VOR, COFAR and CCMR Team Up to Secure Changes to New Laws

October 22, 2014

In a letter sent today, three nonprofit advocacy organizations joined together asking the State Legislature to make important changes to legislation passed recently.

VOR, COFAR, and CCMR  (Malden, MA) all support access to high quality care across a continuum of care options for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). In a letter to the legislature, they sought changes to the National Background Check Law, the Eligibility and Autism Commission Law, and the Real Lives Law, all passed recently. 

“While all three laws,” the organizations wrote, “advance certain rights for people with I/DD, they also all contain shortcomings that will, upon implementation, harm the very people these new laws aim to assist.”

The letter enclosed three position papers, each calling on the legislature to “fix these shortcomings so that individuals with I/DD can realize the full and favorable impact of each new law.”

Position Papers:

•    "Long-Awaited Background Check Law Requires More Waiting. Advocates Call on Legislature to Hasten Implementation" (October 2014)

•    "New Eligibility and Autism Commission Law is Limiting; Advocates Call on Legislature to Change the New Law" (October 2014)

•    “‘Real Lives’ Bill misses its own mark by putting financial planning and control in the hands of strangers. Advocates call on Legislature to make necessary changes to protect individuals” (October 2014)