A pair of state budget amendments would end the practice of administering aversives, or electric skin shocks, to disabled children and adults.

The Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, thought to be the only facility in the country that uses electric shock therapy to curtail behavior, is in Joyce’s Senate district.

In 2011, the Department of Developmental Services adopted regulations that restricted the use of these shocks, but these regulations have been challenged in court. The passage of Joyce’s amendment in the Senate version of the fiscal year 2017 budget would eliminate any ambiguity in these provisions and ban the use of aversive interventions in any program operated, funded or licensed by the Department of Developmental Services.

A second amendment, also adopted by the Senate, goes a step further in banning “any procedure which causes signs of physical pain” for the purposes of changing the behavior of a person with disabilities in any program or facility in the Commonwealth. It also bans any form of punishment which denies a person with a disability adequate sleep, food, shelter, bedding or access to bathroom facilities.

“The Senate made the right decision today to take steps to end this barbaric practice in Massachusetts,” Joyce said. “We owe it to our constituents and to each other as human beings to ensure each and every person is treated in a humane and respectful manner.”

A joint conference committee will be formed, tasked with reconciling the differences between the final House and Senate budgets. Fiscal Year 2017 begins July 1.