News Sunday Boston Globe features front-page story on human services workforce crisis

The Boston Globe ran a front-page story on Sunday about the ongoing workforce crisis in the community-based human services sector, featuring comments from Providers’ Council President/CEO Michael Weekes, Advocates President/CEO Diane Gould and Lifeworks President/CEO Daniel Burke.

The story, which cited statistics from the Council’s The Face of the Human Services Sector report, was published on the newspaper’s website; you can read it here.

Weekes was quoted by reporter Katie Johnston saying the best way to address the crisis is to alleviate the staffing shortage.

“Our workforce crisis means people are denied services that really affect their health and safety,” he said.

Burke told Johnston that Lifeworks’ Abel Therapeutic Center, an adult day program for people with autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and mobility and sensory impairments, is operating at half capacity due to staffing needs at the center and at companies that transport clients there.

And Gould said that Advocates has lost so many licensed clinicians at its mental health and substance abuse clinics — 16 in the past year — and the need has grown so much, that the wait list has ballooned to 250 people.

“They’re coming with significant problems that have been exacerbated by the pandemic,” Gould said, including alcohol and drug use, depression, and domestic violence.

The Collaborative, of which the Providers’ Council is a member, provided information to the Globe as well.

Read the full story here.

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