Focus at MHA on Still no room Congresswoman Clark respect, integrity, sees value of loan repay compassion at the inn VIEWPOINTS: DITORIAL PROVIDER PROFILE: E : PAGE 5 PAGE 4 PAGE 3 Vol. 40 - No. 3 The Newspaper of the Providers’ Council March 2019 Roundtable Federal, state discussion policy work gone to pot in spotlight he Providers’ Council and Massa- Organizations need to chusetts Nonprofit Network sent Ta joint letter to Congressman update policies, train staff Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Chair of the he legalization of marijuana usage Joint Committee on Taxation, urging in Massachusetts – for both medic- the immediate repeal of the new income Tinal and recreational purposes – is tax on expenses incurred by nonprofits creating new challenges and questions for providing employee transportation for human services providers about use benefits, such as parking and transit by both employees and clients. passes. Together, the Council and MNN Nearly 40 people representing 27 represent nearly 1,000 nonprofit or- Providers’ Council member organizations ganizations throughout Massachusetts. attended an HR Roundtable on Mari- The new tax – officially Internal Rev- juana Legalization Policies and Proce- enue Code Section 512(a)(7) – is a part dures hosted by the Council on Feb. 20 of the sweeping tax code reform passed in Needham to discuss their challenges in 2017 and the first payments will be and learn about best practices. due in a matter of weeks. It imposes a A panel – including attorneys Jeffrey 21 percent tax on nonprofits offering Hirsch and Peter Moser from the law firm transportation-related benefits to em- Hirsch Roberts Weinstein LLP; Senior ployees. Vice President of Community Services The letter, signed by Council Presi- dent and CEO Michael Weekes and Beth Lacey of Advocates, Inc.; and Presi- MNN President and CEO Jim Klocke, dent Gauri Bhalakia of ARCpoint Labs of underscores the urgent need for Con- Southboro-Framingham – addressed dif- gressional action to repeal the tax im- ferent perspectives of legal marijuana, its mediately. effect on workplace policy and the rights Staff from nearly 30 Providers’ Council member organizations packed the recent HR It reads in part: “This new tax is of employers, employees and clients. Roundtable – Marijuana Legalization Policies and Procedures – in Needham. forcing hundreds of thousands charita- Moser, Hirsch and Bhalakia all rec- expectations for on-call positions, he behavior – employees have to be able to ble nonprofits, community-based ommended that if an agency’s employee added. perform to meet the job description. Ad- human services providers, houses of handbook and/or workplace policies on Fewer than half of the organizations ditionally, employees cannot smell like worship, foundations and other non- drug and alcohol usage have not been represented at the roundtable said they drugs or alcohol when at work. profits to conduct extensive and costly updated in the last two years, it is im- currently require pre-employment drug They noted potential situations with assessments of their expenses related portant to do so. tests. An HR professional from one that regard to legal pot and the people the to parking, subway cards and bus Moser added that having a paragraph does said that her agency recently took agency serves. passes to determine whether and how in a handbook is fine, but organizations THC, a component of marijuana, off the “Do people have the human right to much in tax payments they must sub- may be better served to break out the screening panel, but added fentanyl. try a thing that is legal in this state if they mit to the IRS. … There is strong bipar- drug/alcohol policy and expectation to its One agency that has never drug think it will help?” was asked. tisan support for eliminating this unfair own page and require a separate sign off. tested said their attorney advised the or- Some of the questions raised during A policy should also be written around ganization to instead focus on workplace ROUNDTABLE, see page 7 POLICY, see page 6 Leadership Initiative experience ‘invaluable’ ive years after taking part in the profit sector is more than being competent in a Providers’ Council’s mentoring program, set of skills and, as we all know, is a very com- FThe Leadership Initiative, Re- plex environment,” Roulier said. “So bekah Roulier still meets occasionally in Andy Pond and The Leadership Ini- with her mentor, Justice Resource In- tiative, I gained a navigator … The stitute President Andy Pond. safe environment to ask any and all Roulier, who is now the Chief Op- questions was really key for me.” erating Officer at Doc Wayne Youth The Leadership Initiative (TLI) is Services, considers the year-long an inter-agency mentoring program mentoring initiative “one of my key for Council members that pairs expe- professional developmental milestones.” rienced executives with up-and-coming staff to A cohort of mentors and mentees get together to share experiences. “Learning how to be successful in the non- MENTORING, see page 7 ROUTING SLIP Board Chair Massachusetts Council of Executive Director/CEO Human Service Providers, Inc. 88 Broad Street • Boston, MA 02110 Chief Financial Officer Human Resources Director Development Director Other PROVIDERS’ NEWS AND NOTES LifeLinks, CLASS to merge sure the financial health of the agency. Benfeito, a graduate of Bristol Commu- this summer nity College and Bryant University, Boston delegation is ‘Inn’ service Two Providers’ Council members, joined Bristol as a Senior Accountant in LifeLinks, Inc. and CLASS, recently 2011. She rose to the position of Fi- announced that a merger of the two or- nance Director in 2016. ganizations serving Greater Lowell and the Merrimack Valley should be final- Cardillo joins BFAIR as ized by June 30. The plan, according to a joint press release, “is for CLASS to marketing director merge into the LifeLinks entity, with BFAIR (Berkshire Family & Individ- LifeLinks as the sole surviving entity ual Resources) recently announced that and Jean Phelps continuing as the CEO Katrina Cardillo has joined the organi- and Al Frugoli continuing as the COO zation as Director of Mar- of LifeLinks.” keting. Her experience spans more than a Delta Projects names decade in several indus- tries. Most recently, she Zouzoua as CFO was the Director of Mar- Delta Projects recently announced keting & Development at Katrina that Michael Zouzoua has been hired Berkshire County Arc. Cardillo as Chief Financial Officer Cardillo holds a master’s degree in for the Dedham-based or- business from MCLA and a certificate ganization. Zouzoua has in marketing strategy from Cornell. extensive experience in Firmly rooted in the Berkshires, the nonprofit sector, with Cardillo serves on the Massachusetts Members of the Boston legislative delegation visited Pine Street Inn on Feb. 8 to be a focus on budget strat- College of Liberal Arts M.B.A. Program briefed about the support system for homeless individuals in the city a day after egy and long-term plan- Advisory Board and is a member of the emergency shelter guests visited their representatives during the Coalition for Home- ning. Prior to Delta Michael 1Berkshire Class of 2014 Berkshire less Individuals’ annual Legislative Breakfast and Advocacy Day at the State House. Projects, Zouzoua served Zouzoua Leadership Program. She also volun- The delegation heard from Pine Street and other Boston providers, helped with food as CFO for two years at teers as a marketing consultant for the prep in the kitchen and participated in mock interviews with Project Place job trainees. Boston-based Last Mile Health and for Northern Berkshire United Way. Pictured from left, are Reps. Kevin Honan, Adrian Madaro, Aaron Michlewitz, Chynah 15 years at Unitarian Universalist Serv- Tyler, Jay Livingstone and Jon Santiago. ice Committee, which was regularly rated among high-performing nonprof- its. Zouzoua earned a Bachelor of Sci- Health Resources in Action wins award for new app for middle schoolers ence degree in Finance from ealth Resources in Action (HRiA), a Boston non- thought-provoking hypothetical scenarios for allowing chil- Northeastern University. profit that promotes healthier lives and communi- dren to consider how different actions can have different Hties through policy, research, prevention and health outcomes. Bristol Elder Services promotion, has been selected as a 2019 Parents’ Choice The app, which HRiA developed with FableVision Stu- promotes Benfeito to CFO Gold Award winner for “Project Here Games,” an online app dios, teaches students about healthy choices, peer pres- Bristol Elder Services, Inc. has to help middle school students practice healthy decision- sure, substance use, and coping with stress through making skills for substance use prevention. announced the promotion of Susan L. games, quizzes, and scenarios. According to the HRiA web- The Parents’ Choice Awards program, awarded by the Benfeito to Chief Financial Officer. She site, “Project Here is a public-private collaboration funded will have the primary responsibility of Parents’ Choice Foundation, annually honors the best ma- terial for children, including books, toys, music, magazines, by the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General and overseeing all strategic management of the GE Foundation to make substance use prevention ed- the agency’s finance department infra- software, videogames, television and websites. Parents’ ucation available to every public middle school in Massa- structure and operations. As a member Choice selected