On July 1, 2009, new and improved CORI regulations went into effect for people seeking jobs in health and human services programs that are operated or funded by Massachusetts state agencies under the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS or HHS). The regulations remove undue burdens previously imposed on applicants with CORI.

The most important barrier eliminated by the new regulations is the "lifetime presumptive disqualification" provision, which required job seekers with certain convictions to jump through hoops, the most onerous and unrealistic being to get a criminal justice official to send an HHS provider a writing stating that a job seeker with CORI "does not pose an unacceptable risk of harm to persons served by the program"-a certification that these officials are generally trained not to make.^[40]

         The new EOHHS regulations contain the following helpful provisions^[41]:

1. If, after consideration of the enumerated factors, the provider decides to hire a candidate with a Table A pending charge or conviction, it must submit on an HHS prescribed form the reasons for its decision to the HHS Secretary or applicable sub­agency head, who has five business days to disapprove the hire or request more information. The agency may seek additional information, which may include a written assessment by a qualified mental-health profession, the cost of which will be assumed by the agency.
2. If, after consideration of the factors, the provider decides not to hire a candidate with a Table A crime or applicable Table B offense, the HHS prescribed form will be filled out and maintained on file in a secure location.
3. A provider who decides not to hire a candidate with a CORI must inform the applicant of the potential adverse decision; tell him or her what part of the record appears to make him or her ineligible; provide the applicant with an opportunity to dispute the accuracy and relevance of the CORI; and after receiving any additional documentation, review it with the applicant and then notify him or her of the decision.

[40] There is a lengthy background on the old draconian HHS regulations. In summary, in 1996, EOHHS issued a directive that required all its sub-agencies and providers when hiring a person who might interact with clients, to do a CORI check and then not be able to hire the person, ever, or until 10- or 5-year waiting periods, if the person had a crime on one or another of separate lists of crimes included in the directive. In 2000, job applicants impacted by the policy filed a lawsuit, Cronin, et al. v. O'Leary, Suffolk Superior Court, Civil Action No. 00-1713F.

In August 2001, Judge Ralph Gants issued a decision finding the "forever" or lifetime disqualification bar unconstitutional and ordering HHS to adopt regulations which would give applicants a "fair opportunity" to rebut the presumption of permanent dangerousness to clients, which lay at the heart of the policy. HHS complied with the Judge's order by eliminating the lifetime bar, but imposing hoop-jumping procedures, including the requirement to obtain a criminal justice certification, which made getting HHS jobs virtually impossible.

[41] The agencies, with citations to their regulations, follow: EOHHS itself, 101 CMR 15; Dept. of Early Education and Care (formerly the Office of Child Care Services), 102 CMR 1.05; Dept. of Mental Health, 104 CMR 34; Dept. of Public Health, 105 CMR 164.041-.046; Dept. of Transitional Assistance, (no CORI regs; formerly 106 CMR 150); Mass. Rehabilitation Comm'n, 107 CMR 14; Dept. of Youth Services, 109 CMR 12; Dept. of Social Services, 110 CMR 18; Mass. Comm'n for the Blind, 111 CMR 9; Mass. Comm'n for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, 112 CMR 6; Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, (no CORI regs; its title in the CMR is 114); Dept. of Developmental Services (formerly Dept. of Mental Retardation) (no CORI regs; formerly 115 CMR 11); Soldiers Home in Holyoke, 119 CMR 1; Office of Refugees and Immigrants, 121 CMR 4; Soldiers Home in Mass. (also known as the Chelsea Soldiers Home), 122 CMR 1; Division of Medical Assistance, 130 CMR 710. At the time of this edition, only DPH, DDS, and DTA had revised or rescinded its CORI regulations to make its policies consistent with the new HHS regulations.

[42] The list of Table A crimes is contained in the Appendix.