Unionized mental health counselors at Martha's Vineyard Community Services hesitated this week - delaying a possible move to strike while awaiting newly-promised face to face meetings with board members of the health and human services agency.
A strained encounter at Community Service's annual board meeting Tuesday afternoon, however, suggested the time out may not last for long.
Federal Labor Board Charges Agency with Poor Treatment of Employees
During Union Organizing Effort
By JULIA WELLS
A dormant labor dispute at Martha's Vineyard Community
Services bubbled to life again yesterday when a newly formed union
announced that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a
complaint against the umbrella social service agency.
Mental health counselors at Martha's Vineyard Community Services are now threatening to strike as the agency remains locked in tough contract talks with unionized employees.
For seven months, tensions continued to mount at the negotiation table over pay issues.
At risk are counseling and nursing services for hundreds of Islanders served by the Island Counseling Center and the Visiting Nurse Service, the unionized units of Community Services. In a typical week, ICC handles 180 clients.
Community Services Launches Self-Study with Heller School
By C.K. WOLFSON
Martha's Vineyard Community Services announced this week that
it has launched a comprehensive internal management study with the
prestigious Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis
University.
The seven-month, privately funded study is aimed at developing a
strategic plan for the unique umbrella human services agency that was
founded in 1961.
Executive Director Resigns at Community Services; Heller Study Cites
Flaws
By JAMES KINSELLA Gazette Senior Writer
Longtime executive director Ned Robinson-Lynch has abruptly resigned
from Martha's Vineyard Community Services in the midst of a
searching reappraisal by the agency of its operations and organization.
Change now looms large at Community Services, one of the oldest and
broadest human services organizations on the Vineyard.
Martha's Vineyard Community Services is taking stock after its
most important fundraiser of the year, the Possible Dreams Auction,
raised far less than last year's auction.
On Thursday afternoon, Community Services reported that $444,000 had
been raised on Tuesday night, including sales from admissions and
concessions. In 2006, the fundraiser brought in $810,000, providing a
substantial part of the organization's budget.
Health and human service agencies on the Vineyard are already feeling the effects of severe state budget cuts made last week by Gov. Deval Patrick and are bracing for more in the months ahead.
State funding to Family Planning of Martha’s Vineyard and Martha’s Vineyard Community Services was slashed in the cuts, while directors at the Island Health Care Rural Clinic in Edgartown and the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital were busy this week preparing for spending and hiring freezes.
Growth is on the horizon for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, the largest human service provider on the Island. A new strategic plan released this week announced plans for increased funding, larger facilities and expanded programs.
“The strategic plan is something we’ve put a lot of time and thought into,” community services executive director Julia Burgess said yesterday. “I think we’re going to be strong in the future. We will be able to meet the needs of the Island community on firm footing.”
Since Carrie White joined Connect — formerly known as Women’s Support Services — last fall, her focus has been on reducing the client base. “We’re trying to get out there to help change the social norms,” said Ms. White who since coming on as program director has made one full-time hire for preventive work and is cross training the rest of the agency’s five staff to work both with prevention and support. The agency has been working with victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault on the Island for over 20 years.
The annual Possible Dreams Auction, the Island’s signature summer charity event that has sustained Martha’s Vineyard Community Services for more than three decades, is heading back to the seaside and will take place this year in Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs, allowing the event to expand its capacity as the economy hammers philanthropy across the country.
Auction organizers will announce the venue change today.
