House overhauls homecare industry rules

By Christian M. Wade

» Statehouse Reporter

BOSTON — Homecare workers will be required to undergo criminal background screenings and regular training under a bill approved by the state House of Representatives Wednesday as part of an overhaul of rules for the largely unregulated industry.

The legislation, which passed by a vote of 153-0, will require the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services to set up a new licensing process for homecare workers. It also gives the state agency the authority to approve licenses and investigate allegations of neglect or abuse of elders under the care of licensed homecare agencies.

House Speaker Ron Mariano said the legislation “takes important steps to improve services for seniors, and to ensure a safe work environment for homecare workers.”

Under the bill, homecare agencies will be required to disclose anyone with a 5% ownership interest in the company, have workers’ compensation and liability insurance, and provide “appropriate” levels of training for employees.

The bill also creates two advisory councils to come up with recommendations on standards and procedures to “address the abusive treatment” of homecare workers, personal care attendants, and homecare consumers.

“This legislation could not have been passed at a more critical time,” said state Rep. Thomas Stanley, D-Waltham, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Aging and Independence. “With our aging population expected to grow exponentially in the coming years and the number of family caregivers shrinking, the demand for home care will subsequently increase.”

Passage of the bill won praise from advocacy groups representing the elderly, disabled and home-bound individuals who depend on homecare attendants for basic needs from eating and bathing to going to the bathroom and dressing.

The bill will “implement standards that most people assume are already required, said Jake Krilovich, executive director of the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts.

“Implementing a licensure system will ensure that every Massachusetts resident receiving care at home can do so with confidence, knowing their providers are part of a

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system that values safety and professionalism,” he said.

Betsey Crimmins, executive director of the Mass Aging Access advocacy group, said the legislation “will fill longstanding gaps in the Commonwealth’s current system, bring Massachusetts in line with the majority of other states, and strengthen our long-term services and support network.”

The measure is also backed by unions representing homecare workers, such as the Service Employees International Union Local 1199, which touted provisions of the bill setting minimum standards and operational procedures to address “abusive treatment and bullying” of homecare workers and their clients.

“With persistent staffing shortages and projections of growing need, urgent legislative action is needed to establish improved oversight over homecare agency employers, better prepare to meet future care demands, and to reduce the far-too-common abuse and workplace bullying of homecare workers and/or their consumer clients,” SEIU1199 Vice President Cari Medina said in a statement.

The legislation must still be approved by the Senate before heading to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk for consideration.

Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.