BOSTON, MA– Senator Sal DiDomenico and his colleagues in the Massachusetts Legislature recently took historic steps to address the Alzheimer’s and dementia health care crisis in the Commonwealth voting into law the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s and Dementia Act. Passed by the Legislature in July, this first-in-the-nation legislation was signed into law by Governor Baker last week.

More than 130,000 people are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease in Massachusetts—those individuals are being cared for by more than 337,000 family and friends. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, in 2018 Massachusetts will spend more than $1.6 billion in Medicaid costs caring for people with Alzheimer’s.

“This new law is so important to the hundreds of thousands of people in our state whose lives have been touched by Alzheimer’s and dementia,” said Senator Sal DiDomenico, Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate. “We all know someone who has been impacted by these terrible diseases, and it has become clear that we as a Commonwealth need to talk bold action to fight this ever growing epidemic. I am very proud to have played a role in passing this landmark legislation into law, and I would like to thank Senator Barbara L'Italien for her tireless efforts on this bill.  I also want to especially thank the Alzheimer’s Association for all the great work they have done on this legislation and the work they continue to do for the individuals and families living with Alzheimer’s.”

“Alzheimer's is the single largest unaddressed public health threat in the 21st century and we remain on the front lines of this crisis every day here in the Commonwealth,” shared Daniel Zotos, Director of Public Policy & Advocacy of the Alzheimer’s Association, Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter.“This legislation follows in the tradition of Massachusetts being a national leader in health care and we commend the Legislature for ensuring everyone impacted by Alzheimer's gets the quality care and support they deserve. The Alzheimer’s Association would like to recognize Senator DiDomenico. Because of this legislation, families impacted by Alzheimer’s and dementia and our health care system will be much better prepared in fighting this epidemic.” 

Within S.2612, an Act relative to Alzheimer’s and related dementias in the Commonwealth, there are five major focuses:

•  Establishing a comprehensive state plan to address Alzheimer’s disease within the Executive Office of Elder Affairs while also establishing a permanent advisory council to coordinate government efforts and ensure resources are maximized and leveraged.

•  Requiring curriculum content about Alzheimer’s and other dementias be incorporated into continuing medical education programs that are required for granting the renewal of licensure for physicians, physician assistants, registered nurses and licensed nurse practitioners.

• Ensuring proper notification of an Alzheimer's or dementia diagnosis to a patient and providing information on available resources to both the patient and family.

• Improving cost effectiveness and patient and caregiver experience in acute care settings by requiring all state hospitals to implement an operational plan for the recognition and management of patients with dementia or delirium accountable to the Department of Public Health.

• Establishing minimum training standards for elder protective services social workers, to ensure protection from abuse and exploitation for elders with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

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BOSTON- Last week, the Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed Senator Sal DiDomenico’s bill to fight childhood hunger and boost participation rates in school breakfast programs in the Commonwealth’s high-poverty schools. S.2626, An Act regarding breakfast after the bell, would require all public K-12 schools with 60% or more students eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the federal National School Lunch Program to offer breakfast after the instructional day begins.

Massachusetts currently requires all high-poverty schools to provide breakfast to every eligible student. However, because breakfast is typically offered before the bell and in the cafeteria, participation levels are low— at less than 40%— compared to 80-90% participation for free and reduced lunch. Consequently, children are showing up to school hungry and unprepared to learn. Moving breakfast from before the bell to after the bell is a proven, simple, and effective strategy to boost breakfast participation in an effort to ensure that all students are fed and show up ready to learn every day.

 “No child who shows up to school hungry can possibly be ready to learn,” said Senator Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett), Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate. “I have seen the success of breakfast after the bell in my own district, and I am confident that this legislation will help to ensure that every child in the Commonwealth has access to a stigma-free and nutritious breakfast. Thank you to Senate President Karen Spilka for her commitment to making this a priority for the Massachusetts Senate and the Rise and Shine Coalition for their dedicated advocacy and tireless work to ensure that all children of the Commonwealth are able to start their days ready to learn.”

 “We have spent the last two years building a strong coalition of support, which includes school stakeholders, hunger advocates and legislators,” said Catherine Drennan, senior manager of public affairs at The Greater Boston Food Bank and the Rise and Shine Massachusetts coalition. “This is the moment we have been waiting for and we are looking forward to passing a bill that will assist with increasing access to school breakfast to over 150,000 low-income students across Massachusetts.”

This legislation would require approximately 600 Massachusetts schools serving low-income students to offer breakfast after the tardy bell through a variety of delivery models, including breakfast in the classroom, grab-and-go and second-chance breakfast. This flexibility allows school districts to select the model that best fits their students’ needs

As a federally reimbursed program, Breakfast After the Bell has the potential to provide up to $30 million statewide to Massachusetts school districts that increase participation rates to 80% and above. These payments are made directly to school nutrition departments, helping to support jobs, update kitchen equipment, and provide healthier menu options.

The bill has moved to the House of Representatives.

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BOSTON – Senator Sal DiDomenico and his colleagues in the Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed legislation to help thousands of students in the commonwealth who suffer from dyslexia. Dyslexia affects one in five children in the Commonwealth. However, learning disability screening procedures are inconsistent from district to district, and sometimes even within districts themselves. Consequently, many families struggle to get a proper diagnosis of dyslexia and cannot advocate for the appropriate services needed to ensure their child can learn to read and succeed in school.

An Act relative to students with dyslexia puts in place the systems to create early screening protocols critically necessary to improving early literacy and achieving reading proficiency by 3rd grade for all students statewide. Senator DiDomenico, a co-sponsor of this legislation, urged his colleagues to support this bill and spoke passionately on the Senate floor on the need for this piece of legislation.

“This bill is important to so many children and families across our Commonwealth,” said Senator DiDomenico, Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate. “No student should ever fall behind in school or be challenged by self-doubt due to dyslexia, and yet this is far too often the case for children with dyslexia, largely due to a lack of proper screening and diagnosis. Early screening and proper diagnosis is a game-changer for our kids to ensure they get the services they need and deserve to thrive in our schools and achieve the success they are truly capable of.”

When caught early and at the appropriate time, students with dyslexia can receive specialized instruction and learn reading strategies so they do not fall behind their peers. The longer a student has to wait for a diagnosis and try to learn to read without these interventions, however, the harder it will be for them to catch up. This often results in longer-term self-esteem and other issues.

Once students with dyslexia learn strategies to read with their dyslexia, they can go on to succeed independently without future supports, saving the commonwealth millions of dollars in special education costs. 

An Act relative to students with dyslexia sets up laws, regulations, and a system to support all students with dyslexia by:

• requiring the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in consultation with the Department of Early Education and Care, to issue guidelines to assist districts to develop screening protocols for students who have at least one indicator for dyslexia or another neurological learning disability;

• adding identification of dyslexia and other neurological learning disabilities to the goals of the early literacy panel; and

• tasking the early education panel with creating action steps to implement research-based recommendations from experts in early language and literacy development for student screening and teacher preparation for students with dyslexia and other reading disabilities.

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