Group to Take Over Life Focus Center, Keep Workers

Clients of the Life Focus Center will begin receiving services from another organization in mid June, but they may not notice.

“[Our goal] for the people getting the services is that June 17 doesn’t look much different than June 16,” said Bill Sprague, president of Bay Cove Human Services.

Life Focus Center provides care for approximately 140 people with developmental disabilities, many of them who have spent their entire adult lives with the center and who have profound disabilities, according to the center.

Sprague said that the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services asked his agency to take over Life Focus Center’s functions on Friday. That decision, he said, followed the department’s meeting last week with families of the center’s clients. On Monday, Sprague met with those same families to explain his new role in the center’s continuing drama.

The state announced recently that it would after a state audit found that the center had misused taxpayer funds.

“It’s unfortunate that the last few months have been as difficult as they’ve been,” Sprague said. He noted that the center had an otherwise good reputation for multiple decades.

Sprague said that Bay Cove won’t take over the Life Focus Center as a whole—he expects some administrative positions to be trimmed—but he aims to keep the center’s face intact.

His organization is currently interviewing current Life Focus employees to continue working with the center’s clients, Sprague said.

His approach pleased at least some of those interested in the center. Charlestown Patch reader Donna O'Brien on an article that she was at the meeting.

"I believe Bay Cove will take this program to a whole new level for both the well cared for consumers and the committed staff," she said.