Special Announcement from HMEA

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM HMEA HMEA Board of Directors Announces CEO Retirement Last September, the Boards of Directors of both HMEA and Advocates strongly voted in favor of a full merger of both organizations with the goal of completing that merger in stages by July 1, 2024. Since last fall, HMEA and Advocates have made considerable progress toward full integration of Administration and Finance, with a plan to work towards an organizational design for Services that will best meet the needs of the individuals, families, employees, and communities we support. While all of this progress and momentum is great news for both organizations, it does come with some bittersweet news as well.  Jule Gomes Noack, President and Chief Executive officer of HMEA, has decided that now is the right time for her to transition into retirement after more than 36 years with the organization. With the merger on track and a strong senior leadership team remaining in place at HMEA, Jule believes that her work is complete, and that the successful merger is a fitting capstone to her career.  Jule's last day will align with the next merger milestone date which is June 30, 2023. Jule has made it clear that she is committed to remaining a resource and advisor to the new organization. As such, she will be available to share her institutional knowledge and provide guidance beyond the end of June.  While we are very sad to see her go, we respect and support her decision and will now turn our attention to celebrating her incredible career and contributions. Jule Gomes Noack Retiring President & CEO Here are just a few highlights from Jule's career at HMEA... Jule joined HMEA in 1987 as the agency's first clinical coordinator and has worked directly in or managed nearly every program, service, and administrative role within the organization. For the past 16 years, she has been a key member of HMEA's executive leadership team and has served as President/CEO since 2020. She led the creation and expansion of the agency's Quality, Learning and Performance department, which is focused on ensuring the highest levels of service quality, improving staff development methods to address a diverse workforce, and measuring performance outcomes in all divisions and departments throughout the organization.  Jule has also been the champion and driving force behind the development of HMEA's diversity initiative which promotes a culture of inclusion with a strong focus on a resolution of respect and a 'No Place for Hate' workplace. HMEA employees come from more than 38 different countries.  She also successfully led the organization through one of the most challenging times in recent history with the confluence of a global pandemic, racial reckoning, and political unrest.  We are incredibly grateful to Jule for her dedication as a servant leader in support of social justice for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families and the staff who support them.  Please join us in thanking and honoring Jule for all she has done and celebrating with her as she embarks on her next chapter. The Advocates and HMEA Administration and Boards of Directors are working together on a plan for leadership succession, and information including the timeline for merger will be shared in the next few weeks.

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Please welcome Sam DuBois to the Franklin Police Department

Please welcome Sam DuBois to the Franklin Police Department. Sam has been with us for a few months now and is our new Mental Health Clinician through the Jail Diversion Program (JDP). The JDP is a grant-funded program through the Department of Mental Health. It pairs clinicians with local police departments through a co-response model. Sam rides with our officers each night and responds to calls as they come in. 

In addition to the FPD, Sam also works as the clinician for the Medway Police Department. Sam has a Masters's Degree from Anna Maria College in Social Work and he previously worked for Riverside Community Care as an adult clinical community services clinician. 

Sam is a GREAT resource within our department, please don’t hesitate to reach out to him for services.

Or reach him by email  SaDubois@advocates.org or sdubois@franklinma.gov.

Shared from Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/Cgz7qnIP3mB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

For more about the Jail Diversion Program, visit the Town of Franklin Police Dept page   https://www.franklinma.gov/police-department/pages/jail-diversion-program

Please welcome Sam DuBois to the Franklin Police Department

Advocates and HMEA Announce Affiliation

Advocates and Horace Mann Educational Associates (HMEA) — two leading Massachusetts human service agencies—today announced a strategic partnership to better serve children, adults and families with intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, and behavioral health needs. 

“Our industry is changing in ways that require organizations like ours to affiliate in order to continue to be successful and to grow and innovate to meet the needs of those we serve,” said Diane Gould, President and CEO, Advocates. “We’ve accepted that challenge and are excited about the possibilities this affiliation provides for advancing our collective mission in the evolving human services system.”

Together, Advocates and HMEA serve more than 35,000 children, adults and families in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and employ more than 2200 staff, the majority of whom are essential direct care human service workers. 

The organizations provide similar services in the areas of adult family care; shared living; family supports; day habilitation and employment; and residential programs for people with autism (ASD) and intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), acquired and traumatic brain injuries (ABI and TBI), and individuals who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. 

Advocates also provides behavioral health services including outpatient counseling and residential supports, emergency psychiatric services, community justice and jail diversion programs, and integrated care management. 

HMEA provides a wide range of supports for individuals of all ages and operates Autism Resource Central, an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Clinic, The Darnell School, Tech Access of RI and Cloud4Causes—an IT consulting service for nonprofit organizations. 

Advocates and HMEA already have an established track record of successful collaboration that spans more than a decade, most recently in the areas of IT, Trauma Care and COVID-19 related needs. And, in some instances, they provide different services to the same individuals and have staff members who work for both organizations. 

“This affiliation was not a difficult decision, since our organizations are very like-minded, share the same values and hold each other in the highest regard,” said Jule Noack, HMEA President and CEO. “Both organizations have talented staff who care about the people they serve and are passionate about the work they do. We see lots of potential to learn from each other and create new opportunities for employees across both organizations that will attract and retain talent, drive innovation and enhance the services we provide.” 

Beginning in July, Advocates and HMEA will initiate a joint three-year strategic planning process to identify and adopt best practices across both organizations in order to assess ways to be more efficient and effective through collaboration and integration and to make the most of their combined strengths, talent, and technology. 

Under the affiliation, both organizations will remain separate nonprofit corporations with distinct Boards of Directors and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). Leadership of both organizations will remain the same with Gould continuing to serve as President and CEO of Framingham-based Advocates, and Noack continuing as President and CEO of Franklin-based HMEA. 

For more information, please visit https://www.advocates.org/ and https://www.hmea.org/.

Advocates and HMEA Announce Affiliation