EOHHS Sect. JudyAnn Bigby has made two first class appointments to key positions in her Secretariat.
Dr. Jean Flatley McGuire will serve as Assistant Secretary for Disability Policies and Programs. Jean worked for years in the Department of Public Health as Director of the AIDS Bureau and did a fantastic job. Dr. McGuire will also serve as Interim Commissioner for the Department of Mental Retardation.
Marilyn Anderson Chase, MSW, has been named as Assistant Secretary for Children, Youth and Families. Marilyn served for 10 years as Senior VP for Community Impact at the United Way of MA Bay. Prior to her time there, she was CEO of Central Boston Elder Services from 1991-97. In the 1980s, she served as the Director of the Governor’s Office of Community Service under Governor Michael Dukakis and was Chief of Staff to Kitty Dukakis during the Governor’s presidential campaign. In her new position with EOHHS, Ms. Chase will oversee the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Department of Social Services, the Department of Youth Services and the Office of Refugees and Immigrants.
McGuire will replace Gerry Morrissey who has served as Commissioner for the Department of Mental Retardation (DMR) since 1997 and Assistant Secretary for Disabilities and Community Services since 2003, and has 25 years of service in EOHHS. Gerry is well known as a highly effective administrator and advocate for the mentally disabled, and he will be sorely missed.
Slowly but surely, the new EOHHS is coming into full view.
hello i too and outraged re not appointing gerry. he has worked long and hard for all, and its a low blow and loss to many. letters have been sent to key senators, reps, bigby and governor, let them choke on it. hopefully not at our expense or our families. will they listen to us?? hopefully
I will send my comments again.
I find it absolutely unspeakable that the Governor would take the steps to fire Gerry Morrissey. It is especially disturbing that this is done before budgets are underway, and when this administration is having difficulty getting out of its own way. There are many families, advocates, citizen board members, siblings, guardians who are alway ‘fighting’ for the minimum seeds from the coffers of this administration. After all this venerable population does not vote, do they.
One would think that the Governor and his staff would have let things settle down for a year or so before making a move as drastic as this.
Hey, us outsiders, don’t know what really went on, but Morrissey must have said something like the ‘truth’ on an issue or budget item that made this administration bump him out.
Whatever the reason, the developmentally disabled will be set back for a long time and the advocates will have to regroup and wait again to see who really will be in charge of this very big dept.
I wish EOHHS the very best, just do me a favor and listen to advocates, families and folks like the ARC before you make any more drastic missteps, because your actions not only affect the budget, it also affects the lives of those of which you and your dept have an obligation and responsibility to care for.
Do you think it would be possible to let us know who else in the dept is getting a pinky? Ya I know….
Jean McGuire is a fine choice for Assistant Secretary. She has good organizational skills, she knows the landscape, she quickly grasps technical matters, and she has a long track record of advocating for those who need it. As someone who has worked at the Bureau level in DPH, she will be able to appreciate the perspectives and tribulations of managers within EOHHS departments.
Gerry Morrissey has been an outstanding Commissioner at DMR. He has worked effectively and tirelessly to protect the interests of those with developmental disabilities. This large and often misunderstood Department operates in a unique and difficult financial and legal environment. Secretary Bigby’s decision to let him go is most unfortunate.
The rise of public health within the Secretariat is very welcome. However, institutional knowledge knowledge of Departments outside of DPH may become too shallow within the upper echelon of “the new” EOHHS. DPH differs greatly from other Departments in the ways that programs are funded and organized, and consequently how services are purchased and programs are managed. DPH deserves to be particularly cultivated, but it cannot be a model for the administration of the other Departments.