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Salary Bonus in FY 14 Budget
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Responding to appeals from the Direct Support Workforce, and action by both the House and Senate, the Conference Committee included $11.5 Million for a one time reserve payment to human service workers earning less than $40,000 per year.
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Head Injury Trust Fund
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Advocates for people with head injuries are pleased with the Conference Committee's action on the following items:
Line Item 4120-6000 Head Injury Services funded at $12,215,519
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The HITS Trust Fund will now devote 100% of the surcharges on assessed fines for motor vehicle violations.
The HITS fund trust fund allocation revision was a major priority of the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts. 
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AFC Study Mandates
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Adult Foster Care Providers are pleased that the Conference Committee has directed EOHHS to complete a rate review of it's program.
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DDS Family Support Gains
|  The FY 14 Budget Conference Committee Report contained good news for the one program that took the greatest hit during the Great Recession.
The Conference Committee added an additional $1 million to Line Item 5920-3000, DDS Respite and Family Support Programs recognizing the Legislature's growing recognition of the cost effectiveness of in home and family supports.
Other key Conference Committee Outcomes:
Line Item 5920-2025 DDS Day and Work funded at the higher House Number of $161,873,253.
Line Item 5920-5000 DDS Turning 22 funded at $6.5 million representing a $500,000 increase over the previous year.
Line Item 5920-2000 DDS Community Residential funded at $847,151,588. This line item is inclusive of partial costs for implementing Chapter 257 Residential Rate Reform. The Patrick Administration will need to clarify its position on implementing Chapter 257 and subsequently request an FY 14 Supplemental Appropriation for this account. In their original House One Budget, the State indicated it would roll out 50% of the owed rate by October 1, 2013, however in subsequent meetings with providers, EOHHS & DDS confirmed that October 1, 2013 was not a viable date for the department. There has been some discussion of either a January or April 2014 rate roll out by EOHHS. The former date will require a supplemental budget request. The position of ADDP and The Collaborative is that the state law requires the rate to have been in place by no later than today, July 1, 2013, and any rate roll out will need to be funded back to this date.
Line Item 5930-1000 DDS State Facilities funded at $122,672,119, which deletes funding for Monson Developmental Center, closed last year, deletes funding for Glavin Developmental Center, closed in June 2013; and excludes funding for Fernald Developmental Center, which remains open and will likely be the subject of an additional DDS Supplemental Budget Request.
Though Monson and Glavin Developmental Centers both were successfully closed with residents moved to community or other state sites, thirteen individuals remain in the nearly closed Fernald  Developmental Center, as their parents, guardians and family lawyers continue to exercise every possible objection to keep the Western Hemisphere's oldest state institution in operation. Thus, costing state taxpayers an additional unallocated $10.6 million or roughly $815,384 per person, despite the availability of equal or better services available in community or other settings at significantly less cost.
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