Tag: Worcester

  • Bill aims to secure community health workers amid job insecurity

    In Worcester, community health workers provide critical care and trust — while facing an uncertain future.

    A woman who regularly visits the Family Health Center of Worcester continues to suffer from hypertension. Her blood pressure fluctuates dangerously, and she struggles to take medicine as prescribed.

    In a conversation over the phone, her community health worker determined that her depression and anxiety have made it hard to manage her medications on her own. She lives alone. Only her son and a friend occasionally check in on her. Sometimes she doubts whether she takes too much medicine to feel better. The patient receives one-on-one assessments so that she will feel more secure about taking medication properly.

    Community health workers help address a variety of health issues, from connecting expectant mothers to providers to finding therapists or group counseling for patients with substance use disorders. They also help address social conditions that have an impact on health, such as housing and food access.

    Currently, CHW services are not reimbursed by MassHealth or commercial health insurance. Hospitals, community health centers and community-based organizations rely on unstable grant funding to hire CHWs.

    By the end of a grant cycle, “they are terrified that they will be unemployed in a month,” said Lissette Blondet, the executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers. Massachusetts has approximately 3,000 CHWs, according to the association.

    Legislation aims to stabilize the workforce

    A bill proposed by Rep. Marjorie Decker, D-Cambridge, and Sen. Robyn Kennedy, D-Worcester, would require public and private health insurers to cover the costs of services provided by CHWs. Supporters believe the proposal would strengthen the workforce that serves the most vulnerable patients and reduce health care costs by preventing avoidable hospital visits.

    The bill remains under consideration after a hearing in September.

    Massachusetts formally launched a CHW certification process in 2018. Currently, CHWs may apply for certification by either completing the required 4,000 hours of work experience or completing 2,000 hours plus a training program in core competencies and specialty health topics.

    Trust built through community connections

    CHWs’ understanding of the disparities and insecurities in their communities — from language barriers to prejudice against immigrants in the health care system — has prepared them to build connections with underserved patients. Due to recent immigration raids, patients sometimes feel afraid to answer phone calls from health centers but will respond to a CHW they know and trust, Blondet said.

    This trust, however, has to be built on consistent, long-term service.

    “It is so absurd to lose a workforce that has prepared for a long time, who has the skills, education, the trust, the presence in the community,” she added.

    Lessons from the pandemic and looming coverage losses

    Kennedy, who sponsored the bill, said the issue came to her attention during the pandemic, when CHWs shared accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines and made sure people got vaccinated.

    Securing funding for CHWs, Kennedy said, is an investment in the health care system that will result in better outcomes for residents. In light of federal cuts to Medicaid, it is also a strategic move to save the state money in the long term.

    “Instead of getting access to primary care to treat a cold, they were then waiting till that cold turned into pneumonia and going to the emergency room,” she said. “That was not just again devastating for their health care, but it was also incredibly costly to the overall system.”

    Up to 300,000 Medicaid recipients in Massachusetts could lose coverage over time due to federal policy changes, the state estimates. They might struggle to seek affordable primary care. This will place a greater burden on CHWs at community-based organizations to provide basic services, such as vaccinations and health screenings, said Taylor Rich, a project manager at Partners In Health overseeing CHW workforce development programs.

    “There are a lot of times that we focus on crisis intervention,” Rich said, “and CHWs address those upstream health effects. So sometimes their work goes unacknowledged because people can’t see the longevity of it over time.”

    Language and culture as essential tools

    CHWs’ cultural and linguistic expertise is an important asset as they serve patients using a community-based approach, said Olga Valdman, the executive director and a physician at Worcester RISE for Health, a nonprofit that provides health care services to refugees and immigrants.

    RISE currently has seven CHWs providing services such as behavioral health care, prenatal care and education about the U.S. health care system. The organization tries to match each patient it serves with a CHW who speaks their language if they have limited English proficiency, Valdman said.

    Valdman has seen how language, knowledge and transportation barriers affect patients’ health outcomes. Even taking time off work can be a challenge, especially for those who work multiple jobs.

    “People cannot risk jeopardizing their jobs,” she said. “So they always prioritize that over their health.”

    Meeting patients where they are

    “We have to first acknowledge that, and understand, and be empathetic,” Valdman said. CHWs play an important role in identifying why a patient is unable to keep appointments, looking for flexible solutions such as making appointments after hours and making follow-up phone calls to check in.

    A CHW who speaks the same language or comes from the same culture as their patients can build a trusting relationship in a way that health care providers are unable to.

    “That trust is critical in health care,” Valdman said. “As a physician, I see all the time that the mistrust, the not knowing what to say, what not to say, not being sure, being shy, being worried about being judged. All of these things hold our patients back and prevent them from being able to share critical information that will influence our ability to care for them.”

    An uncertain future for a vital role

    While CHWs face different responsibilities and situations, one goal is consistent: meeting people where they are. CHWs try to recognize the unexpressed needs of patients by reading their body language or tone of voice, making sure these needs are seen, said Harvard Thompson, senior director of CHW training at the Center for Health Impact.

    Thompson highlighted how CHWs work with patients who have behavioral health issues. Because of the stigma around therapy, some patients are hesitant to meet with a therapist. Speaking with a CHW first avoids the label associated with therapy and makes patients more comfortable about being referred to a therapist.

    When funding runs out, CHWs are often the first people to be laid off, Thompson said. Reimbursing CHWs would allow employers to incorporate their work into internal budgets instead of hiring them only when grants are available, he said.

    “It just takes redesigning the system,” he said. “And it can ultimately be effective.”

  • State bill seeks earlier detection of kids’ vision problems

    The bill, proposed by Sen. Michael Moore of Millbury would expand the current requirement for a recent eye exam for children entering kindergarten to those entering preschool.

    When a child is unable to follow the teacher’s instructions or actively participate in class, it may be a behavioral health problem or simply because the child can’t see the chalkboard. They struggle in the classroom unless teachers and parents are aware of their vision issues.

    A legislative proposal aims to ensure no child falls behind due to lack of access to basic vision care by expanding children’s vision screenings as well as follow-up care.

    The bill, proposed by Sen. Michael Moore, D-Millbury, and Rep. Christine Barber, D-Somerville, expands the current requirement for a recent eye exam for children entering kindergarten to those entering preschool. It also establishes a vision and eye health advisory council and a computerized registry to record screening results.

    Certain vision disorders have a significant effect upon children’s ability to read, like hyperopia, also known as farsightedness, that makes it difficult to see up close. Another disorder, astigmatism, causes distorted vision and affects reading clarity, said Bruce Moore, a leader of Children’s Vision Massachusetts and professor emeritus at New England College of Optometry. Lack of reading skills will cause significant deficits in education.

    “Therefore, a child is more likely to end up in special education that costs cities and towns two to three times as much money as typical education,” Moore said.

    Early screenings can help detect vision problems before they worsen. Eye diseases like amblyopia, or “lazy eye,” are far easier to treat at age three than upon entering school, Moore said. Amblyopia affects approximately 2–4% of children in North America, which means it is common to find one kid with the condition in each classroom.

    Only 60% of children on public insurance in Massachusetts had their vision screened and 70% of children on private insurance, according to the 2021 Report of the Childhood Vision and Eye Health Commission by Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

    Finding a ​​pediatric optometrist for follow-up care could be difficult in communities facing a lack of access to vision care. Around a decade ago, Dr. Moore had his students call eye doctor offices in Springfield to ask if they could make an appointment for a child on Medicaid.

    “We found only a handful of eye doctors that would even think about seeing that child,” he said. Medicaid’s low reimbursement rates contribute to longer waiting lists.

    Parents in eye care deserts have to take time off to get their children to eye care providers, which places a heavy burden on families that do not have a car or cannot afford unpaid leaves, said Amie Shei, president of the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts. She has heard stories of parents waiting for months, even a year. Students continued experiencing challenges seeing in the classroom while waiting.

    Southbridge is one of Central Massachusetts cities experiencing a lack of access to vision care. In 2024, the Vision for Southbridge program provided free eye exams and glasses at no costs to students in need by a mobile vision clinic at Southbridge public schools. But it was a one-time program, Shei said, which highlighted the need for more sustained resources for children who fail vision screenings.

    Not every child has access to follow-up care, even when it is as basic as wearing proper glasses. MassHealth provides one pair of glasses each year for children. If they lose or break their glasses, low-income families cannot always afford a new pair for them, Shei said.

    “This is an area where the sooner you know about a potential issue, the more that can be done early on, that can prevent worse outcomes in the future.”

  • Owners push back against proposed rent control ballot question

    Advocates for small property owners describe the rent control proposal likely headed for next fall’s ballot as the most “restrictive and aggressive” the state has seen to date and say it would be detrimental to small landlords in the industry.

    Small property owners — who provide over 65% of rental housing in Massachusetts, according to the Small Property Owners Association — operate on tight margins, so they are typically only a few missed bank checks away from bankruptcy or losing their business, said Amir Shahsavari, vice president of SPOA. 

    He said if these “mom and pop” businesses no longer exist, tenants will be in a “tough predicament” if properties are taken over by larger corporations because they will no longer have a person to connect with immediately if there are issues in their building, a benefit usually provided by smaller landlords.

    In addition, operating costs, like utilities, insurance and particularly property taxes — which Boston Mayor Michelle Wu recently said are expected to increase by 13% in January— have risen in recent years, which factors into rent pricing. However, if caps are put in place, advocates are concerned property owners will not be able to adapt to these rising costs accordingly. 

    “On one hand, we appreciate the pressures that renters have when they say that rent is increasing,” Shahsavari said. “But what people miss in this story is that operating costs are also going up exorbitantly for the property owner too.” 

    “If [small property owners] can’t increase rent rates, what’s going to happen is they have to exit the market,” said Tony Lopes, a SPOA board member. “We can’t afford to supply this housing at a loss every month.” 

    The initiative seeks to limit annual rent increases for most residential units by either the Consumer Price Index increase or 5% — whichever value is lower — during a 12-month period. It would set base rents as of Jan. 31, 2026, but state residents would not vote on the measure, which would apply to every municipality, until next November. 

    To reach the ballot, it must still go through a process that includes certification of more than 124,000 signatures, legislative review and likely another round of signature gathering if lawmakers do not approve the proposal.

    To account for small property owners, the measure includes a provision to exempt owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units from the measure. Noemi Ramos, executive director of the New England Community Project, said because of this, the notion that the measure will impact small landlords is “out the window.” 

    But Shahsavari said this provision is “misleading” because property owners with four units or less are a minority among the small property owner community. Because of the tight limit, those who exceed this amount — which he said is the “vast majority” of small property owners — would be categorized with companies that operate on a much larger and commercialized scale. 

    Instead, he said the definition of a small property owner depends on a business structure’s size, scope and reach rather than the amount of units an owner manages. 

    “What one small owner can handle might be different from the capacity that another owner would have,” he said. “But it does ultimately come down to the degree to which the owner can manage his or her business in a hands-on way without expanding too far out to the point where they really become a conglomerate.” 

    Ramos said Homes For All Massachusetts, the statewide coalition behind the ballot initiative, decided to use four units as the cut off in the provision after speaking with small property owners and deciding “what are our values when we think about how we define small landlords.” 

    “I remember asking one of the developers in the [city of Boston’s Rent Stabilization Advisory Committee], ‘how do you define a small landlord,’ and they said ‘50 units or less,’” Ramos said. “When you think about 50 units, that’s a business. That’s no longer a small landlord.” 

    Another provision in the initiative addresses development — another industry opposed to the bill — by exempting units where the “first residential certificate of occupancy” is under 10 years old or 10 years from when the certificate of occupancy is validated 

    Tamara Small, CEO of the NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association of Massachusetts, said the “threat of the [rent control] question” is already having a chilling effect on investment and development. If put in place, she said the measure would also lead to decreased quality of housing and repairs, which would result in either sub-par conditions or units being taken off the market.

    Antonio Ennis, a community organizer for the Dorchester neighborhood at City Life / Vida Urbana, disagreed with quality concerns and said landlords should always factor in money for property repairs and keeping buildings up to code. Ennis, a small property owner who occupies one unit and rents out two other units in a triple decker in Dorchester, would not be affected by the ballot measure. 

    Developers and property owner advocates said the primary solution to solving the state’s housing crisis is increased development, which they said a rent control measure would hinder.

    “If rent control is in place in the market, investors do not go to that market. They go elsewhere,” Small said. “Without those investment dollars, projects are not built.”

    “No financial decisions and investments are made on a 10-year time horizon,” said Conor Yunits, committee chair for an opposition group for the measure called Housing for Massachusetts. 

    Mark Martinez, staff housing attorney for the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, pointed out that despite not having rent control for over 30 years, Massachusetts is still behind in terms of housing production. 

    “This isn’t a development policy. This is a stabilization policy,” he said. “Judging a stabilization policy based off of whether or not it’s going to spur development doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.” 

    He said the measure is a “common sense” policy but not the only measure that needs to be taken to solve the housing crisis. 

    “It’s going to take a decade, if not longer, to build all the housing that we need,” Martinez said. “But in the meantime, families need to be able to stay around.” 

    Small pointed towards cities such as Austin and Phoenix as models for Boston to solve its housing crisis. In both cities, an increased housing supply resulted in lower rent growth and prices. 

    Rents in Massachusetts

    Massachusetts historically has had some of the nation’s highest rent prices and recent reports have ranked it as the state with the second highest cost of living. In May, the Consumer Affairs Journal of Consumer Research ranked Massachusetts as the fifth worst state for renters due to a lack of affordability and availability. 

    “This is a statewide issue, and we’re continuing to see the crisis intensify across the state,” said Carolyn Chou, executive director of Homes For All Massachusetts. “We can’t wait while corporate landlords come into our cities and towns and hike up the rent and displace our communities.”

    Over 40% of state residents who rent are “cost-burdened” as of 2022, meaning they pay above 30% of their income on housing, according to data from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. In some areas, such as Springfield, Boston, Cambridge, Newton and Barnstable, this number reaches over 50% of renters.

    Residents paying over 50% of their income on housing are classified as “severely cost burdened,” according to the Healey administration’s A Home for Everyone initiative. The percentage of renters in Massachusetts who fall into this category ranges from about 20-30%, depending on the area. 

    When families have to spend an excess amount of their income on housing, they have less money for needs such as food, transportation and childcare. They are also unable to “save money for opportunities that could provide a pathway to higher income as well as wealth-building,” which includes education, job training or homeownership, according to the initiative. 

    “Rent often is the first place people put their money towards,” said Chelsea Sedani, director of advocacy at the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. “If you don’t have that, it makes a lot of other things very challenging.”

    Decreased rents could have an effect on the larger economy as well because they could potentially increase purchasing power. 

    “If we alleviate the pressure that people are feeling around housing costs, we’re going to make it easier for them to spend in other areas of their lives,” Sedani said.

    The last time Massachusetts had a rent control measure in place was in 1994 — a measure that voters themselves overturned. Many opponents cite this as another reason the measure should not be implemented. 

    However, Sen. Patricia Jehlen, D-Somerville, pointed out that Boston, Brookline and Cambridge voted in favor of keeping rent control before it was outlawed statewide in 1994. She said Massachusetts needs to not just create more housing but to preserve “naturally occurring affordable housing.” 

    “People are not going to stay in Massachusetts if we just count on building new housing,” she said. “It’s not fast enough and not cheap enough.”

    High rent prices make it difficult for residents to plan and save money long term, so rent increase caps would provide predictability that would keep people in their homes for longer, Martinez said. 

    Martinez grew up in rural western Massachusetts, which he said used to be the “affordable part of the state. Now, “there’s not an affordable part of Massachusetts anymore,” he said.

    Although both supporters and opponents presented different ways on how to approach the housing affordability crisis, they agreed on one solution: increasing the supply of housing. 

    “Supply, supply, supply,” Yunits said. “That’s really all there is. We’ve got to build.” 

  • Proposed law could require minimum gratuity during busy seasons

    Jared Forman, owner of Deadhorse Hill Restaurant in Worcester, said the bill is adding more complications by only allowing restaurants to charge a service fee during peak seasons

    As the holiday season approaches, restaurants expect to see large crowds celebrating with friends and family. But servers facing heavier workloads during the busiest days of a year may actually get fewer tips, according to a Massachusetts lawmaker proposing legislation to address the issue.

    A bill offered by Rep. Manny Cruz, D-Salem would allow restaurants to charge parties with more than four a minimum service charge of no less than 19% during peak restaurant seasons that a municipality would define.

    Servers often worry if diners will leave tips during October, the peak season in Salem where about 1.5 million tourists visit the town for Halloween activities, packing restaurants, according to Cruz.

    “[The servers] are working incredibly hard, and the folks wouldn’t leave tips. And I’ve heard these stories countless times,” he said.

    The bill makes the minimum gratuity optional for restaurants, Cruz emphasized. Municipalities determine their peak seasons, and restaurants decide whether it is the right fit for them.

    But having different rules in each municipality causes confusion, said Jen Ziskin, director of Mass Restaurants United.

    “We are in the business of creating great experiences for our guests and for our communities,” she said, worrying that the proposed gratuity will affect diners’ experience as peak seasons start and end at different times in each town.

    Ziskin, who owns two restaurants in Brookline, thinks diners become skeptical of the services they receive if a mandatory gratuity replaces tipping.

    “It’ll create this kind of assumption from the guests that if anything goes wrong,” said Ziskin, “it’s because the gratuity was included, and it might have nothing to do with that. It might be a kitchen issue, it might be a staffing issue.”

    Ziskin also believes that diners tend to tip less when a mandatory gratuity appears on their bill. Last year, Ballot Question 5, which called for an increase in the minimum wage for tipped workers, was voted down. Many tipped workers thought it would result in customers tipping less. Their opposition indicates that dining and hospitality should continue to be a tipped industry, she said.

    Lawmakers need to clarify if this bill will conflict with the “junk fees” guidelines from the Attorney General’s Office that took effect in September, which require restaurants to disclose additional gratuities for large parties on the menu, Ziskin said.

    Some restaurants have adopted an automatic service charge model.

    Jared Forman, owner of Deadhorse Hill Restaurant in Worcester, started charging a service charge of 20% on every bill when the restaurant reopened after the pandemic.

    Forman said the bill is adding more complications by only allowing restaurants to charge a service fee during peak seasons, hoping the rules are consistent and simple.

    “It’s very difficult to deal with your guests when these things are constantly changing,” he said.

    At his restaurant, instead of a tip pool shared by servers, kitchen employees such as line cooks and dishwashers also share the 20% surcharge. Forman thinks it levels the playing field between the front of house and back of house workers, as the latter are often people who are immigrants, who can’t speak perfect English and have fewer advantages.

    “I like the idea that everybody in the restaurant is of equal value and you can pay them according to that value, ” he added.

    December is typically the busiest time at his restaurant and most restaurants in Worcester, Forman said. Charging customers higher prices during the peak season will discount their experience and diminish the enjoyment of a holiday dinner.

    “I want the restaurant to be about hospitality, not about finding a good deal.”

  • AI ‘friends’ may expose kids to dangerous content, study warns

    AI toys pose new challenges that parents and caregivers may not be prepared for, according to Darlene Belliveau, director of Children’s Services at the Central Mass YWCA in Worcester.

    Miko, the bright blue robot, shows a yawning face on its screen as it wakes up from sleep mode. It expresses disappointment when a child says “I want to leave.”

    But toys with embedded artificial intelligence chatbots can also talk about sexually explicit topics, tell children how to access dangerous objects like matches, and have addictive design features that discourage children from leaving, according to the 2025 Trouble in Toyland report released last week by U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. 

    “Experts are already sounding the alarm that we just don’t know what is going to happen, and that this is a massive experiment on kids’ social emotional development over time,” R. J. Cross, one of the report’s authors, said at a Massachusetts PIRG’s news conference. 

    According to Miko’s product website, this robot marketed to children ages 5 to 12 creates interactive learning experiences and entertainment to improve users’ speaking proficiency, physical activity, and engagement with academic activities, making it children’s “new best friend.”

    But the report warns that these toys are largely built on the same large language model technology that powers adult chatbots, which enables them to generate unpredictable responses and discuss inappropriate topics with children. 

    “AI friends do not work the same way real friends do,” Cross said, adding their impact on child development will be clear only when the first generation playing with the AI friends grows up. 

    The face and voice recognition features make these toys able to record a child’s voice and collect other sensitive data, raising privacy and safety concerns. Scammers can use the recording to create a replica of a child’s voice, even to convince parents that their child has been kidnapped, according to the report. 

    Some AI toys are advertised to help improve children’s creativity and imagination, but they cannot replace hands-on experiences and genuine human interactions, according to David Monahan, campaign director of Fairplay, a nonprofit that advocates against business and marketing practices aimed at children. 

    “They prey on children’s trusts. They disrupt children’s relationships and resilience,” Monahan said. 

    For local children services organizations, AI toys pose new challenges that parents and caregivers may not be prepared for, according to Darlene Belliveau, director of Children’s Services at the Central Mass YWCA in Worcester.

    AI toys may cause social emotional delays and weaken children’s ability to navigate the complexities of human interaction, especially when parents leave them unsupervised, Belliveau said. She recommends that children should only have access to AI after middle school. 

    YWCA’s Worcester Childcare Center, which serves children 1 month to 5 years old, does not allow AI toys as well as other digital toys in classrooms, she said. 

    To help children safely use AI toys, parents should research products carefully before purchasing, keep parental controls on, and require children to play with them in an open area under the supervision of adults, Belliveau said. She also encourages parents to have open conversations with children to establish an agreement on when they can and cannot use the device.

    “I just want them to remember that human connection is so important, and we don’t want to get away from that,” she said. “I think it would be detrimental if we allow toys to take over our world and educate our children, or be their only interaction.”

  • For state’s homeless, a new bill could make IDs easier to obtain

    The bill, sponsored by Sen. Robyn Kennedy and Rep. James O’Day of Worcester will waive the $25 fee for homeless applicants and reduce their burden to obtain proof of residency.

    It has been about two years since Avi Manning lost her state ID. Like many people experiencing homelessness, it is easy to lose an ID while moving between streets and shelters, and it is hard to obtain a new one. 

    Now, Massachusetts lawmakers are advancing legislation that could provide free IDs for homeless adults and youth. 

    This bill, sponsored by Sen. Robyn Kennedy, D-Worcester, and Rep. James O’Day, D-Worcester, will waive the $25 fee for homeless applicants and reduce their burden to obtain proof of residency. 

    In November, National Homelessness Awareness Month, advocates hope to raise awareness about barriers to identification that restrict housing and job opportunities for homeless individuals. 

    Manning, who testified in support of the bill at a recent Statehouse hearing, said she was applying for transitional housing through Women’s Lunch Place, a women’s shelter and advocacy center in Boston. Without an ID, she needs to wait for extra paperwork to be completed while she stays in a shelter. 

    “Not having your identification when you are homeless is a different type of isolation,” Manning said in an interview, hoping to be able to apply for a job, rent a car, and get a library card. She is waiting for mail to be sent to the shelter as proof of her residency. 

    Once the mail arrives, she needs to make an online appointment at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, which is another obstacle for homeless individuals who lack access to computers and consistent Wi-Fi. 

    “This is the lowest cost bill you have ever seen us talking about,” said Kelly Turley, the associate director of Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless at the hearing. Sixteen states already approved free or reduced fee IDs for people experiencing homelessness, according to Movement Advance Project.

    Nonprofit groups and shelters sometimes pay the $25 fee for homeless applicants, but in other cases, people have to put together the fees for their IDs and for the background documents, like a copy of their birth certificate, according to Turley.  

    The bill will also allow homeless applicants to submit residency documentation from a service provider. They are now able to present a letter from the shelter confirming that they reside at the facility, but gathering all documentation and navigating paperwork can be overwhelming.  

    “We want to make sure that the process is streamlined and that even people who don’t have an advocate would be able to navigate this process,” Turley said. 

    By specifying unaccompanied homeless youth, the bill highlights the challenges faced by young adults under 24 who face additional barriers to obtaining IDs. Turley said many struggle to gather the documents required for an application, such as a lease or utility bill in their name.

    According to Massachusetts Youth Count, a 2024 report from the Massachusetts Unaccompanied Homeless Youth Commission, 33.4% of young people coped with homelessness by couch surfing, going from a friend or family member’s couch to another. This gives them lower priority in accessing housing aid than those sleeping in shelters or encampments, said Leah Bradley, CEO of Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance.

    “In order for us to prevent youth from sleeping outdoors, we have to intervene while they’re living with other folks,” she said. 

    CMHA is working on connecting young adults in Worcester County to Rapid Rehousing programs, providing housing subsidies to participants between the age of 18 and 24. Because most subsidized units require identification, lack of IDs keeps young adults away from most opportunities to secure housing while continuing their education or seeking employment training.

  • Proposed bill aims to ban rodenticides for wildlife, pet safety

    “The need to run to a toxic chemical shouldn’t be the first choice,” said Sen. Michael Moore of Millbury

    Lethal pesticides targeting rodents are also killing wildlife and pets through secondary exposure. A statewide effort aims to phase them out. 

    A legislative committee heard testimony on a bill sponsored by Rep. Jim Hawkins, D-Attleboro, and Sen. Michael Moore, D-Milbury, to restrict the use of anticoagulant rodenticides, which kill rats and mice by preventing their blood from clotting, while also potentially causing secondary-poisoning to animals that prey on them.

    Poisoned rodents experience internal bleeding over the course of several days before dying, and second generation anticoagulant rodenticides, with stronger toxicity, generally last for four weeks in their tissues. Raptors like eagles, hawks and owls, and mammals like foxes and bobcats, are likely to catch them and consume the poison. Pet dogs and cats face similar risks.

    “The need to run to a toxic chemical shouldn’t be the first choice,” Moore said. This bill is derived from California’s 2021 law that prohibits uses of SGARs, which has not led to any negative consequences, he said. 

    The proposed legislation will only allow the use of anticoagulant rodenticides during public health emergencies or for specific purposes, such as protecting drinking water supply. 

    Supporters of the bill are pushing for integrated pest management plans, a combination of pest control strategies that include sealing holes, controlling food sources, and non-poisonous ways to target rodents such as snap-traps. 

    More than a dozen municipalities have filed or planned to file a home rule petition to restrict the use of anticoagulant rodenticides. It will be the next step Worcester animal welfare advocates consider if the state bill fails, said Samara Ebinger, organizer of the Friends of Wildlife Worcester. 

    Tracking animals that have consumed rodenticides is difficult because most of them died in the wild, Ebinger said. Using reports by wildlife rehabilitators, she put together a video titled “An Incomplete List of Wildlife and Pets Poisoned by Rodenticides in Massachusetts in 2024,” documenting more than 70 poisoning cases within a year. 

    The New England Pest Management Association testified against the bill at the hearing. Banning anticoagulant rodenticides is like losing a tool out of the toolbox, said Adam Carace on behalf of the association, warning that small businesses will lose the most affordable method.

    But not all pest control companies oppose the restrictions, Ebinger said, citing an open letter from Banner Pest Control, a Dracut exterminator that discontinued the use of SGARs in November 2024. The letter states that alternative methods like trapping and birth control are “cost-comparable, especially when factoring in long-term control.”

    The pest control industry should educate consumers of the risk of rodenticides, said Shannon Phelan, the founder of Save Grafton Wildlife. She recalled that when she found rats at her house a few years ago, a pest management company came to put bait boxes containing anticoagulant rodenticides.

    When Phelan expressed concerns, the pest controller “thought that ‘second generation’ meant that the chemicals have been changed so that they no longer hurt wildlife,” she said. “If they are telling people that there’s no impact, then how would people know?”

    Phelan and other volunteers are now reaching out to local businesses, promoting integrated pest management over bait boxes. 

    “I have seen a lot of big boxes around restaurants, grocery stores, and markets. But what I have also seen right next to those boxes are open dumpsters,” she said. “There are simple ways that you could address the root problem of why you are attracting rats to your business.”