BOSTON- The Massachusetts Senate recently passed Senator Sal DiDomenico’s bill, An Act relative to healthy youth (S.2459). This bill will ensure that Massachusetts schools electing to provide their students with sex education use age-appropriate and medically accurate curriculum that covers a comprehensive range of topics. The legislation also calls for sex education to be inclusive and appropriate for students regardless of gender, race, disability status, sexual orientation and gender identity. 

“I am very proud that the Massachusetts Senate has once again reaffirmed our commitment to this commonsense healthy policy that will ensure our youth have the tools needed to protect their health and form respectful relationships,” said Senator DiDomenico. “This legislation makes it clear that sex education in the Commonwealth must be inclusive for all students and emphasize the importance and necessity of consent. I would like to thank and congratulate the many advocates who have partnered with us on this legislation and worked tirelessly to ensure Massachusetts youth have the information they need to build the bright futures they deserve— without shame or judgement.”

Currently, when Massachusetts public schools provide their students with health education that covers sexual activity, there is no guarantee that the information provided is age-appropriate or medically accurate. This legislation changes this by requiring school districts that offer sex education to follow certain guidelines to ensure students are provided with age-appropriate, medically accurate, and comprehensive information.

The Senate passed similar versions of the Healthy Youth Act in prior sessions and this most recent version incorporates additional feedback from experts as well as advocates. This legislation does not require schools to offer sex education and also protects parents’ right to remove their children from all or part of sex education if they choose to do so — an action protected by state law. In addition, it provides districts that teach sex education curriculum with updated guidance on how to notify parents about these programs. 

Notification to parents and guardians must be in English, as well as any other commonly spoken languages by parents. Districts must also have a process for parents to review the program instruction materials prior to the start of the course, if the parents request it. 

Sex education programs have repeatedly been shown to work best when they emphasize the value of delaying sex, while also teaching students about the importance of protecting themselves from unintended consequences. As demonstrated by numerous studies, comprehensive sex education programs have been proven to delay the initiation of sex, increase use of contraception, lower the rates of STIs and unintended pregnancy among teens, and reduce reported levels of bullying towards LGBTQ youth in school.

A 2018 poll conducted by EMC Research showed overwhelming bipartisan support for sex education in Massachusetts, with 92% of likely voters agreeing that students should receive sex education in high school and 89% of likely voters agree that sex education should include comprehensive information, such as how to build healthy relationships and understand consent.

This bill now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.

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BOSTON –Last month, Senator Sal DiDomenico and his colleagues in the Massachusetts Legislature voted to enact An Act Relative to Children’s Health and Wellness. On November 26, 2019, Governor Charlie Baker signed this comprehensive bill into law, which includes two pieces of legislation filed by Senator DiDomenico:  An Act ensuring continuous healthcare coverage for youth who have aged-out of the department of children and families (S.35) and An Act relative to children with medical complexity (S.680). 

In its totality, An Act Relative to Children’s Health and Wellness aims to break down silos of service to better address the complex health and wellness needs specific to the Commonwealth’s 1.4 million children. The effort seeks to create a foundation for better access to services and more data to inform future policy, while supporting a holistic approach children’s wellbeing.                     

“I am thrilled that this comprehensive piece of legislation has officially been enacted, and I’m very proud to report that two of my bills have been included in this new law,” said Assistant Majority Leader Senator Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett). “I would especially like to highlight the provision from my bill that authorizes MassHealth to provide benefits to youth who have aged out of the state foster care system. By ensuring continuous healthcare coverage until age 26 for these young people, we guarantee they have the same access to basic healthcare that their peers are afforded and give more at-risk youth a better chance to lead healthy and successful lives.”

Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicaid became available to former foster children up to age twenty-six, provided they were in foster care at the age of 18. However, when the ACA went into effect in January 2014, many foster youth who had aged out of the Department of Children and Families (DCF)— but were under the age of 26— were unaware of their eligibility for health insurance through MassHealth.  Consequently, many who were in foster care on their 18th birthday lost MassHealth coverage after aging-out of the system.  The provision from Senator DiDomenico’s legislation addresses this inequity by codifying the policy that allows youth who have aged out of DCF to receive MassHealth benefits until they turn 26, and requires that these youth be automatically enrolled until they are no longer eligible.

An Act Relative to Children’s Health and Wellness also includes DiDomenico’s bill (S.680) that would require the Heath Policy Commission to conduct analysis within the next year of children with medicalcomplexity (CMCs) to analyze costs and population characteristics of this group in order to develop recommendations about how to serve this unique population. Children with medical complexity are a relatively small, yet growing group. With advancements in medical technology and care, the amount of child-fatalities as a result of medical complexity is decreasing, but the population of CMCs has increased steadily. With the growing number of children with medical complexity comes a growing need to understand this population to make sure the Commonwealth’s laws and medical systems continue to adapt and meet their needs. 

An Act Relative to Children’s Health and Wellness also seeks to address child wellness in the following areas:

• Requires insurance companies to maintain accurate and accessible provider directories for health plans. The provision directs companies to make the directories available without requiring users to create a new online account or profile. The directory must be updated frequently to ensure the information is correct. Insurance companies must take steps to make the directors user-friendly for individuals with disabilities and limited English proficiency. Establishes a task force to develop recommendations to ensure the accurate electronic posting of directories headed by the Commissioner of Insurance. 

• Creates childhood behavioral health centers of excellence via a pilot program that designates three regional centers to act as clearinghouses to connect families, providers, and educators to services and training opportunities. Requires the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to report on progress and impact after one year of implementation.

• Establishes a task force to study pediatric behavioral health screening tools.

• Creates a special commission to examine the pediatric workforce to address pediatric provider availability and adequacy. The Commission would recommend strategies for increasing the pipeline of pediatric providers and expanding access to practicing providers. 

• Charges a 17-member special commission to review school-based health centers for the purpose of strengthening, improving, and considering ways to replicate best practices across the state.

• Create special commission chaired by the Child Advocate to review and make recommendations on mandated reporting to improve responses to child abuse and neglect.

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(from left to right) Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, Superintendent of Chelsea Public Schools Mary Bourque,

and Senator Sal DiDomenico

BOSTON – Last week, Senator Sal DiDomenico joined with his colleagues in the Legislature and education advocates from across the state at the official bill signing ceremony for the Student Opportunity Act.  Earlier in November, both chambers of the Massachusetts Legislature unanimously voted to enact this bill, which ensures public schools have the resources needed to provide high-quality education to students across the state, regardless of zip code or income level. Over the seven-year implementation timeline, the Student Opportunity Act will provide an estimated $1.5 billion in new funding to support our public schools. 

These funds will have a positive and direct impact on cities in Senator DiDomenico's district such as Everett, Chelsea and Boston, and an increase of tens of millions of dollars will be allocated directly to these school departments.  In addition, there will be a permanent fix to how the state counts our economically disadvantaged youth.  This issue, in particular, has been an area DiDomenico has focused on to ensure we get an accurate number so districts will get the funding they need to serve all children.

In 2015, Senator DiDomenico was appointed to serve as a member of the Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC), which was charged with reviewing the state’s Chapter 70 education funding formula and identifying “educational programs and services necessary to achieve the Commonwealth’s educational goals.” Through their review, the FBRC estimated that Massachusetts public schools did not have the full funding needed to educate all the Commonwealth’s students — by an estimated $1 to 2 billion— and made a series of recommendations to reform and update the state’s education formula. The Student Opportunity Act that was signed by Governor Baker fully implements the recommendations of the FBRC and provides huge funding increases in new Chapter 70 aid over and above inflation when fully implemented over the next seven years.

“The Student Opportunity Act is the culmination of many years of work from legislators, education experts, and grassroots advocates alike, and I could not have been happier to celebrate this bill signing last week with everyone who helped to make this legislation possible,” said Assistant Majority Leader Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett). “This is going to be a game changer for our schools, and I am very grateful the Education Committee Chairs for crafting such a strong piece of legislation and Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Bob DeLeo for their commitment to getting this done for our students. Of course, I want to also thank and congratulate my friend Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz who championed this legislation in the Senate and whom I have had the pleasure of working with on this issue for years now. Equitable education funding has been a longtime priority of mine, and I am proud to say that this day has finally come for the students and educators of our Commonwealth.”

The Student Opportunity Act provides significant support to school districts that serve English learners and high concentrations of low-income students. At the same time, all school districts across the Commonwealth will benefit from updates to the existing funding formula, along with increased state investments in vital education aid programs such as special education transportation, school construction and renovation, and the 21st Century Education Program.

Adopting the recommendations of the FBRC,  the Student Opportunity Act modernizes the K-12 education funding and policy landscape in four areas:

• Estimates school districts’ employee and retiree health care costs using up to date health insurance trend data collected by the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC).

•  Increases special education enrollment and cost assumptions to more accurately reflect district enrollment.

• Increases funding for English learners (EL) and differentiates funding by grade level to reflect the greater resources required to educate our older EL students.

• Addresses the needs of districts educating high concentrations of low-income students by:

• Providing additional funding based on the share of low-income students in each district; districts educating the largest percentage of low-income students will receive an additional increment equal to 100 percent of the base foundation; and

• Returning the definition of low-income to 185 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, as opposed to the 133 percent level used in recent years.

Governor Charlie Baker signed this bill into law on November 26, 2019 at the English School in Boston.

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