WITH THREE state-funded youth mental health programs at risk of closing, lawmakers and providers ramped up their opposition this week to Gov. Maura Healey’s proposed budget cuts that come as Massachusetts continues to grapple with a behavioral health care crisis.

Two 15-bed intensive residential treatment programs (IRTP), operated by NFI Massachusetts in Westborough, that serve teenagers with serious mental health and safety issues would close under Healey’s fiscal 2026 spending plan. That would leave just two other IRTPs in the state.

The governor’s budget would also shutter the state’s only clinically intensive residential treatment (CIRT) program, called Three Rivers in Belchertown, that has a dozen beds and treats children ages 6 to 12.

At a budget hearing Monday in Attleboro, Department of Mental Health Commissioner Brooke Doyle said those facilities are slated to close due to low patient counts, inadequate staffing and location hurdles. The cost-saving measure comes as DMH — which would receive a 7 percent overall budget increase under Healey’s proposal — looks to prioritize resources for its over-capacity psychiatric hospitals.

“These programs have been very difficult to maintain adequate and safe staffing within. They’ve been understaffed for extended periods of time, and that has contributed in large part to why we had difficulty keeping all the beds filled,” Doyle said in Attleboro. “The programs do provide a specialized service need, and the reality is, that we haven’t been able to operate them fully today. So what we’re proposing to do is to right-size the IRTP, reflecting the volume that does get utilized.”

Doyle said the state pays for those beds “in full,” regardless of whether or not they are occupied. She argued that makes it “not sustainable to continue to pay for 50 percent utilization.”

Doyle highlighted the state’s investment in community-based mental health resources, though the IRTP and CIRT programs are seen as a last resort to stabilize young patients who repeatedly end up in the hospital and pose significant safety risks to themselves and their family.

“Without these services, youth will continue to cycle through expensive and disruptive emergency and acute hospital services,” Lydia Todd, executive director of NFI Massachusetts, said at a State House budget hearing Tuesday, according to a copy of her prepared remarks. “Their families face income loss because it is impossible to maintain employment when they are regularly needed to respond to mental health crises.”

Todd added, “If this program is closed, the commonwealth will lose a recently renovated facility, a highly credentialed, experienced and skilled multi-disciplinary team of 95 staff, a Joint Commission-accredited program, and most importantly, the ability to help youth and families with the most serious needs to manage their mental health issues in their natural communities, and be less likely to end up in one of our adult systems.”

Todd told the News Service 95 out of 100 positions are filled. 

“We could be fully utilized — no problem,” she said. 

Program leaders and lawmakers contend the programs are underutilized due to a complicated DMH referral process that can leave youth languishing in hospitals for weeks or months before they secure placement. Due to high staff turnover during the COVID pandemic, some hospital mental health providers also were unaware the IRTP and CIRT programs existed, said Sen. Jake Oliveira of Ludlow. 

“It’s my hope that we can restore the funding for these critical programs because everything that we hear from constituents and everything that we read, there is a dire need for youth beds, particularly adolescent mental health beds throughout Massachusetts,” Oliveira told the News Service. “If we have programs that are underutilized, then DMH needs to do a better job with the referral process to get help to families across Massachusetts.”

Doyle admitted the referral process was “too clunky” at the hearing Monday.

“So I’ve actually made some changes to that referral process, going to preview it with stakeholders this month, with a go-live plan for May,” Doyle said.

In another major budget cut, DMH plans to slash the case management workforce in half, which would save the state $12.4 million. That move recently triggered DMH workers represented by SEIU Local 509 to take a vote of no confidence in Doyle. 

Gov. Maura Healey has already hit pause on a controversial plan to shutter a 16-bed psychiatric hospital in Cape Cod. That closure, combined with the three youth mental health programs, would have saved the state a total of $20.1 million, according to a presentation from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.

As House Democrats prepare to release their budget next week, Rep. Aaron Saunders of Belchertown said he plans to fight to ensure the CIRT, operated by Cutchins Programs for Children & Families, receives funding.

“We need it to be there,” Saunders told the News Service. “It is a level of intervention and service that other programs are not designed to provide, and that to me really is the linchpin.”

Saunders added, “In my conversations with the administration, I’ve tried to impress upon them that there needs to be access, in some way, shape or form, to this level of service.”

Tina Champagne, CEO of Cutchins Programs for Children & Families, urged lawmakers Tuesday to “dig deeper and to save our programs.” In prepared remarks, Champagne said the state remains in the throes of a “children’s mental health crisis” and argued “this is no time for a reduction in intensive mental health services in our state.”

“The decision to cut the CIRT is not only in direct opposition to well-established evidence-based practices for children and families with some of the most persistent and challenging mental health and safety concerns, but also puts the the most vulnerable children and families in the commonwealth at even greater risk by perpetuating the cycle of ACES and traumatic experiences,” Champagne said, referring to adverse childhood experiences.

She added, “The degree of safety and mental health challenges that must occur for youth to be considered for a DMH referral for the CIRT is highly intensive and the youth’s safety concerns are typically quite serious. If these youth could be treated elsewhere in the community, they would have been referred to those services, and usually have already utilized these services, but they are not intensive enough to maintain safety and mental health stabilization.”

At the hearing, Oliveira told Doyle he was insulted by her remarks that signaled the Belchertown program was not viable due to its location in western Massachusetts.

“That’s insulting to any western Mass. lawmaker who might be sending people halfway across the state, hours away to get the programs to utilize them,” Oliveira said.

The commissioner told Oliveira she regretted if her testimony seemed to be “disrespectful.”

“It’s more of a matter that we have to weigh parents’ requests and parents’ priorities, as well,” Doyle said. “So, it has always been a western Mass.-located program. It’s not new. And what we’re seeing is that it is getting a bit more challenging, particularly with workforce constraints, that when we don’t have full staff operating, it requires that the department have to make decisions with parents about whether or not their their child can be safely treated in that environment, based on staff that are available at that time.”

Rep. Kelly Pease, a Westfield Republican, questioned whether the adolescent mental health programs represented the “smart place” for DMH to make cuts. Without providing sufficient care to young Bay Staters early on, the state may exacerbate the prison pipeline and end up incurring more costs in the future, Pease told Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh.

Walsh insisted those programs were 50 percent occupied and emphasized EOHHS’s push to “right-size our behavioral health infrastructure.” Pease argued the low patient census was a function of DMH’s “antiquated process to get a referral.”

“I think the question for the Legislature is: Do you want to pay for standby capacity in two or three programs across the state that may or may not be used?” Walsh said at the hearing Monday. “In the meantime, you should challenge us to significantly improve our antiquated or very complicated processes to get people into these systems — some of which, I will remind us, were the result of court decisions. So we have patient referral pathways for people with, for children with behavioral health challenges that were built by lawyers, with due respect.”

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MIKE KENNEALY, a former private equity manager who spent four years as state housing and economic development secretary under Gov. Charlie Baker, declared his candidacy for governor on Monday and said Massachusetts is “heading in the wrong direction.” 

Jumping into the ring against Gov. Maura Healey, who plans to seek reelection in 2026, Kennealy released a launch video Monday morning. He pointed to rising expenses, education, the emergency family shelter crisis and outmigration as key areas where the Bay State is struggling.

“The political class on Beacon Hill is more concerned with their future than with ours. Our beacon on a hill has become a beacon in the rearview mirror,” Kennealy said in the video. “The people of Massachusetts expect and deserve better.”

Although the press release announcing Kennealy’s campaign launch made no mention of his party affiliation, a spokesperson confirmed he is running as a Republican.

Other Republicans mentioned as potential candidates for governor include Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis, former MBTA Chief Administrator Brian Shortsleeve, former U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton, and Sen. Peter Durant, who said last month he would make his decision “relatively shortly.”

Kennealy spent nearly two decades working in private equity before joining the public sector in 2013 as part of the leadership team that worked on turning around Lawrence Public Schools, according to his campaign.

He became an assistant secretary under Baker, and rose to the Cabinet-level role of housing and economic development secretary in December 2018. Healey, who succeeded Baker, later split that job into two separate positions of housing secretary and economic development secretary.

Kennealy stayed in that job for the remainder of Baker’s tenure through 2022, helping to lead the state’s response to the economic upheaval inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Following his time on Beacon Hill, Kennealy worked as senior advisor and chief strategy officer at the Boys and Girls Club of Boston.

His campaign appears poised to spotlight affordability issues, a steady theme on Beacon Hill for Healey and the House and Senate Democratic supermajorities. Kennealy named “a state we can all afford” as his top priority, followed by “a great future for everyone” and “government we can believe in.”

Healey in February announced her intention to seek reelection, saying she believes “there’s a heck of a lot more to do.”

Massachusetts voters over the years have elected a succession of Republican governors while preferring to keep Democrat supermajorities in the House and Senate, as well as an all-Democrat congressional delegation.

A UMass Amherst-WCVB poll of Massachusetts voters conducted in mid-February found about 52% approve of Healey’s job performance so far compared to 36% who disapprove.

Pollsters also asked at the time about hypothetical matchups between Healey and potential Republican challengers, including Kennealy. Four in 10 voters said they’d back Healey over Kennealy, 15% said they would pick Kennealy, and another 39% were not sure.

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ON THE EVE of a legislative hearing on her surtax surplus plan, Gov. Maura Healey submitted another spending bill for the Legislature’s review, filing a $756 million supplemental budget she said would address “time-sensitive deficiencies” in state government accounts.

The proposal Healey filed Wednesday afternoon (HD 4540) includes $134.5 million for supplemental payments to safety-net hospitals, $60 million for direct care for older adults, $240 million for state employee health care costs through the Group Insurance Commission, and more. It would carry a net state cost of $544 million after federal reimbursements, she said.

Healey’s office pitched the $190 million the bill includes for a child care financial assistance program as a way to “support Massachusetts residents at a time of rising costs.” Another $43 million would go toward the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program that offers aid to families facing potential eviction, which has faced increasing demand during a period of housing strain.

The legislation additionally includes $15 million for grants and marketing related to the American Revolution 250th anniversary celebration, and $15.5 million for more secure electronic benefits transfer cards that Healey said would “help combat food benefit theft.”

“This budget bill proposes targeted investments that improve quality of life in Massachusetts, such as ensuring access to health care, supporting families with child care costs, and making sure veterans get their benefits,” Healey said in a statement alongside the bill. “We’ve also heard clearly from local officials and medical professionals across the state, especially in communities impacted by Steward Health Care’s closures, that they need more support. That’s why we’re proposing significant funding for EMS providers that have faced extraordinary costs. Our administration remains committed to maintaining a responsible state budget that tangibly benefits the people of Massachusetts.”

Other sections of the 25-page bill would ratify collective bargaining agreements with public employees, raise procurement thresholds under public construction laws, and allow Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency vehicles to use red and blue lights when responding to emergencies.

The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways and Means is partway through a series of hearings about Healey’s $62 billion fiscal 2026 state budget, and the panel will meet Thursday to consider Healey’s separate $1.3 billion proposal (H 55) to spend surplus surtax revenue.

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TALKS ARE UNDERWAY within state government about establishing a third long-term care home for veterans, Veterans Services Secretary Jon Santiago said Tuesday.

At a Joint Ways and Means Committee hearing in Worcester, the secretary described the next budget cycle as being about the “organizational maturation” of the Executive Office of Veterans Services.

The office became a Cabinet-level office two years ago after governance and operational shortcomings that proved fatal during the pandemic, particularly at the state-run veterans’ homes in Holyoke and Chelsea. He described how things are going at the new Chelsea facility that opened in 2023 and the work underway to prepare for the under-construction new Holyoke home.

Santiago also raised the subject of a $200 million bond authorization that the Legislature, where he served at the time, included in a 2021 law to address long-term care for veterans in other parts of the state.

“There was a $200 million bond bill put forward to look into a third home, right, to increase that geographic equity. That’s something that we’re in a conversation with [the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance], to look where across the Commonwealth we could potentially put a third home and what that would entail,” the secretary said.

The authorization to borrow up to $200 million in the 2021 law is specifically for “increasing geographic equity and accessibility related to the continuum of long-term care services for the Commonwealth’s veterans not primarily served by the Soldiers’ Home in Massachusetts located in the city of Chelsea or the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, including the establishment of regional or satellite veterans’ homes.”

The potential for a third state-run veterans’ home came up during a back-and-forth between Santiago and Rep. Russell Holmes of Boston, who asked the secretary about the diversity of the resident veterans served at the state-run facilities.

“It always feels like the Chelsea and the Holyoke homes feel like they’re local, they’re for local people. That’s just historically how they’ve felt; people in the west thought it was for them in the west, people in the east thought Chelsea was for the east. And as you grow from 117 beds, it sounds like, to 234 in Holyoke. And then as you now opened up Chelsea, do you have an answer on diversity of the residents who’s living there?” Holmes asked.

The representative said he was particularly interested in knowing how the state plans to make the additional beds that will come online in Holyoke available and what outreach will be done to make sure all veterans know their options.

“My understanding is, historically, it’s kind of been, you know, who you knew helped you get in. I hope we’re eliminating all of that as a part of this new process,” Holmes said.

Santiago said he “completely agree[s]” with Holmes about the way the Chelsea and Holyoke homes have been viewed. He said the “vast majority of residents there are white male” and told Holmes that while the “current mechanism is a ‘first come, first served’ ” method of accepting new veterans to the homes, it’s something he wants to look at it as part of a 2030 strategic plan.

“Part of that is looking into how we make sure veterans who are underserved, irrespective of their race, maybe, or their gender, are cared to. We have 25,000 women veterans across the commonwealth. Traditionally, they have not gotten the services, respect, that they have fought for and that they have earned,” he said. “And so we’ve changed our management, we’ve changed our programs and policies to better address that, and we look forward to doing it with the veterans of color as well.”

If the state is going to establish a third home, Rep. Kip Diggs of Barnstable said it should be on or near Cape Cod.

“We have 19,000 veterans on the Cape … and what’s important to me is if that third spot, maybe we can get it closer to the Cape. Because, honestly, it’s all about taking care of my area and making sure — you know, our veterans have done so much and asked for so little,” he said. “So I think it’s something that’s just so poignant and so necessary that we bring something down towards the southern part of Mass.”

The secretary responded briefly to point out the “significant cost” that would be associated with any potential third facility. Others, including Sen. John Velis of Westfield, have previously mentioned that conversations about additional veterans facilities were taking place.

Lawmakers dug into a variety of topics with Santiago during their time for questions. Sen. Kelly Dooner of Taunton put a pitch in for finding a way to partner with a nonprofit to repurpose parts of Taunton State Hospital for veteran housing, Sen. Michael Brady of Brockton wanted to know about the impact so far and outlook for additional federal cuts at the VA, Rep. Judith Garcia asked about veteran needs that are not met through the state budget appropriation, and Sen. Ryan Fattman pressed officials on the need for better tracking of suicides among veterans here and especially among Mass. National Guard members.

Santiago said Healey’s budget proposes $206 million for his secretariat, $7.6 million more than the current state budget. He said the budget proposal includes an increase of $13.6 million to veterans benefits and annuities, as well as $80 million to support the state-run veterans homes in Chelsea and Holyoke.

“This overall allotment helps us maintain critical staffing, supports infrastructure improvements, allows us to operate and maintain our two veteran cemeteries in Winchendon and Agawam, and provides health care and supportive services to veterans at the long-term care and independent living facilities in Chelsea and Holyoke,” Santiago said. “We are particularly proud of the transformation happening at both veteran homes over the past two years. They both continue to show progress when it comes to modernization and quality of care, ensuring that Massachusetts veterans receive the highest standard of care.”

Chelsea Veterans Home Superintendent Christine Baldini told lawmakers that the implementation of electronic medical records was a “significant milestone” for her facility.

“This is transforming our health care operation. By replacing traditional paper records with a secure, integrated, digital platform, we have enhanced accuracy, reduced administrative burden and improved overall efficiency. Real-time access to resident information empowers the care team to make informed decisions more quickly, and fosters streamlined communication across all disciplines,” she said.

Holyoke Superintendent Michael Lazo said his team is preparing to expand into the new 234-bed facility the state broke ground on in August 2023. He told the Ways and Means Committee that the larger and modern facility “will require approximately 40% increase in workforce spending, both clinical and non-clinical roles.”

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HUNDREDS GATHERED outside Hadley Town Hall Sunday protesting a deluge of changes to the USDA by the Trump administration, including frozen grant money, program cuts, staff layoffs, and the slated closure of Massachusetts’ Natural Resources Conservation Service office.  

Facing a crowd of supportive community members, local and regional growers, and a line of six tractors, concerned farmers and state and federal elected officials outlined the possible consequences of losing these funds and services.  

“Our farm estimates over $200,000 in lost revenue this year due to these funding cuts,” said Harrison Bardwell, a who owns Bardwell Farm in Hatfield, referring to recently cut programs like Local Food for Schools (LFS) Cooperative Agreement Program and Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA), both of which provide the state with funds so schools and food banks can buy food from farms like Bardwell’s. That represents 20-30% of the farm’s expected revenue for 2025.  

“We have bills to pay, we have loans, and we have employees to support. I’m troubled by the sudden change,” he said.  

Between the cuts to the LFS and LFPA programs, Massachusetts would lose more than $18 million in subsidies that go directly to farmers for providing fresh food to schools, if the cuts stand. Ashley Randle, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in early March to urge the funding be reinstated. The uncertainty around federal funding, Randle noted, made it particularly difficult for farmers to plan their crops at a critical time during the spring season. 

In early March, the Department of Government Efficiency’s website listed the Natural Resources Conservation Service for Massachusetts in Amherst, a federally run office, as one of dozens whose leases will be terminated, according to several news sources. Representatives for the agency, which works with farmers and other landowners across the state to protect natural resources like soil and water, referred CommonWealth Beacon to their national press department, which did not respond to a request for comment by press time.  

Annie Diemond from Diemand Farm, a third generation farm in Wendell, described the precarious position that frozen Rural Energy for America Program funding has put her business in. Her farm secured $139,000 in REAP grant money to help pay down a $250,000 loan for rooftop solar. Now their first loan payment is due, and she can’t access the funds.  

“We just don’t have that kind of money sitting around,” she said. “I wish people would understand the reality that farmers face.” 

US Rep. Jim McGovern expressed outrage on behalf of the farmers. “They are launching a full assault on the people who feed this country,” he said.  

“You picked the wrong group of people to mess with,” he said in a complaint to Rollins, receiving cheers from the crowd.  

The USDA did not respond to requests for comment by press time. But in early February Rollins said she supported DOGE’s cuts. “I welcome DOGE’s efforts at USDA because we know that its work makes us better, stronger, faster, and more efficient. I will expect full access and transparency to DOGE in the days and weeks to come,” she said.

Protest-goers held signs with messages including “Cut Hay, Not USDA,” “Don’t Bite the Hands that Feed Us” and “Sequester Carbon Not Government.” A table was set out where attendees wrote letters directly to Rollins.  

Kerry Taylor of Brookfield Farm in Amherst, one of the rally’s organizers, said, “This is a manufactured problem that Secretary Rollins needs to fix.” She called on Rollins to “stick to the agreements that they made with farmers … and pay the farmers what they promised.” 

Some farmers, like Suna Turgay of Flowerwork Farm in Northampton, were particularly worried about the climate impacts that could result from USDA cuts, both in terms of adaptation and mitigation. 

“I was expecting four years of Climate-Smart agriculture grants. These grants help farmers adapt to extreme weather, to become more resilient farms,” she said. “These practices improve soil health, increase productivity, conserve natural resources, improve food security and reduce the temperature of our planet.”  

Beth Girshman, a resident of Conway, was one of many who showed up to support farmers and the regional food system that they make possible.  

“I’m here because I think farming is essential to the local economy and food security. It makes us one of the best places to live in the country.” 

Jesse Lederman, regional director for Sen. Ed Markey’s office, said his office has launched formal inquiries with the USDA on the status of “that were legally appropriated and committed to our farmers.” 

“I will not rest until these dollars are out of Elon Musk hands and invested in Massachusetts farms where they belong,” he said. “If they continue to violate the law, we will see them in court.” 

The protest closed out with country music blasting from one of the tractors. 

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SEN. BRENDAN CRIGHTON OF LYNN is so worried about the state’s shrinking local news coverage that he is pushing legislation to create a commission that would quantify the problem and come up with ways to address it. 

It’s a tall order at a time when the news industry is going through very tough times. It’s also a move by state government into an area that’s usually off-limits. But Crighton says the dire times require aggressive action. 

“My tweets shouldn’t be the main source of information for my constituents,” he said in testimony before the Legislature’s Committee on Community Development and Small Business. Crighton is cosponsoring the legislation with Rep. Lori Ehrlich of Marblehead at the urging of Dan Kennedy, a Northeastern University journalism professor. 

Ehrlich said that many papers have been “shuttered, literally sold for parts, or are merely a shadow of their former selves.” She pointed to Gatehouse Media’s May 31 decision to consolidate 50 weekly newspapers into 18 weeklies as an example of the problem.   

Under the legislative proposal, the commission would have 17 members and meet a minimum of five times. The goal would be for the commission to document the state of the industry in Massachusetts and recommend sustainable local business models for news outlets. 

At the sparsely attended hearing, there was no discussion of whether the state should be involved in trying to resurrect the news business or whether it has the expertise or willpower to do so. Instead, most of the back-and-forth questioning focused on who would serve on the commission. 

Rep. Liz Miranda of Boston asked whether “small papers in different languages,” specifically those with Cape Verdean, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese, and Latino readers would be part of the commission. Ehrlich said she “took diversity into account” by allotting four seats on the commission to members of ethnic media associations.  

Rep. Tommy Vitolo of Brookline also raised concerns about the lack of public universities on the panel, which includes seats designated for officials from Brandeis, Northeastern, and Harvard.  

 “None are from UMass or any other public institution,” Vitolo said. “UMass Amherst does have a school of journalism and I have no idea if they’re interested in this. I would hope we would explore opportunities to include our public universities and colleges in this conversation.” Ehrlich said she was amendable.  

Only a handful of academics, a publisher of a defunct newspaper, and an editor from the Worcester Business Journal testified on Tuesday. Some say the light attendance might be because of the late posting of the hearing notice on Monday afternoon. To allow more time for testimony, committee co-chair Sen. Diana DiZoglio arranged for a second, special hearing on Wednesday, July 10 at 2 p.m. 

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WITH THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN in foster care spiking and an inadequate number of foster parents available to provide a safe home, Massachusetts’ foster care system is overwhelmed. 

 The solution to the foster care problem is stopping child abuse and neglect in its tracks. We need to stem the tide of children entering foster care in the first place. Each week in Massachusetts, an average of 578 children are confirmed as abused or neglected.  

Yes, you read that correctly — each week.  

But as a state, we can make the collective decision to invest our dollars in programs that prevent child abuse from happening. 

 Our local policymakers had the great foresight to fund the Healthy Families Massachusetts program, a nationally-accredited in-home coaching program for first-time parents under the age of 21. Healthy Families home visitors partner with young parents across the state to help them build the skills they need to make sure their children have safe and healthy childhoods. 

 Over half of the young parents in the program were abused or neglected in their own childhoods. We know that those young parents are more apt to abuse or neglect their own children and, sadly, some do.  

But, an article in this month’s American Journal of Public Health shows that when those young parents are connected to a Healthy Families home visitor, we can break the cycle of child abuse and neglect. A Tufts University evaluation showed that the small number of parents in the program who were reported to the Department of Children and Families were 32% less likely to have a second report than those in the control group. And, this is six years after graduating from the program. 

 In addition, the Tufts study found that the Healthy Families program reduced homelessness and dependence on cash assistance, increased parents’ education and employment, decreased parents’ emergency room use, and reduced maternal depression. The program currently costs the Commonwealth less than $500 per family per year, with the potential to lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings over the course of a child’s lifetime. 

 According to a Centers for Disease Control estimate, the total lifetime cost for one year of confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect in Massachusetts equals just over $8.4 billion. But the cost to society is far greater than the dollars and cents. Studies show that children who are abused or neglected struggle in school, have physical and mental challenges, and grow up to be adults with decreased earning capacity and shortened lifespans. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can stop child abuse before it happens. 

 The Healthy Families program model is proven effective and efficient, but there are more families in need than it can currently service. By increasing the investment in this program and opening it to parents up to age 25, we can reach more children and parents in need of help and keep kids out of the child protective service system. 

 Taking this proactive approach to child abuse will protect children from long-term pain and suffering while also using tax dollars more effectively. 

 Governor Baker recently declared April as Child Abuse Prevention month. There could not be a better time to recognize this issue and take decisive action to stop it. By investing in child abuse prevention programs like Healthy Families Massachusetts, we can change the lives of vulnerable children in Massachusetts so that no child ever has to experience the pain of abuse or neglect. 

Suzin Bartley is the Executive Director of the Children’s Trust. 

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