What's new at MLS

A few updates below. Thee most critical and important is Monday’s event at the State House: Join MLRI & MA Coalition for the Homeless Monday 11-Noon in front of the State House to uphold shelter for children and families   We urge you to join us on Monday to call on the Governor…

ICYMI - tomorrow is the LAST SNAP Coalition meeting before the 4th Tuesday in September.   Just popping this email from Friday back into your inbox with the Zoom link   Coalition meeting Tuesday, July 23 - last Coalition meeting until September! Our next Coalition meeting…

A brief note to flag that DTA Connect has been experiencing technical difficulties. Many folks may not have been able to access DTA Connect yesterday or this morning. DTA has an alert posted on Mass.gov/DTA about this.  The DTAConnect online applications for SNAP and cash benefits…

Greetings all, hoping you had a rest filled 4th of July break. We want to share some important updates and reminders as summer rolls on. We also attached DTA’s July updates to the Advisory Boards, which covers a number of the things below. Our next Coalition meeting will be on Tuesday,…

Hi Everyone, At last week's meeting we heard about PA Prior Authorization and were cut short hearing about "referred eligibles." Attached & set out below is more information about both.   PCA Prior Authorization. Attached are a few of the charts we showed you at last week's…

First, we are very relieved that over the weekend Congress approved a stopgap funding bill to keep the federal government open until mid-November - avoiding a shutdown. We are grateful to our Massachusetts delegation for all of their leadership in Congress. And, we appreciate all of the work DTA,…

Many of you have asked for SNAP data by city/town or Zip code on the impact of the SNAP caseload reduction in Massachusetts.  While the SNAP caseload has indeed started to turn the corner and increase since May 2015, the MA caseload has still suffered a serious decline.  We are providing you with a…

SNAP Caseload Update - MA continues to improve USDA data shows .6% increase in Massachusetts for July 2015. For the third month in a row, the SNAP household participation has increased. The most recent available data posted in October for July 2015 shows a .6% increase for MA. The…

1. Substance use disorder services  Last year a state law improving substance use disorder services was enacted (c. 258 St. 2014). A provision requiring MassHealth & MassHealth managed care plans to cover detox and up to 14 day crisis stabilization services without prior authorization…

Please see email from Frank Martinez Nocito re second round of FINI grants announced by USDA. If your organization is interested in applying, please contact Frank at DTA directly. And REMINDER -  Statewide Food for Good Conference at UMass Amherst on Friday, October 30th! Central MA…