Erin Hehn Testifies for Special-Needs Bill
Earlier this month, Erin Hehn, ’12, testified before the Massachusetts state legislature’s Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities concerning a bill that would help provide services for intellectually and developmentally disabled adults. Erin‘s testimony was based on a research project that she undertook while working this past summer at the Disability Law Center in Boston. Her research project studied similar programs in other states and the requirements for eligibility to participate in the program. She urged the legislators to move away from the current eligibility requirements that uses a cutoff number of 70 on an IQ test to a more flexible approach advocated by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
Erin is thankful for the experience and moved by the testimony of the parents of those with disabilities. She is hopeful that her research will help the Joint Committee “look favorably on the bill and be able to help a population of people who currently do not get any assistance.”
Erin Hehn is currently a third-year law student at Villanova University School of Law. This past summer she worked as a Summer Law Fellow at the Disability Law Center in Boston, Massachusetts, a nonprofit public interest law firm.
