuser Registry 4 102
1
All statistics in this report represent information for FY 2024, which runs from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024.
2
This number only includes substantiated allegations against care providers (i.e., caretakers in cases where the
Alleged Victim had a diagnosis of I/DD and the caretaker was employed by DDS or an Employer as defined by
M.G.L. c. 19C § 15 (a)). This number is not reflective of all substantiated DPPC investigations.
3
This number includes cases where Registered Alleged Abusers did not petition for review, or the DPPC affirmed
the investigation’s substantiation of registrable abuse through its internal petition for review process; it does not
include cases of substantiated registrable abuse that are pending either the petition for review process at the DPPC or
the appeals process at the Division of Administrative Law Appeals (DALA). As of July 1, 2024, there were 35
cases of substantiated registrable abuse pending the petition for review process at DPPC or the appeals process at
DALA.
4
Six individual care providers were substantiated against for registrable abuse at least twice in separate cases;
however, individuals can only be listed on the Abuser Registry once. In these cases, the due date of the care
providers’ eligibility to apply for removal from the Abuser Registry is adjusted to reflect five years from the most
recent date of substantiation.
DPPC FY 2024 Summary of the Abuser Registry Page 4 of 4
Number of Care Providers Added to the Abuser Registry during the 33
Fiscal Year
Number of Substantiated Findings of Registrable Abuse Appealed to 4
the Division of Administrative Law Appeals (DALA)
Number of Substantiated Findings of Registrable Abuse Overturned 2
by DALA on Appeal
Number of Appeals to Superior Court Following DALA Decision to 0
Uphold DPPC Findings (M.G.L. c. 30A, § 14)
Instances DPPC Failed to Notify DDS or Last Known Employer of 0
Care Provider who was Placed on the Abuser Registry
Number of Employers Found to Have Failed to Meet the 0
Requirements of Subsection (d) 5
Number of Requests Made by Employers for Information from the 33,276
Abuser Registry 6
Number of Requests that were Granted and Resulted in a 33,229
Determination
Should you have any questions regarding this Annual Summary, I can be reached by
email at nancy.alterio@mass.gov or by phone at (617) 727-6465, ext. 219.
Sincerely,
Nancy A. Alterio
Executive Director
cc: Sarah Peterson, Acting Commissioner, Department of Developmental Services
Michael D. Hurley, Senate Clerk
Steven T. James, House Clerk
5
Subsection (d) describes an Employer’s obligation to search a prospective care provider’s name on the Abuser
Registry before hire, and its prohibition to employ as a care provider, anyone whose name is on the Abuser Registry.
6
This number includes 47 search requests by Employers which were abandoned by the Employer prior to providing
documentation required to complete the search. If an Employer fails to submit the additional documentation, the
request is marked as incomplete and is closed without a determination.