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Forum pushes gubernatorial candidates on human service issues

Sandra Larson
Sandra Larson is a Boston-based freelance journalist covering urban/social issues and policy. VIEW BIO
Forum pushes gubernatorial candidates on human service issues
Gubernatorial candidates gathered for a forum on human services in Massachusetts hosted by the Providers’ Council. (l-r) Charlie Baker, Martha Coakley, Jeff McCormick, Karen Holmes Ward, who moderated the panel, Evan Falchuck and Provider’s Council Executive Director Michael Weekes. (Photo courtesy of the Providers’ Council)

In a forum hosted by the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers last week, four candidates for governor pledged to implement a law that raises reimbursement rates for human service providers, convene a domestic violence summit including victims and survivors, and designate a share of expanded casino revenue to human services.

The Providers’ Council Human Services Gubernatorial Forum last week in Faneuil Hall drew an audience of some 700 people, many of them workers in community-based agencies serving the elderly, people with mental illness, brain-injured veterans, homeless people and other vulnerable populations.

“You may ask, why is this sector special?” Providers’ Council President and CEO Michael Weekes said in his introduction.

Weekes outlined some statistics on community-based human service agencies and providers in Massachusetts: 6,000 locations and sites across the state; 145,000 workers who contribute $2.5 billion in spending to local economies; a remarkable 47.9 percent growth in employment from 2003–2011; and a workforce that is 80 percent female, one in five of whom live at less than $30,000 a year.

The participating candidates were Republican Charlie Baker, Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley and independents Evan Falchuk and Jeff McCormick. Independent candidate Scott Lively was not present.

Karen Holmes Ward of WCVB-TV moderated the event, billed as an exchange of ideas, not a formal debate. Candidates were limited to 90-second responses and did not directly question one another. The format included video vignettes featuring workers speaking on camera about issues and posing questions to the candidates.

In one video segment, a residential counselor said that over a 15-year career, his hourly pay has increased by only $1, from $11 per hour to $12.

“For most of us, we have to work multiple jobs just to get by,” he said.

The question posed was, how would the candidates ensure that community-based direct care workers receive a sufficient wage?

Candidates agreed that a living wage is important, but didn’t offer much in the way of specifics.

Coakley said she has repeatedly heard from human service workers of the struggle to make ends meet doing the work they love.

“You’re working with our seniors, our developmentally disabled, our most vulnerable populations… We are going to look at making this a living wage. I am committed to that, including your ability to organize and get those wages,” she said.

Baker, who headed the state Department of Health and Human Services during the administration of former Gov. William Weld, emphasized a win-win-win situation for workers, service recipients and the state.

“I absolutely believe that well-paid, long-term experienced direct care workers not only do a better job serving the people they serve, but that [the work they do] can actually save money elsewhere.” He called this a “big opportunity” for the Commonwealth and suggested examining rules and regulations of hiring and recognizing that well-paid and qualified staff can do great things.

All four said they would move to implement Chapter 257, a law that updates reimbursement rates for human and social service providers. The law was signed in 2008, but foundered in the recession and has yet to bring new rates to the majority of service providers. The Providers’ Council and other groups are now suing the state to push the process along.

“I feel like 257 is the train that never gets to the station. I can promise you, as governor, it will be funded,” said Baker. He also spoke of simplifying the system to reduce the “tons of administrivia” human service workers face.

Coakley said that besides putting Chapter 257 into effect, she will push to utilize community health centers for behavioral and mental health services and work to break down the ‘silos’ in state government so agencies can coordinate care more effectively.

McCormick highlighted his business background and suggested greater use of technology to make service delivery more efficient.

Falchuk took the opportunity to hammer away at the status quo and paint the established party candidates as part of the problem.

“Here’s an idea: What if the state did a study and discovered human service workers were undercompensated, and then passed a law to pay people appropriately? Wouldn’t that be a good idea?” Falchuk said. “The thing is, we’ve already done that — and yet, there’s no action being taken.”

He argued that Coakley as attorney general could have sued the state to compel action on Chapter 257 and that Baker spent time in state government roles while wages languished.

“We need a new set of leaders who are willing to not just say really nice words about the work you do, but uphold and enforce the law,” Falchuk said.

In a lightning round of questions to which the candidates were allowed only to say “yes” or “no,” all four pledged to hold a domestic violence summit that includes victims, survivors and service providers and said that if casino gambling is expanded, they would direct some of the additional revenue to human services.

In a video vignette, workers expressed frustration at the difficulty in affording graduate education with low salaries and, for many, undergraduate student loan debts. They called for expansion of a state tuition remission program that allows employees to fill empty seats in classrooms at public universities and community colleges.

“This is an exciting opportunity for Massachusetts to grab,” said Coakley. “For all of our residents, investing in education makes such common sense.”

Coakley added that she has already proposed “need-blind” admissions for community colleges as a gateway to jobs or further education.

“This is a place where the next governor can really focus on where are the jobs going to be and where we need the skillsets for helping our [vulnerable populations]. Investing in education of people who do that — it’s a no-brainer,” she said. “We can find pathways for that.”

McCormick called for using technology to bring education to more people at a lower cost, and to eliminate redundancy in reporting and paperwork.

Baker spoke of online education as a complement to classroom time.

“The great thing about online education is it makes it possible to take the class when they have time, not necessarily at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday,” he said. He suggested creating a benchmark curriculum and tying education to a salary structure and career ladder.

Here and throughout the debate, Falchuk questioned the priorities of the political establishment.

“I hear nice words and platitudes on these topics, but we don’t see the action that’s needed,” he said. “Is the political establishment very serious about these issues, or do they just want to say enough to tantalize you and make you think this time it will be different?”

In the crowded Great Hall, dozens of members of The Caring Force, the Providers’ Council’s grassroots advocacy movement, were easily visible in bright yellow-orange T-shirts. The group has been pushing for implementation of Chapter 257, and rallied at the State House earlier this year for fairer human services funding and salaries. But it was difficult to discern audience reaction to particular candidates or their words, as the crowd obeyed instructions to withhold all applause until the end.

Caring Force member Kormasa Amos, a staff advocate for Horace Mann Educational Associates, was featured in the video segment on expanding tuition remission programs. After the forum, Amos told the Banner she has a graduate certificate, but is unable to afford the full master’s degree in public administration she feels would make her more effective and help her implement change in her field.

Standing nearby, Amos’s colleague Rea Kostopulos, a recruiter at HMEA, added that retaining staff for their work serving people with developmental disabilities is difficult when salaries and benefits are so poor.

“If another agency pays 25 cents more per hour, people will leave,” she said.

One of the Providers’ Council’s goals with this forum was to raise candidates’ awareness of the growth of the service provider sector and the issues facing its workforce, Weekes said in an interview.

“People think of this sector as ‘charity,’ but it has great economic value,” he said.

The forum also gave workers an opportunity to feel their voice was heard, in a hall with a storied history of speeches on the value of liberty and democracy.

“For some of the people in the audience, it was the first time they had been in that building,” Weekes said. “Faneuil Hall is as much theirs as anyone else’s.”