HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 91912        FILED ON: 8/3/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1912

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act creating a means for tracking the unmet needs of individuals with developmental disabilities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts..

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.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services shall establish a system of tracking the unmet needs of individuals with developmental disabilities in the Commonwealth.  The system shall consist of a central electronic database, using open-source software, operated and maintained by the Office of Disabilities and Community Services.  The content shall consist of data prepared and submitted by, without limitation, the following agencies: the Department of Mental retardation, the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind and the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.  Each agency shall annually submit  the requires data in a standard reporting format established by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services which shall include, without limitation, statistics on the number of individuals with developmental disabilities who apply for services with said agencies, the number of individuals  with developmental disabilities receiving services from the respective agency, the number of individuals with developmental disabilities who apply for services with said agencies and whose applications are denied.  The Office of Disabilities and Community Services shall enter the required data in the standard reporting format established by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and shall provide on-line public access to said reports.