Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 6 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 172B the following section:-

Section 172C. For purposes of this section, the following words shall, unless the context requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-

"Elderly person", an individual who is sixty years of age or over.

"Disabled person", a person between the ages of eighteen and fifty-nine, inclusive, who is mentally retarded, as defined by section one of chapter one hundred and twenty-three B, or who is otherwise mentally or physically disabled and as a result of such mental or physical disability is wholly or partially dependent on others to meet his daily living needs.

Notwithstanding the provisions of section one hundred and seventy-two, criminal offender record information shall be available to any of the following entities which employ, accept as a volunteer or refer for employment to a client any individual who will provide care, treatment, education, training, transportation, delivery of meals, instruction, counseling, supervision, recreation or other services in a home or in a community based setting for any elderly person or disabled person or who will have any direct or indirect contact with such elderly or disabled persons or access to such persons' files:

(1) any agency which provides homemaker, home health aide, companion or other community based services to elderly persons or disabled persons in home or community based settings, including, but not limited to home health agencies certified under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act;

(2) a home care corporation established pursuant to the provisions of chapter nineteen A;

(3) a municipality; or

(4) any other entity receiving federal, state or local funds.

Such entities shall obtain all available criminal offender record information concerning any such individual from the criminal history systems board prior to employing such individual, accepting such individual as a volunteer or referring such individual for employment to an elderly or disabled person. Any entity obtaining information under this section shall not disseminate such information for any purpose other than to further the protection of the elderly or the disabled.

SECTION 2. The criminal history systems board may waive or reduce the fee assessable pursuant to section one hundred and seventy-two A of chapter six of the General Laws for criminal offender record information made available pursuant to section one.

SECTION 3. No entity as described in section one shall be required to obtain criminal offender record information as a condition of continued service of any person who is employed, is serving as a volunteer or has been referred for employment to a client and who serves in such position or capacity as set forth in said section one as of the effective date of this act.