Massachusetts Agencies and Organizations

Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC)
www.mass.gov/dppc
The DPPC is an independent state agency whose purpose is to investigate and remediate cases of abuse of the Commonwealth's most vulnerable citizens. DPPC protects adults with disabilities from abusive acts and omissions of their caregivers through investigation, oversight, public awareness, and prevention.

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Department of Mental Retardation (DMR)
www.mass.gov/dmr
DMR is dedicated to creating, in partnership with others, innovative and genuine opportunities for individuals with mental retardation/developmental disabilities to participate fully and meaningfully in, and contribute to, their communities as valued members. DMR provides assistance in job placement, transportation, housing, or intense levels of treatment, monitoring and care. DMR provides these services through state-operated programs and with 265 provider agencies across the state.

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Department of Mental Health (DMH)
www.mass.gov/dmh
DMH assures and provides access to services and supports to meet the mental health needs of individuals of all ages, enabling them to live, work and participate in their communities. The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) sets the standards for the operation of mental health facilities and community residential programs and provides clinical, rehabilitative and supportive services for adults with serious mental illness, and children and adolescents with serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance.

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Massachusetts District Attorneys Association (MDAA)
www.mass.gov/mdaa
The MDAA is an independent state agency that supports the eleven elected Massachusetts District Attorneys and their combined staff of over 1,600 employees, including 700 prosecutors and almost 300 victim-witness advocates.

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Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC)
www.mass.gov/mrc
MRC promotes equality, empowerment, and independence of individuals with disabilities. MRC is responsible for Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Community Services, and eligibility determination for the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) federal benefits programs.

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Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB)
www.mass.gov/mcb
MCB provides the highest quality rehabilitation and social services to blind individuals, leading to independence and full community participation. MCB can provide resources including materials in Braille.

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Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MCDHH)
www.mass.gov/mcdhh
MCDHH serves as the principal agency in the state on behalf of deaf, late deafened, and hard of hearing people. Legal, court interpreters and CART requests statewide are handled by a Legal/Court Interpreter Referral Specialist.

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Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance (MOVA)
www.mass.gov/mova
MOVA helps crime victims by providing direct assistance to crime victims and their families, to reducing the impact that crime has on both victims and society, and to protecting and advocating for the rights, services and dignity deserved by victims in the aftermath of crime. MOVA promotes this mission through direct victim services, advocacy, legislation and public policy, program and grant administration, professional training, and public education and outreach.

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Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE)
www.mass.gov/dph/fch/sane
The SANE program creates the coordinated, expert forensic care necessary to increase successful prosecution of sex offenders and to deliver the highest level of care to sexual assault victims age 12 and over accessing hospital emergency departments and urgent care centers.

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Attorney General Martha Coakley's Disability Rights Project
www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pageid=1195
The DRP provides a centralized enforcement agency to enforce both federal and state laws applicable to individuals with disabilities. The DRP works on disability rights issues with other state attorneys general and the Department of Justice. The site offers publications and press releases on recent cases.

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Coalition for the Legal Rights of the Disabled (CLRD)
www.psychiatry.com/clrd
The CLRD is a broad coalition of legal and other advocates, including people with disabilities, united to promote empowerment, liberation, and integration of all people with disabilities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

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Disability Law Center
www.dlc-ma.org
The DLC provides information, referral, advice and counsel regarding legal rights and services for people with disabilities.

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Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD)
www.mass.gov/mcad
MCAD’s mission is to ensure equality of opportunity by enforcing the Commonwealth's Anti-discrimination laws, chapters 151B & 272, through the resolution of complaints of discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, services, credit and education.

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Massachusetts Office on Disability (MOD)
www.mass.gov/mod
The purpose of the Office is to bring about full and equal participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of life. MOD is the Commonwealth's Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinating Agency.

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Massachusetts Advocates Standing Strong (M.A.S.S.)
www.massadvocatesstandingstrong.org/home.php
M.A.S.S. is a 501 (C) 3 nonprofit organization, founded and operated by persons with cognitive and developmental disabilities (self-advocates). They are affiliated with Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), the national self-advocacy organization. Their mission is to empower self-advocates through education so we can make choices that improve and enrich our lives.

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New England DBTAC - Region (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
www.adaptenv.org
Provides information and publications on Title I: Employment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, technical assistance on accessibility. All regional contacts are listed with their own websites.

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Trial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
www.mass.gov/courts/jury/otherwis.htm
Advocates and prosecutors will find information on the accessibility of the Commonwealth's courthouses.

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National Agencies And Organizations

National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA)
www.apsnetwork.org
NAPSA’s mission is to improve the quality and availability of protective services for disabled adults and elderly persons who are abused, neglected or exploited and are unable to protect their own interests. NAPSA is the only national organization representing the interests of Adult Protective Services (APS) programs, staff and the victims they serve.

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National District Attorney Association (NDAA)
www.ndaa.org
In carrying out its mission—“To be the voice of America’s prosecutors and to support their efforts to protect the rights and safety of the people,”—NDAA provides professional guidance and support to its members, serves as a resource and education center, follows public policy issues involving criminal justice and law enforcement, and produces a number of publications. NDAA’s government affairs office tracks legislative and regulatory criminal justice issues in Congress and the administration and provides information on these and related issues to prosecutors.

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National Association for State Directors of Developmental Disability Systems (NASDDDS)
http://www.nasddds.org/index.shtml
The National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) is a nonprofit organization, established in 1964, to improve and expand public services to people with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities. NASDDDS' mission is to assist member state agencies in building person- centered systems of services and supports for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

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Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE)
www.sabeusa.org
SABE’s mission is to ensure that people with disabilities are treated as equals and that they are given the same decisions, choices, rights, responsibilities, and chances to speak up to empower themselves; opportunities to make new friends; and to learn from their mistakes.

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Justice For All E-mail Network
www.jfanow.org
Defend and advance disability rights and programs in Congress, national and state organizations. Works to transmit information from Congress to advocacy organizations, provides a mailing list for up-to-date alerts about disability issues.

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The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
www.bazelon.org
Legal advocacy organization for people with mental illness and mental retardation. Advocates for choice and dignity in reforming public systems, access to housing, health care and support services, protection against discrimination.

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The Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law
www.abanet.org/disability/home.html
Offers information on legislation/regulations, Supreme Court decisions, case law development, and assistance for disability law research.

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Western Law Center for Disability
www.wlcdr.org
Promotes the rights of persons with disabilities and the public interest in and awareness of those rights. Includes cancer legal resource center, disability mediation center, and the civil rights litigation project.

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DisabilityInfo.gov
www.DisabilityInfo.gov
DisabilityInfo.gov is the federal government's one-stop Web site for people with disabilities, their families, employers, vocational rehabilitation and human resource professionals and many others.

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