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For more information about the Providers' Council news coverage or to request an interview with Providers' Council President and CEO Michael Weekes, please e-mail Bill Yelenak or call him at 617-428-3637 x122.
2010
February 28, 2010 - States Move to Revoke Charities' Tax Exemptions (The New York Times)
Michael D. Weekes, chief executive of Providers' Council, a trade association representing organizations that provide human services in Massachusetts, said that more and more cities and towns in that state were pressing nonprofit groups to make similar agreements.
“Those may seem less onerous than what other places are considering,” Mr. Weekes said, “but the bottom line is, they still cut into our ability to deliver vital services.” [Read more]
Michael D. Weekes, president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers Inc., said cuts in human service programs would eliminate services to individuals with disabilities, children at risk of abuse and those seeking work-force support. He argued cuts should come from other areas. [Read more]
January 27, 2010 - Patrick budget sees a 3 percent boost in spending (State House News Service)
"We know the economy is bad and Governor Patrick is dealing with a $3 billion budget gap," said Michael Weekes, president of the Providers' Council, which represents community-based human service organizations. "He has called for a 'shared sacrifice' when making these difficult decisions, but he has placed the huge burden of balancing this budget on the human services community and avoided cuts to other sectors. That does not, in our judgment, speak to a shared sacrifice." [Read more]
Also ran in:
Brookline Tab, Dedham Daily News Transcript
2009
December 4 - Administration retreats from Medicaid cuts (State House News Service)
Human services advocates are cheering a move by Gov. Deval Patrick to retreat from the administration’s proposal to cut $100 million from state Medicaid, or MassHealth.
“We were obviously relieved that they had reversed their decision on these MassHealth cuts which were absolutely dreadful,” said Michael Weekes, president of the Providers Council, which represents thousands of human service workers.
Administration officials confirmed the decision late Friday afternoon after placing calls to human services groups informing them that the programs would remain intact thanks to an $82 million settlement in a tax case in favor of the state. [Read more]
December 3 - State officials hear impact of human services cuts (State House News Service)
At the outset of the four-hour hearing, Bigby requested that testimony include not only pleas to spare programs but also suggestions about where to cut or find efficiencies, a prospect that had some disability advocates worrying they were being asked to target each other. Midway through the hearing, Bigby clarified her request, saying "we don't believe in pitting vulnerable populations against each other."
One disability advocate suggested the state look the cut Commonwealth Care programs, which connect low-income residents with subsidized private health insurance. Michael Weekes, president of the Providers Council, told the News Service he hadn't heard much of a groundswell of support for reducing the program, the centerpiece of the state's landmark health reform law, particularly because many people who require safety net services are also members of Commonwealth Care. [Read more]
November 24 - Governor Patrick hosts human services summit (New England Cable News)
More than 300 human service providers from across Massachusetts, many of them Providers' Council members, gathered at the University of Massachusetts-Boston for a human service summit with Governor Deval Patrick to address critical issues facing the sector.
Below is a broadcast courtesy of NECN, which features an interview with Providers' Council Board Member & President/CEO of Work, Inc., Jim Cassetta and Council President/CEO Michael Weekes, who highlighted the need for more support for innovations like the work of the Pine Street Inn's Abundant Table social enterprise.
September 4 - Human service sector assets rise (Boston Business Journal)
The Boston-based Providers Council released a report this summer showing that human service organizations account for nearly one-quarter of all nonprofits reporting in Massachusetts, and have assets totaling nearly $8.4 billion.
Keep in mind the report is crafted from information gathered by the National Center for Charitable Statistics in 2006 — the good old days for nonprofits. While nonprofits have experienced extreme shifts in the past year, 2006 is the most recent year for which full information is available to take a comprehensive look at organizations working in the human service sector, said Michael Weekes, Providers Council president and CEO. [Read more]
June 27 - New Mass. ethics bill concerns human service agencies (Springfield Republican)
Michael D. Weekes of Longmeadow, president of the Providers Council in Boston, a trade association of 300 mostly private, nonprofit organizations, said the bill will cover people who shouldn't be considered lobbyists.
The overwhelming majority of executive directors or presidents of the 300 organizations are currently not registered as lobbyists but might be captured by the bill. He said the public wasn't crying out for more registered lobbyists as part of overhauling ethics.
Weekes said the bill could stifle political work by human service agencies if employees need to limit their advocacy to avoid registering as lobbyists.
"This bill was intended to clean up Beacon Hill, but the reality is this legislation may also eliminate the ability of thousands of human services employees to advocate for some of the most vulnerable residents in the commonwealth," said Weekes, who is a registered lobbyist. [Read more]
June 4 - Human service providers press for Senate version of ethics bill (State House News Service)
Human service providers on Thursday said the Senate’s version of an ethics law overhaul would protect their ability to advocate without having to register as lobbyists, and they urged a conference committee to adopt the Senate proposal.
Under other proposals, “It would be difficult for [providers] to advocate on important social issues, such as leading last year’s campaign to defeat Question 1 or – more recently – pushing for revenue raising activities to adequately fund programs,” said Providers Council President Michael Weekes, in a letter to members of the conference committee. “These hard-working individuals must be allowed to advocate on behalf of individuals with disabilities and the entire human services sector.” [Read more]
A division among House members exposed itself
Tuesday during a hearing on the fate of several of the state's institutions for the severely mentally disabled, marked for closure by the Patrick administration.
Last month, the House voted to postpone closing the facilities - the Fernald Center in Waltham, the Glavin Regional Center in Shrewsbury, the Monson Developmental Center in Palmer, and the Templeton Developmental Center in Baldwinville - until a cost-benefit analysis is done to determine the effect of moving the institutions' 870 residents into community settings. ...
"Let us stop the battles and move on," said Michael Weekes, president of the Providers' Council, according to prepared testimony. "We are the only remaining New England state with multiple monuments to an era that declared that people with mental disabilities should be segregated." [Read more]
March 13 - Mass. nonprofits wary of charitable cap (Boston Business Journal)
A proposal by President Barack Obama to lower the cap on charitable deductions has nonprofit leaders in Massachusetts on alert, worried the plan could turn an already difficult economic situation into quicksand for struggling organizations.
Sensing fresh financial pressure, local nonprofit leaders were noticeably sober as they absorbed the Obama Administration’s tax proposal, crafted by a president who was elected with a gush of goodwill from the nonprofit sector. The plan would increase the tax rate for the nation’s highest income earners and lower the rate at which certain itemized deductions, including charitable giving, could be taken to offset tax liability.
Support for Obama aside, and promising to give him more time to work through the details, leaders of the state’s nonprofit sector generally agreed that his plan would hinder fundraising, no matter how committed the donors.
“With economic uncertainty greatly affecting the social service sector, we should be thinking of incentives so these organizations will get more help instead of disincentives so they get less,” said Michael Weekes, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers Inc. [Read more]
February 13 - The advocate (Boston Business Journal)
In a different life, Michael Weekes might have been a pro baseball pitcher — at least, that would be his dream. Instead, he has become one of the strongest advocates in human services in Massachusetts.
For years, Weekes has been an advocate for children and families. Growing into his role as a formidable defender for human service initiatives, his path took him into politics for four years as the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Social Services under then Gov. William Weld.
For the past decade, Weekes has been president of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, a statewide association of health and human service agencies. Weekes discussed his advocacy for the sector with reporter Mary Moore. [Read more]
February 10 - Massachusetts Nonprofits Could Benefit from Federal Stimulus Bill (Massnonprofit.org)
February 10, 2009 — If provisions of the House version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, popularly known as the stimulus bill, now being negotiated with the Senate in Washington, D.C., become law , Massachusetts nonprofits could see donations increase, gain access to credit, and
improve the ability of volunteers to use their own vehicles to deliver services.
Michael Weekes, president and CEO of the Providers Council, the state’s leading organization of human services nonprofits, said, “We continue to hope that the economic stimulus package will fully recognize the importance of the nonprofit and human services sectors. We need the federal government to designate funding for nonprofits and human services, as these are the sectors that often help people in times of great crisis.” [Read more]
January 28 - Patrick's recession budget relies on taxes,
fees, spending cuts, reserve use (Belmont Citizen-Herald)
Patrick cut a $23 million salary reserve account that provided a cost-of-living adjustment for almost 30,000 human service workers.
“These lowest-paid individuals have already sacrificed their salary adjustment this year,” said Providers’ Council CEO Michael Weekes in a statement. “This will result in two years with level funded salary levels. Many of them make less than $12 per hour to do increasingly complex tasks for those who have a physical or mental disability.” [Read more]
January 26 - State budget cuts will hurt Swampscott, cause layoffs, school and otherwise (Swampscott Reporter)
Michael Weekes, president of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, said the governor should be wary of further cuts to safety net programs that help the most vulnerable members of society — the sick and elderly. In a round of budget cuts in October, Patrick cut deeply into human service accounts, forcing the closure of some day programs for the mentally ill and sending shock waves through a community of providers already struggling with low wages and minimal rates. [Read more]
January 23 - Patrick announces planned local aid cuts, tax hike options (State House News Service)
Michael Weekes, president of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, said the governor should be wary of further cuts to safety net programs that help the most vulnerable members of society – the sick and elderly.
“It seems to me there should be some serious consideration toward preserving the safety net that we have here in Massachusetts,” Weekes said. “We already have made significant layoffs, program cuts and people who are no longer receiving services from the first round of cuts. I’ve got to believe that the governor is going to be seriously weighing that.” [Read more]
January 1 - Human service providers to receive raises (State House News Service)
The Patrick administration has begun the process of releasing $23 million to boost the salaries of workers who care for the sick, disabled and elderly, after a delay that had some human service providers fretting over whether they'd see raises at all. Michael Weekes, president of the Massachusetts Council of Human Services Providers was as jubilant Wednesday as he was dismayed earlier this month when the raises were in doubt. [Read more]
2008
December 16 - The neediest suffer most (Boston Globe - Adrian Walker column)
Amy Lopes has been an administrator at Bay Cove Human Services for five years, but probably not for much longer. Lopes, who is 30, works with mentally ill people, supervising job training and helping them find work. They range in age from 16 to 65, and are exactly the sort of people advocates call "vulnerable." Lopes will not be leaving her job at the end of this month because she has done anything wrong. Far from it. It is because the Commonwealth of Massachusetts can no longer afford her services. The programs she works in have been slashed because of a huge cut in human services spending, mandated by the state's massive deficit and the sluggish economy. [Read more]
Thirty-thousand human service providers expecting a raise this month may be out of luck, just when winter heating and holiday shopping bills are coming due. Twenty-three million dollars earmarked for the lowest-earning human service providers, approved by lawmakers earlier this year and signed into law by the governor, have been closely held by the administration with no timetable for release. [Read more]
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, NOV. 19, 2008….. Representatives from the mutual fund industry, small businesses, and human service providers on Wednesday tore into new rules aimed at cutting down on identity theft, as the Patrick administration's top consumer affairs official said businesses could handle the regulations. The groups, which included the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Providers' Council, and the Investment Company Institute, called for more time ‐ as much as two years ‐ to implement the encryption and inventory requirements. They said the current regulations, set to take effect starting next May after an implementation delay was approved last week, would lead to closed businesses. [Read more]
FITCHBURG -- Dolores Thibault-Munoz, executive director of the Cleghorn Neighborhood Center, got a phone call and an e-mail she was dreading earlier this month. Due to state budget cuts, Fitchburg State College will no longer pay for seven work-study tutors to go to the center."That was the first whack in the face," Thibault-Munoz said. "I just expect more of those to come."Local human service agencies and those across the state are already feeling the pinch of a slowing economy and Gov. Deval Patrick's announcement of $755 million worth of budget cuts. [Read more]
October 22 - Job-finding program on the block (MetroWest Daily News - News Article)
State budget cuts will gut a program that helps hundreds of local people with severe mental illnesses learn job skills and get back into the work force, human service providers said Tuesday. State officials plan to eliminate the $6.6 million Services for Employment and Education program, which serves about 2,000 people in Massachusetts, the agencies said. [Read more]
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, OCT. 10, 2008.....A somber air hung in the halls of the capitol Friday as global markets lurched and reverberated a little closer to home Friday. State officials held a string of meetings thin on details but thick with anxiety about forthcoming budget cuts. [Read more]
August 6 - Service agencies win hike in rates (Springfield Republican - News Article)
BOSTON - Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed legislation on Tuesday aimed at increasing state financing for private human service providers. The bill, passed last week by the state Legislature, transfers the authority for setting rates of payment for the providers to the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services. The legislation mandates that rates be "reasonable and adequate" to meet the costs of such providers as the Center for Human Development in Springfield, which has about 1,000 employees. [Read more]
Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation that human service providers say will ensure a series of rate increases over the next four years. As the signing approached, dozens of human service providers advocates gathered in the lobby of Patrick's office, many remarking on their years-long push for the legislation. [Read more]
June 24 - Senate approves human service provider rate bill (State House News Service - News Article)
A bill that would give more leverage to human services providers in setting the rates for their work was approved by the Senate Tuesday afternoon. The bill sets up regular reviews and cost of living adjustments for providers, who argue that the lack of such adjustments has made it difficult to retain qualified staff. The bill was revised by Senate Ways and Means to include a phased-in implementation, according to Michael Weekes, president of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers. [Read more]
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, APRIL 16, 2008.....Even as revenue continues to pour in above benchmarks, House leaders say their newly proposed $28 billion fiscal 2009 budget braces the commonwealth for a drastic drop‐off. The House Ways and Means Committee voted Wednesday afternoon to approve a budget proposal that cuts $109 million out of this year's line items, incorporates $396 million from increased corporate tax collections and a $1‐per‐pack cigarette tax and draws $229 million from the state's $2.2 billion stabilization reserve account, while blocking the next scheduled payment into the reserve. [Read more]
April 7 - Support Massachusetts human service providers (Lowell Sun - Letter to the Editor)
Every day, more than 185,000 dedicated individuals go to work to provide high-quality services to residents of the commonwealth who need assistance, many of them our friends and neighbors. The work these caregivers do helps to strengthen our society and builds caring communities in every city and town throughout Massachusetts. [Read more]
March 29 - Social service workers seek raises (Springfield Republican - News Article)
SPRINGFIELD - About 100 people turned out for a hearing yesterday on proposed legislation designed to help boost salaries for social service workers. State Sen. Gale D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, is lead sponsor of the bill, which would change how state payment rates are set for private and non-profit social service providers. [Read more]
March 28 - DiGravio: Crucial state service floundering (MetroWest Daily News - Opinion)
Now is the time for Massachusetts state government to recognize another important industry that needs help. The human service industry - the workers who take care of people with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, among many other afflictions - is in dire need of attention and investment. The non-profit organizations which provide these services are buckling under a tremendous strain of underfunding and overwork. [Read more]
March 27 - Agencies seeking funding increases (Springfield Republican - News Article)
BOSTON - Leaders in human services in Western Mass. will outline a proposal to boost state financing for the industry during an event tomorrow in Springfield. Rep. Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera, D-Springfield, will take testimony from providers and others on a bill that establishes a new standard of adequacy of care to be applied by the state when setting rates for private, nonprofit providers of social services. [Read more]
Every day, more than 100,000 dedicated individuals go to work to provide high-quality services to residents of the commonwealth who need assistance to get through the challenges of life. Many of these people are our friends and neighbors. The work these caregivers do helps to strengthen our society and builds caring communities in every city and town throughout the commonwealth. [Read more]
March 24 - LETTER: Save human services (Fall River Herald News - Letter to the Editor)
There has not been a statewide adjustment to rates for human services since 1987! Yet, we all experience at least a 3 percent increase in costs each year. Just in 2008, analysts predict that gasoline, heating costs, food and utilities will increase by at least 10 percent. Statewide, one in six people require the services of a human service organization. This means that nearly every family will rely on a human service professional — either for short-term issues or for long-term services. [Read more]
March 20 - Bill to help human service providers moves forward (Quincy Patriot Ledger - News Article)
A legislative committee has approved a bill that is aimed at regularly adjusting rates for state funds paid to social service providers. The Legislature’s committee on children, families and disabled persons gave a favorable report for the bill with a voice vote on Tuesday. The next destination for the bill is unclear, although it will likely need to pass through at least one more legislative committee before it heads to a floor vote. [Read more]
Every day, more than 100,000 dedicated individuals go to work to provide high-quality services to residents of the Commonwealth who need assistance to get through the challenges of life. Many of these people are our friends and neighbors. The work these caregivers do helps to strengthen our society and builds caring communities in every city and town throughout the Commonwealth. [Read more]
March 17 - YOUR OPINION: Antiquated rates devalue human services (Quincy Patriot Ledger - Opinion)
HARWICH — We all know heartwarming stories of a family member or neighbor being helped by a wonderful, caring person in a human services agency. We have come to rely on the 185,000 staff members in the 1,100 agencies that provide us with essential services when we need them. As a matter of fact, one in six people in Massachusetts uses a human service provider each day. [Read more]
March 6 - LETTER: Support human services (North Andover Citizen - Letter to the Editor)
Every day, more than 100,000 dedicated individuals go to work to provide high-quality services to residents of the commonwealth who need assistance, many of whom are our friends and neighbors. The work these caregivers do helps to strengthen our society and builds caring communities in every city and town throughout the commonwealth. [Read more]
With a pending move across the Neponset River to Dorchester from their longtime home in Quincy, you can’t blame the folks who run Work Inc. if they’re a little stressed these days. But a big cause of headaches at the provider of rehabilitation and work services for disabled people isn’t relocation planning. Instead, it’s the ongoing efforts to keep up with constant turnover among its roughly 375 full- and part-time employees. [Read more]
If a new piece of legislation serving human service providers passes, it would professionalize the way the nonprofit organizations negotiate rates for state contracts, relieving a sector that for decades has been finding ways to survive. The bill, Senate No. 65, would require the state pay reimbursement rates that would take into account the rising cost of living, inflation, energy costs and other expenses in operating a human services nonprofit. [Read more]
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