Health insurance reform at the municipal level can provide significant relief to municipalities: that is documented in this policy brief. However, progress in moving municipalities to the GIC is now stalled because of the high threshold to negotiate into the state system, which requires coalition bargaining among all municipal labor unions.

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Over the past six months, the Massachusetts criminal justice system has come under scrutiny due to the budget growth in its corrections agencies. This growth combined with the state’s budget crisis has compelled a closer examination of the oversight, decision-making and outcomes of one particular agency: the Probation Department.  Recent reports have highlighted the Department’s hiring practices, lack of oversight and reluctance to share important public safety data and has led to calls for significant change in its structure, management and oversight.

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The delivery of human services has been revolutionized over the past 40 years, but in at least two important aspects Massachusetts has lagged—failing to reform the administrative structure of the human services agencies, and retaining too many large institutions for clients who could be better treated in community settings.  The analysis in this report focuses on the seven largest human services agencies within the EOHHS and recommends changes necessary to improve the quality of the services delivered.

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