March 10, 2003

HHS CONSOLIDATIONS TO SAVE MILLIONS AND IMPROVE SERVICE

Closing 36 underutilized offices will save the state $2.3 million in FY04

SOMERVILLE - Governor Mitt Romney today announced that combining of Health and Human Services (HHS) offices across the Commonwealth will free up millions of dollars and offer clients improved delivery of services and convenience.

Romney appeared in Somerville to highlight an example of the savings to be achieved through a smarter allocation of resources.

“The Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission office currently located on Middlesex Avenue will move to the Department of Transitional Assistance office located here at One Davis Square, saving taxpayers $108,000,” said Romney. “It's just plain common sense to join two agencies together rather than having two offices half empty.”

The office consolidations are one component of Romney's plan to reorganize the Commonwealth's 16 HHS agencies. Under the plan, HHS's 164 local and regional offices will be narrowed to 128 statewide. The closing of the 36 offices will save the state $2.3 million in Fiscal Year 2004 and will annualize to a savings of more than $3 million a year.

“Clients will also benefit from the co-location of offices and access to coordinated services in one building,” said HHS Secretary Ron Preston. “Once the consolidation plan is in place, most of the offices will be located in areas where the greatest number of clients would travel the least distance and near public transportation.”

The Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) serve similar functions by assisting people who are transitioning into jobs. DTA focuses on the traditional welfare-to-work process while the MRC assists individuals with physical impairments moving into the workforce.

MRC's lease will expire in August. The Commission's 25 employees will join DTA's staff of 44, moving into the office's vacant workstations.

Romney's HHS reorganization plan will save nearly $60 million in Fiscal Year 2004. Additional savings will be realized as more efficiencies are achieved. One-time revenue of $30 million in Fiscal Year 2004 will result from the sale of property in the large inventory of HHS-owned facilities and land.

The re-organization proposal will place the HHS agencies into four different groups - Children, Youth and Families; Disabilities and Community Services; Health: and Elder Affairs. Individuals will enter the HHS system through one portal - the local office of the primary agency providing services to them. A lead caseworker will determine if the family has needs for services administered by other agencies and will help the family navigate those services.

“As my 'Common Sense for the Commonwealth' program is implemented, taxpayers will see our outdated 1950's style bureaucracy transformed into a leaner, more efficient and better organized state government,” said Romney.

*See attached list of HHS office closures.

Department of Transitional Assistance

• Closing Westfield Office. Staff move to Springfield, 95 Liberty Street
• Closing Haverhill Office. Staff move to Lawrence, 15 Union Street

Office of Child Care Services

• Closing Springfield Office. Staff move to DTA Office, 310 State Street
• Closing Quincy Office at 1250 Hancock Street. Staff move to DTA Office, 1515 Hancock Street, Quincy
• Closing Westboro Office. Staff move to DTA Office, 340 Main Street, Worcester
• Closing Lakeville Office. Staff move to DTA Office, 21 Spring Street, Taunton
• Closing Beverly Office. Staff move to DTA Office, 35 Congress Street, Salem

Department of Mental Health

• Closing Springfield Office located at 503 State Street. Staff move to DTA Office, 310 State Street, Springfield
• Closing Medfield Office. Staff move to MA Hospital School, Canton
• Closing Lawrence. Staff move to DTA Office, 755 Main Street, Haverhill
• Closing Haverhill Office located at 52-54 Washington Street. Staff move to DTA Office, 755 Main Street Haverhill
• Closing Hyannis Office. Staff move to DTA Offices, 77 High School Road Extension, Barnstable and 155 Katherine Lee Bates Road, Falmouth
• Closing Worcester Office, 322 Main Street. Staff move to Bryan Building on the grounds of Worcester State Hospital

Massachusetts Commission for the Blind

• Closing Springfield Office. Staff move to DTA Office, 310 State Street, Springfield

Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Heard of Hearing

• Closing Worcester Offices, 340 Main Street and 9 Walnut Street. Staff move to Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission Office, 359 Main Street
• Closing Springfield Office. Staff move to DTA Office 310 State Street, Springfield

Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission Office

• Closing North Adams Office, 85 Main Street. Staff move to DTA Office 37 Main Street
• Closing Holyoke Office, 187 High Street. Staff move to DTA Office, 72 Front Street, Holyoke
• Closing Somerville Office, 5 Middlesex Avenue. Staff move to DTA Office, 1 Davis Square, Somerville
• Closing Quincy Office, 275 Hancock Street. Staff move to DTA office, 1515 Hancock Street, Quincy
• Closing Plymouth Office, 40 Industrial Park Road. Staff move to DTA Office, 61 Industrial Park Road, Plymouth
• Closing Salem Office, 45 Congress Street. Staff move to DTA office, 35 Congress Street, Salem
• Closing Natick Office. Staff move to DTA Office, 110 Mt. Wayte Avenue, Framingham
• Closing Lowell Office, 325 Chelmsford Street. Staff move to DTA Office, 1313 Davidson Street, Lowell
• Closing Lawrence Office, 1 Parker Street. Staff move to DTA Office, 755 Main Street, Haverhill
• Closing Fitchburg Office, 76 Summer Street. Staff move DTA Office, 437 Main Street, Fitchburg
• Closing Brockton Office, 55 City Hall Plaza. Staff move to DTA Office, 75 Commercial Street, Brockton
• Closing Sturbridge Office. Move to DTA Office, 79 North Street, Southbridge
• Closing Milford Office, 100 Medway Road. Move to DTA Office, 25 Birch Street, Milford
• Closing Malden Office, 157 Pleasant Street. Staff move to DTA Office, 200 Pleasant Street, Malden

Department of Mental Retardation

• Closing Greenfield Office. Staff move to DTA Office 6 Arch Street, Greenfield
• Closing Lowell Office, 325 Chelmsford Street. Staff move to DTA Office, 131 Davidson Street, Lowell
• Closing Southbridge Office, 309 Main Street. Staff move to DTA Office, 79 North Street, Southbridge

Department Public Health

• Closing Boston Office, Causeway Street. Staff move to DTA Office, 300 Ocean Avenue, Revere
• Closing Boston Office, 174 Portland Street. Staff move to DTA Office, 90 Washington Street, Roxbury

Department of Social Services

• Closing Boston Office, 38 Wareham Street. Staff move to DSS Offices, Roxbury and Dorchester