SECTION 1. Chapter 23H: of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after Section 11 the following new section:

Section 12. (a) There shall be established a Statewide Center for Innovation and Change offering workforce development programs for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  The Statewide Center for Innovation and Change shall support staff development and innovation leading to an increased ability to place and support persons with disabilities in typical employment settings. 

(b) The Center shall work with community rehabilitation programs in adopting policies, procedures and practices that increase the placement of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Statewide Center for Innovation and Change shall offer training and intensive technical assistance, as well as program evaluation to those community rehabilitation programs and work with school age children, beginning at age 14 and adults with intellectual disabilities. These individuals may be referred to the Statewide Center for Innovation and Change by the Department of Developmental Services offering employment for such individuals. The Center may partner with the Department of Developmental Services to provide funds to direct service provider agencies in order to modify their structures, increase staff skills and correspondingly increase their placement rates for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities served. 

The Statewide Center for Innovation and Change shall recruit employers to assist in the identification of jobs as well as support the advancement of these individuals in the workplace. The center shall be run by a university center for excellence in disabilities, based at a public research university located in Massachusetts.