Pocasset Mental Health Center to close. Will Mass. reverse course?
- Governor Healey’s fiscal 2026 budget proposes cuts to the Department of Mental Health, including the closure of Pocasset Mental Health Center.
- Cape Cod has ‘acute mental health needs,’ state Sen. Dylan Fernandes said.
- The region never recovered after decisions were made to close inpatient facilities on Cape 40 years ago, said Barnstable County Sheriff Donna Buckley.
- Cuts to case management staff will increase a need for police services and will stress local hospital emergency departments said a case management supervisor.
- A community meeting, is planned on Feb. 11 at the Pocasset Village Association Community Room, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
During an Assembly of Delegates meeting on Wednesday, Diane Lawson stood within the Mary Pat Flynn Conference Center in Barnstable Village and spoke about her son Blue Lawson, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Whenever Blue needs support, she said, she can call on Pocasset Mental Health Center staff.
“When he gets into Pocasset everybody knows him and everyone is familiar with his issues,” said Diane Lawson. “I have lost a lot in life because of my son’s illness. But Pocasset has been superb in treating my son.”
In January, Gov. Maura Healey filed her fiscal 2026 budget which revealed budget cuts to the Department of Mental Health. That includes the closure of the Center, located at 830 County Road, along with a state-run pediatric rehabilitation hospital in Canton.
The state also intends to cut the mental health case manager workforce.
Cape Cod has ‘acute mental health needs’
Barnstable County Sheriff Donna Buckley also spoke at the meeting and said the closures and budget restrictions will “put more people in emergency rooms, in police cruisers or in jails.”
“These proposals will not save money, but will exact a human toll,” said Buckley.
State Sen. Dylan Fernandes told the Times on Thursday that the Center is funded through the fiscal year and there won’t be an immediate closure. In the meantime, Fernandes said he’s working on a budget amendment that could keep the Center open.
“The concern is that there are only 20 inpatient beds at Cape Cod Hospital,” said Fernandes. “If the state pulls out they are leaving an entire region with less than two dozen inpatient mental health beds in a region that has acute mental health needs.”
How will Center closures and staff cuts impact local families ?
Rachel Courington, a Department of Mental Health adult case management supervisor was emotional during the Assembly meeting. As her voice shook, she said cuts to case management staff will increase a need for police services, and will stress local hospital emergency departments.
Medical and psychiatric patient stays will also increase, she said. Case managers, said Courington, work directly with first responders, social workers, and hospital staff to ensure that clients can remain as independent as possible in the community.
“We pick them up, we help them take their meds. We take them shopping, we work on symptom management. Sometimes they don’t have family. And we are the only person in their life that they get to see,” said Courington.
Cape Cod hasn’t recovered from inpatient facility closures 40 years ago, says sheriff
Buckley, who wrote a letter to Healey in opposition of the Center’s closing on Jan. 31, said the mental health crisis on the Cape has continued to escalate before the latest proposals even came forward. The region, she said, has never recovered after decisions were made to close inpatient facilities on Cape 40 years ago.
“What we are seeing now is the absolute bottom of the consequences of that,” she said. “The increased demands on law enforcement and emergency departments are not sustainable.”
Buckley calls for additional mental health services, and inpatient services.
“To just summarily suggest that we can close Pocasset or eliminate half of the people who provide services across the state without a plan or opportunity for input is concerning,” she said.
A petition and community discussions aim to reverse course
When Fernandes heard about the possible closure, he launched a petition on Jan. 30, which has garnered 1,257 signatures to date. The petition calls for the state to reverse course regarding the decision to close the Center, and to instead expand access to mental health services across the region.
“The Cape and Islands are very geographically isolated,” said Fernandes. “Potentially closing the facility is an immoral move.”
Fernandes will also host a community meeting, along with State Rep. David Vieira, to discuss what is at stake with the possible closure 6 to 7:15 p.m., on Feb. 11 at the Pocasset Village Association Community Room.
‘Downward spiral into the criminal justice system’
During the Assembly meeting, Chair of the Board of Regional Commissioners Sheila Lyons said commissioners have drafted a resolution against the cuts. The group, she said, will be joining forces with the Assembly of Delegates to write a letter to Healey’s office in opposition of the Center’s potential closing.
“We want to move forward, be informed, and keep this conversation going as we continue to advocate for people on Cape Cod,” said Lyons.
In a letter to Healey, the Bourne Select Board wrote in opposition of the closure and said the Center is an integral part of local services needed to meet the needs of Bourne residents.
“If Pocasset is closed, access to care becomes even more difficult, resulting in more mental health challenges being left untreated and more people entering a downward spiral into the criminal justice system,” read the letter.
Where will families go for help?
During the Assembly meeting, Kim Lemmon, director of family programs for the National Alliance on Mental Illness Cape Cod and the Islands said she’s been taking support calls from families for 10 years. The door surrounding access to mental health services is closing faster and faster every year, she said.
“It’s getting more and more frustrating telling families that there’s nothing,” she said. “I was devastated when I heard the news of this potential closure. We don’t need less services. We need more.”
Rachael Devaney writes about community and culture. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @RachaelDevaney.
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