Friday, November 20, 2015

Mental health agency lays off a dozen

The nonprofit agency designated by the state of Vermont to provide mental health and substance abuse treatment in communities in Windsor and Windham counties laid off 12 employees this week.
http://www.vnews.com/news/townbytown/springfieldvt/19575231-95/mental-health-agency-lays-off-a-dozen

9 comments :

  1. Ex RS and HCRS employee11/21/15, 4:38 PM

    I'm sure paying Judith the 650k to retire, the mandatory yearly picnic at Plymouth State park, the elaborate "holiday" party they have every year and yearly bonuses for each employee will not happen now. If they looked at saving money then I'm sure there is at LEAST 5 of the 12 laid off that could've stayed.
    The yearly picnic must cost a lot, the fee for using the park for approximately 400 people has to be a pretty penny, food for all of the employees, they rented a dunk booth, boat rentals and the gifts have to be pretty pricey!!
    The company "holiday" party is catered by Black Rock Steak House, usually there is prime rib, and multiple other dishes.
    The residential home I worked at about 2 years ago was a great place for the CEO to launder money. Food from Harlow farm, great cookware, the utensils were better then most fancy restaurants. Nice dinners out once a week for the residents, bowling and movies as well. The appliances were all switched out so they all matched from what I was told by a coworker when the place was first opened.
    They spent over $500,000 to rehab the building and make it cozy. By the way, that's after they bought the building for $750,000
    I could go on but I am having chest pains thinking about the money this company has wasted!

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  2. Tiz the season for bonus checks. Those nice big fat ones for the top 3 percent. The money has to come from some where.

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  3. Thank you for the info, 4:38 pm. I'll remember this on voting day when they ask for $$$.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The services are still needed. Maybe someone at the state level needs a slap upside the head to clear it? Is anybody in Montpelier paying attention? I know Shumlin is busy padding his resume, but there's nobody else?

      Delete
  4. This is an example of a board of directors that was not properly providing governance and basically rubberstamping the CEO's decisions. As a result, the CEO had extravagant benefits, frequently utilized her company credit card to dine a Burdicks and other expensive restaurants, threw lavish parties, expensive catered dinners for monthly board meetings. All while losing close to 2 million in a failed expansion into California.

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    Replies
    1. Makes one wonder if contracting out these public services to not for profits is the right way to go

      Delete
  5. Ex RS and HCRS employee11/24/15, 10:29 PM

    I had totally forgotten about the California thing. I'm so happy to not be working there! I feel bad for the people who are serviced by them. HCRS only cares about the bottom line and not the people they are supposed to be helping.

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  6. What sort of oversight can the public exercise? For example, are there publicly accessible records that give the details of their contracts with the entities that pay them?

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  7. You can request information through the freedom of information act . Also go to guidestar.com to see IRS filings with financial information. HCRS has been very savvy regarding hiding embarrassing or controversial information from the government and public. Including info that could expose them to liability for poor treatment practices. The good news is they have a new ceo, replaced their law firm, and are now transparent with their board. But. Its a shame to let the old guard blameless.

    ReplyDelete


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