CommonWealth Beacon

AFTER A JUDGE earlier this week denied an injunction to stop negotiations to develop a new Springfield courthouse, the state agency in charge of the project is looking to dismiss the case that losing bidders brought to court. Attorney General Andrea Campbell sent a motion to dismiss the case to opposing council Thursday on behalf of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, according to the attorney general’s office. It had not yet been filed in court as of late Friday afternoon.

WITHIN HOURS, the recent arrest of Lawrence Mayor Brian DePena on charges that he had defrauded the federal government out of $1.5 million dollars in COVID relief small business loans reignited stories about the city that, despite its amazing progress in recent years, just won’t go away.

HEBREW SENIORLIFE lost 35 employees in a single day this summer. It was the largest one-day staffing hit in the history of the senior care and housing organization, which has shed about 100 employees over the past year amid shifting federal immigration policy. The president and CEO says the losses compound a MassHealth financing squeeze he calls unsustainable for the long-term care sector.

MY CHILD doesn’t have a smartphone or use social media. Until they turned 13, I thought that meant they were protected from its influence. I was wrong. I’m watching the culture of social media reach my child secondhand, both as a mother and the wife of a public school teacher. Online vocabulary travels offline, including increasingly precise categories young people use to understand differences in attention, personality, sexuality, gender, politics, and mental health.

THE HEALEY ADMINISTRATION rolled out a statewide campaign Thursday to bolster career interest in the behavioral health care sector, where persistent workforce shortages have made it difficult for some Bay Staters to access care. The campaign, called “Turn Your Compassion Into Your Career,” launched “this summer” and will continue into September with a mix of billboards, digital and social media, videos, and community partnerships, Gov. Maura Healey’s office said.

Posted inHealth Care Massachusetts is “facing a behavioral health access crisis,” says a May report from the Health Policy Commission’s Behavioral Health Workforce Center. Posted inHealth Care GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Tuesday reintroduced a bill that would require hospitals and insurers to spend more on primary and behavioral health care, an attempt to revamp a medical system […]

Massachusetts is “facing a behavioral health access crisis,” says a May report from the Health Policy Commission’s Behavioral Health Workforce Center.

Posted inHealth Care Massachusetts is “facing a behavioral health access crisis,” says a May report from the Health Policy Commission’s Behavioral Health Workforce Center. Posted inEducation In 2012, after child advocates spent years trying to reduce punitive suspensions in schools, Massachusetts passed sweeping education reforms, kickstarting a longstanding policy shift away from exclusionary discipline methods.

Massachusetts is “facing a behavioral health access crisis,” says a May report from the Health Policy Commission’s Behavioral Health Workforce Center.

Massachusetts voters could face an unusually large number of ballot questions this election cycle, but each proposal must first navigate a complex process of signature verification, legislative review, and potential court challenges before appearing on the ballot. The initiatives cover a wide range of issues—including election reform, taxes, government transparency, and rent control—and many have emerged because advocates believe the Legislature has failed to act on these priorities.