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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.
2011
October 20, 2011 - Accountability there (Boston Herald)
TO THE EDITOR:
Our state’s community-based human services sector is indeed subject to extensive reporting requirements and is monitored by the IRS, Department of Labor, Massachusetts attorney general, secretary of state and Legislature, as well as the Executive Offices of Administration and Finance and Health and Human Services, and, in most cases, a state contracting office (Oct. 17).
Strange that a former state official would believe it is difficult to receive information from the sector. In addition, each of these organizations is governed by a volunteer board that oversees an annual independent certified audit. While we are disappointed when isolated acts of abuse occur, the public can be assured that their human services providers are highly regulated.
Michael Weekes
President/CEO
Providers’ Council
October 5, 2011 - Mass. House boosts state reserves (Associated Press)
Lawmakers also heeded a call from human services advocates to provide raises to more than 30,000 direct care workers who have not received a pay raise in at least three years. The bill would create a $10 million fund to support raises for workers who earn less than $40,000 a year.
"We are grateful to the Legislature for funding the Salary Reserve for some of the lowest paid employees in the state, many of whom are living paycheck-to-paycheck and struggling to make ends meet," said Michael Weekes, president and CEO of the Providers' Council, which represents human service agencies around the state. [Read more]
The bill also includes an unusually worded section to tie the establishment of a $10 million salary reserve for human services workers to the state’s projected revenue as determined on Jan. 15, 2012.
“This language is new to us,” said Michael Weekes, president of the Providers Council, which represents thousands of human services workers, “and while we appreciate the recognition by the Legislature in providing this modest adjustment that I think will be helpful, that language … is different than language we’ve seen before, so we have to take some time and analyze it.” [Read more]
Human service providers have renewed their annual call for a salary reserve to shore up the wages of workers who care for the state's most vulnerable populations and typically earn less than $40,000 per year.
“While state executive branch managers and other state employees received a raise this year, it is unfair to deny the same to low-paid employees who perform some of the most demanding jobs that benefit us all," said Michael Weekes, president of the Provider's Council, a statewide association of human service workers and organizations.
“With a FY ’11 surplus of $460 million, we expect the administration and our Legislature to find some funding for our low-paid direct care workers,” Weekes added. “We must ensure the frontline workers who provide critical services on the state’s behalf to so many residents receive a fair wage.” [Read more]
July 19, 2011 - Mass FY '11 tax collections beat projections (Boston Globe)
"We now we now have an opportunity to restore some of the cuts that were made in services to people who are at the most vulnerable levels of society," said Michael Weekes, president of the Provider's Council, a group that represents community-based human services providers.
Weekes, who plans to request a meeting with Patrick administration officials, also said human services workers deserve a "modest" pay hike after going four years without raises. [Read more]
April 28, 2011 - Supporters of nonprofit workers say they need raises (Haverhill Gazette)
Michael Weekes is the president and CEO of the Providers' Council, the largest statewide membership association for community-based organizations providing social, rehabilitation, education and health care services. He said his organization recognizes the difficulty of asking for $28 million during these tough economic times.
"It's really about fairness to the 31,500 low-paid human-service workers who are having a difficult time making ends meet, and meeting the rising costs of health insurance and living expenses in Massachusetts," Weekes said. "We know that this is really about priorities and values, and we don't think that there's any higher priority than the care of those who are among the most vulnerable people in our society." [Read more]
Michael D. Weekes, president of the Providers Council, said House members approved additional money for some key programs, including employment services for the disabled and prevention and treatment of the virus that causes AIDS.
Weekes said he will continue to work for funding in the Senate including a salary reserve to provide a small cost-of-living raise for workers in private, nonprofit human service agencies across the state. The workers earn less than $40,000 a year. [Read more]
The budget includes no money for a cost of living increase for direct care workers with private, nonprofit human-service agencies. The budget also cuts money for several programs including prevention of the virus that causes AIDS, the Women, Infants and Children program for women who are pregnant or who have children under 5, emergency support for the homeless and helping disabled people obtain and keep jobs.
“The torn and tattered safety net continues to unravel in the House budget proposal, even as the need for services is unabated,” said Michael D. Weekes, president of the Providers’ Council, in a statement. [Read more]
April 11, 2011 - Council Letter to the Editor of the Boston Herald (Boston Herald)
TO THE EDITOR: The sensational front-page headline and one-sided story (“Suits paint picture of group home violence,” April 6) is disappointing and only seeks to exacerbate a negative stigma applied to people with mental illness. [Read more]
In human services, Patrick cut several programs including the state Department of Public Health’s intervention program for mostly low- and moderate-income families with children up to 3 who are disabled. The program would receive $21.5 million, down 27 percent from this year’s spending.
“While we understand that declining state revenues required cuts to the budget, the Providers’ Council is concerned that the torn and tattered safety net continues to take a disproportionate hit,” said Michael D. Weekes, of Longmeadow, president of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers. [Read more]
2010
December 28, 2010 - PILOT's cost high (Boston Herald)
Dear Editor:
The story on the mayor’s task force proposal for nonprofits to make payments in lieu of taxes misses a point (“City to nonprofits: Pay up,” Dec. 23). While it’s true that hospitals and colleges are being asked to make PILOT payments, the story neglects to mention that nonprofit community-based service agencies are also expected to pay.
Reaction from the nonprofit sector was swift and negative. ... Michael Weekes, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, said, “The city’s nonprofit community human services organizations are sheltering our homeless, protecting our children, women and elders, and providing many other essential services. They should not also be asked to reduce services to the most vulnerable or lay off employees to fund new, unbudgeted payments to the city.”
He added, “These organizations being asked to pay a PILOT exist to serve the public interest and meet state mandates, and they provide benefits to Boston that far outweigh any potential tax payment.” [Read more]
December 16, 2010 - As budget cuts loom, aid agencies fear worst (Boston Globe)
Michael Weekes — president of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, which represents 185,000 people who work in human services — asked the state this week to set up a $28 million “salary reserve’’ to support providers earning less than $40,000 a year.
“Developing budgets for human services is not just an arithmetic exercise, and it must be carefully planned to avoid harm and the continuance of the sector being a fiscal punching bag for the state,’’ he said. [Read more]
AT ASSOCIATES FOR Human Services Inc., the smiles start just outside the front door: a father unloading his bouncing child from the car, kids giggling with their moms in the waiting room, staffers chattering behind the reception window. ...
Michael Weekes, president of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, which counts Associates as a member, said he thinks Tunney’s leadership is a major part of the formula.
“It’s important for staff to feel that they are being supported in trying to help people achieve dignity and success in their lives,’’ he said. [Read more]
* Massachusetts voters nixed a measure to cut the state sales-tax rate but agreed to repeal a sales tax on alcoholic beverages. The Providers’ Council, a group that represents nonprofit human-service groups, had lobbied against both measures, saying they would lead the state to cut back spending on human-services programs. [Read more]
The ballot questions up for a vote on Nov. 2 are penny wise and pound foolish in the extreme. The truth is a yes vote on all three will increase costs for police, fire, and schools; drive up property taxes and tolls and devastate local safety net programs for seniors, children and people with disabilities.
With just days to go in this election season, it’s important that candidates act like responsible stewards on the dangerous ballot questions facing voters. Given the obvious negative impact each of these laws-in-waiting will have, the only sane way to vote on the ballot questions is no, no way and heck no. [Read more]
This article was also republished in the Fall River Herald News on November 1.
Last month, the Providers’ Council, an association of Massachusetts nonprofits, did something it had never done before: It sponsored a forum to ask the candidates for governor what they would do to help the 185,000 workers who provide the state’s human services—and the people they serve.
Massachusetts, like many other states, is grappling with how to close a looming budget deficit—and the group wanted the next governor to understand how cuts in services to the poor, the elderly, and people with disabilities would affect their constituents.
“We felt it was imperative to talk about what we’re about and who we serve,” says Michael D. Weekes, the group’s leader. “We’ve never quite had the attention of the candidates.” [Read more]
October 14, 2010 - L'Italien gains human services honor (Andover Townsman)
State Rep. Barbara L'Italien, D-Andover, has been selected as the 2010 Providers' Council Legislator of the Year.
The award is given by the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers Inc., to legislators that have dedicated themselves to helping people and the human services industry. She was nominated for the honor by Veryl Anderson, founder and executive director of The Professional Center for Child Development in Andover. [Read more]
September 29 - Taxes dominate debates: Patrick slams Baker, Cahill cut proposals (Boston Globe)
The forum, held before hundreds of human services workers and advocates, showcased policy and stylistic differences among the candidates, and they delivered some direct jabs at the perceived weaknesses of their rivals.
The hourlong event — sponsored by the Providers' Council, a group representing social services providers — was moderated by Karen Holmes Ward, a WCVB-TV host. [Read more]
BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick said Tuesday that plans by his political challengers in the governor's race would require the state to curtail human service programs further, and he claimed to be the only candidate who knows what it takes to achieve results for the neediest in Massachusetts.
Patrick's adversaries in the four-way contest, though, argued at a candidates' forum that the state makes it too difficult for people to access the services they need and spends too much money on programs of lesser importance, including tax incentive programs. [Read more]
September 29 - Governor candidates debate human services (State House News Service)
At a Faneuil Hall forum Tuesday sponsored by the Providers’ Council, Cahill called for a “Quinn Bill for direct care workers” modeled on a salary incentive program for police. Baker urged simplification of the state’s 49-agency Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Patrick, to the night’s only applause, said the first thing he would do is “not roll the tax rate back right now,” taking aim at Baker and Cahill’s proposed cuts to sales, income and business taxes. Stein called for an end to special interest tax breaks and a single-payer health care system to cuts costs for low-income workers. [Read more]
September 29 - Human services worker from Quincy presses gubernatorial candidates (Patriot Ledger)
Quincy resident Vernon Reid came to Faneuil Hall to deliver a simple comment to the candidates at a gubernatorial forum on human services.
“We just don’t make enough money,” said Reid, an employee at Work Inc., an organization that develops community-based programs for people with disabilities. “People are going elsewhere to make ends meet for their family, and a lot of people are even working two jobs.”
The 90-minute forum was hosted by the Providers’ Council, the state's largest human services trade association. [Read more]
September 29 - Gov. candidates grapple over Bay State service jobs (Daily Free Press)
The four candidates for Massachusetts governor minced words and took subtle shots at each other's records in a forum on service jobs in the Bay State at Faneuil Hall on Tuesday.
About 185,000 employees work in the human services sector, which uses eight percent of the Bay State's budget, according to the nonprofit Providers' Council – something that makes service workers a potentially key voter demographic in the election. [Read more]
September 28 - Critics say aid for poor diverted (State House News Service)
Human services advocates are criticizing the Legislature and Governor Deval Patrick, saying they are diverting federal funds meant for services to vulnerable people to pay increases for sheriff’s offices and university professors, a charge the Patrick administration strongly denied.
Michael Weekes, president and chief executive of the Providers’ Council, said in a statement that $450 million in so-called Federal Medical Assistance Percentages awarded by Congress and President Obama in August “was meant for those who are most vulnerable and who . . . continue to suffer in this great recession.’’ [Read more]
August 11 - Mass. casinos loom again after vote on federal aid (Associated Press)
The state's human service providers urged lawmakers to take quick action.
"We urge you to immediately move to schedule a formal session to override those vetoes and restore that funding," Michael Weekes, president and CEO of the Providers' Council, wrote in a letter Tuesday. [Read more]
Like nearly every state in the nation, Massachusetts is in a fiscal tailspin. More than half the state’s human-service providers have less than 30 days of cash on hand, and about 60 percent have cumulative deficits for state programs. This is a time in which preserving our core values—protecting the most vulnerable, providing hope and opportunity to the disadvantaged, and lifting many out of poverty—has become increasingly difficult as we strive to provide more services with fewer resources. The problems with our state economy are staggering. [Read more]
March 23, 2010 - Massachusetts nonprofits will benefit from new healthcare law (Massnonprofit.net)
Michael Weekes, president and CEO of the Providers' Council, said, “We’re pleased that our federal elected officials brought nonprofits to the table when they took this historic first step to expand access, reduce costs, and move toward a full reform of health insurance for all America. Working with the National Council of Nonprofits, the Providers’ Council fought to ensure the inclusion of a payroll tax credit to assist in providing coverage to small nonprofits.” [Read more]
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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