One of the state’s largest social service providers announced cuts to programs in the greater Burlington area and St. Albans after several years of multi-million dollar losses.
The Howard Center serves around 20,000 people with mental illness, substance use disorders and developmental disabilities in Vermont and gets nearly 90% of its funding from Medicaid.
To cut costs, they’ll close a day program for adults with major mental illness in Burlington and an outpatient center in St. Albans that provides substance use disorder treatment. They’ll also reduce temporary housing available in Essex and Burlington for people with mental health needs.
The changes will eliminate nearly 30 filled positions, and the same number of vacant roles.
“All of these things are important and valuable and meaningful to folks’ lives, which makes it that much harder,” said Sandy McGuire, the executive director of the nonprofit.
She said health care costs for staff at the organization have more than doubled over the past five years, from $8 million to $18 million. Salaries and benefits account for nearly 90% of the organization’s expenses.
At times, the Howard Center has operated with only a few days’ worth of cash on hand, and aims to save $3.6 million in expenses a year going forward.
“Given limited state resources, the priority for the financial resources are really on core service delivery,” McGuire said.
She said the organization is continuing to evolve to respond to community needs. It opened a mental health urgent care center in Burlington last year, which will continue to operate.
Planned closures of programs will take place from September through the end of the year.
