House amendment blocks mental health case worker cuts
BOSTON (SHNS) – State mental health case managers at risk of being laid off were given a potential lifeline Tuesday, as the House voted to maintain staffing levels.
Gov. Maura Healey's budget proposal in January called for slashing the DMH case manager workforce in half, from 340 to 170 individuals. The House Ways and Means Committee opted against preserving the workforce, with Chair Aaron Michlewitz citing ongoing labor issues.
The threatened layoffs have prompted an outcry over mental health care access. But in a mega-amendment Tuesday, House Democrats supported a Rep. Marjorie Decker amendment (#1550) stating that 'department case manager staffing levels shall not be reduced below fiscal year 2025 case manager staffing levels.'
'This consolidated (amendment) also preserves DMH caseworker staffing levels, an important link in the chain of mental health services in our commonwealth,' Rep. Mindy Domb, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery, said on the House floor.
The House passed the mega-amendment on a 133-20 vote.
Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children, the state-run public health hospital in Canton that the governor initially planned to shutter through her budget, also was addressed in the mega-amendment. Representatives backed a Rep. Bill Galvin amendment (#97) to create a legislative commission to study the future of the sprawling hospital while keeping it open, but did not give support to another Galvin amendment (#1164) that would have required Pappas to maintain at least 40 beds serving patients ages 7-22.
'We have appropriated $10.3 million more than House 1 to support the Department of Public Health's hospital operations, which includes important funding to keep Pappas Rehabilitation open for children and invest funding in our hospitals — and not use them as political pawns,' Decker, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health, said.
Healey has halted closure plans for Pappas, but hospital staff and families say the state is not sticking with the promised pause.
The Senate usually unveils and debates its annual budget in May, but specific plans haven't been announced.
'The passage of this amendment and its inclusion in the House budget is an important step in our fight to save Pappas. The budget already includes the line item to fund operations for Pappas, and the language the Governor sought to allow her to close Pappas has been removed,' MNA spokesperson David Schildmeier said. 'Now we wait for the Senate's budget, where Senator Paul Feeney will be filing his own amendment.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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