Bay Cove Employees Accused of Mistreatment at Public Hearing | News

A city council meeting intended to address how Cambridge could better support homeless residents turned into a kind of public accountability report after residents accused staff at shelters run by Bay Cove Human Services of abuse and mistreatment.

During a Wednesday meeting of the council's Human Services and Veterans Committee, five residents of the three Cambridge shelters at Bay Cove used public comments as an opportunity to describe negative experiences ranging from minor disputes between residents and staff to negligence that resulted in death one resident contributed.

Two Advocates shared similar statements from other residents who themselves did not speak at the meeting.

Kevin J. Merrill, a resident of one of the Bay Cove shelters, accused the organization of failing to provide medical care for a friend of his who was bedridden with an illness. The friend later died of sepsis and Merill brought his remains to the Wednesday meeting.

“My best friend was in bed every eight hours being checked by staff who had no idea what they were checking,” Merrill said. “There is no one to make a decision.”

Bay Cove declined to comment on specific allegations, citing privacy protections, but said: “We take complaints seriously and attempt to resolve complaints to the extent possible as some issues are brought to our attention that are outside our scope.” Control lies.”

The organization added that its staff are trained in first aid, CPR and overdose reversal, but are not medically trained and cannot provide medical treatment.

Bay Cove was contracted to operate emergency shelters in Cambridge for a decade, a partnership that has continued despite mounting allegations of mistreatment.

“We take the complaints raised seriously and will continue to work with Bay Cove to find ways to better support their operations and hold them accountable for ensuring a professional and caring environment,” Cambridge spokesman Jeremy Warnick wrote in an email to The Crimson.

Jeramy Dalpe – a former resident of the city's Winter Warming Center, which is serviced by Bay Cove – claimed that all of his valuables were stolen during his time there. In response, the staff “laughed at me and my loss” and “never addressed the lack of safety at the shelter,” Dalpe said.

“Homeless people deserve safe and healthy living conditions, dignity and respect,” Dalpe said.

John C. Mulhern, a resident of the Bay Cove Animal Shelter at 240 Albany St., corroborated Dalpe's account of his experience at the shelter, claiming that staff were “willfully indifferent and apathetic” to frequent incidents of theft, assault and drug dealing .

“As mentioned, they laugh at it as if human suffering is somehow enjoyable and something to be made fun of,” Mulhern said.

Maureen Cunningham, a Bay Cove senior project manager who spoke at the meeting, did not directly address many of the specific allegations raised by current and former residents. She said employees found violating policies are disciplined and sometimes fired.

However, she acknowledged that high turnover can lead to inconsistent quality of care.

“Even when we are confident that we have trained people adequately and can then continue to work with them through supervision, employees leave and then hire new employees who we have to retrain and continue to support. ” she said.

During the meeting, councilors said the city needs to do a better job of tracking and responding to allegations of mistreatment that are not just limited to shelters in Bay Cove.

“As difficult as it was to hear these stories, if we don't get them out there so people can hear them and know about them, we can't get any better, can we?” said Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern. “And this is about wanting to get better.”

“It is very, very complicated and has many layers, but that cannot be an excuse for us not to do better,” he added.

– Staff Writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at [email protected]. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart or on threads @laurel.shugart.

– Staff Writer Grace E. Yoon can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @graceunkyoon.