Patrick-Murray Administration Announces Comprehensive Plan to Strengthen Services for Children, Youth and Families
FY13 budget proposal includes $3 million in funding to support coordinated services for families involved with multiple state agencies
BOSTON — The Patrick-Murray Administration today endorsed a comprehensive plan to make services for children, youth and families more accessible, coordinated and holistic. The Administration's Children, Youth and Families (CYF) Advisory Committee recently submitted to the Governor a report, Recommendations for Strengthening Children, Youth, and Family Services in Massachusetts, which outlines a series of recommendations for action over the next few years to build a family-centric service delivery model that supports the whole child and family. The Governor’s FY13 budget proposal, which was released earlier today, includes nearly $3 million in appropriations to support these recommendations.
“We know that the system today is fragmented and many of our agencies overlap in providing services,” said Governor Patrick. “We are committed to building a system that will ensure that state agencies work together to address each family’s needs in a comprehensive and holistic fashion.”
In addition, the budget calls for health and human services agencies, state education agencies and school districts to establish regulations for sharing data in order to better coordinate services and improve educational opportunities for children and students.
“The Commonwealth provides a diverse range of services to thousands of children and families in need,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. JudyAnn Bigby. “The Committee’s recommendations will be an invaluable tool toward advancing our efforts to reach families in a more coordinated and seamless way.”
Governor Patrick convened the CYF Advisory Committee last year, asking that the group work together to develop a set of recommendations on how the Commonwealth might improve services for children, youth, and families. During the past year, the Administration invited feedback and participation from a diverse group of stakeholders that included parents, youth, service providers, advocates, legislators, labor unions and others. The Committee worked to develop and prioritize recommendations for improving services and supports for children and families.
“The Committee’s recommendations are the product of statewide meetings with families, advocates and other stakeholders,” said Assistant Secretary for Children, Youth and Families Marilyn Anderson Chase. “The Governor’s acceptance of these recommendations, and support in the budget for fiscal year 2013 are important steps in advancing our commitment to more coordinated services.”
The Committee’s recommendations include:
- Streamlining government by developing system-wide vision, language, planning, processes and governance;
- Improving access to information and resources and simplifying families’ interactions with the system;
- Streamlining eligibility processes;
- Coordinating services and plans across CYF programs;
- Strengthening coordination across the education system and CYF services;
- Optimizing joint local, state and federal funding;
- Ensuring workforce competency; and
- Investing in proven services as measured by performance outcomes and reporting.
The Advisory Committee’s full report is available online at www.mass.gov/hhs/childservices.
The Administration’s FY13 budget proposal includes $3 million in new funds to begin implementing the Advisory Committee recommendations. Immediate efforts include:
- Enhancements to information and resource telephone and internet systems for families accessing support or services;
- Enhancements to Family Access Centers to facilitate one-stop consumer access to multiple state agencies in a single location;
- Establishment of interagency data-sharing protocols and enabling technology within EOHHS;
- Service coordination among children, youth and family-serving agencies within EOHHS; and
- Establishment of regulations to develop protocols to facilitate appropriate communication between health and human service and education agencies.
"Establishing a support system of educators and human and social services providers around each of our students is critical in getting many of them to the place where they are ready and able to learn," said Education Secretary Paul Reville. "We are committed to building out that network - strengthening existing partnerships through the sharing of information and forging new ones in communities across the Commonwealth."
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