Human Services Committee Sees Benefits Of Regionalization

ORLEANS – With the word “regionalization” coming up more and more in conversations around town hall, the town’s human services advisory committee, for one, is embracing the idea.

While talk of regionalizing resources has been met publicly with a mixed response, Suzanne Moore, the human services committee’s chair, said Monday that moving forward, the committee wants to partner with neighboring towns to better service the needs of local nonprofits.

From an administrative standpoint, Moore said that it would be easier for nonprofits seeking funding to submit one application for multiple towns rather than apply to each town individually. The committee has begun working with human services committees and officials in neighboring towns to that effect, she said.

“It’s a slow start, but that’s what we’d like to do,” she said. “Because regionalization makes sense in so many functional areas.”

The committee oversees $154,000 in grant funding for the current fiscal year, Moore said. The town’s website lists 18 local organizations that have received funding through the committee. Those include churches, after-school programs and organizations providing healthcare, mental health, housing and food assistance services, among others.

On average, the committee distributes its funding to about 20 organizations, Moore said. Better coordination with other towns can help the Orleans committee more effectively manage how it administers its funding, she said.

But the topic of regionalization has struck a nerve with some locally, especially as it pertains to efforts to find efficiencies within the Nauset Public Schools. Orleans is partnering with other Nauset towns, including Eastham and Brewster, on a study into what opportunities for efficiency and regionalization might exist in the town’s elementary schools, especially with declining student enrollment. Some residents have pushed back on the idea, fearing that with regionalization could come school closures. In Orleans, the select board has said there is no intention of shuttering the town’s elementary school.

But Moore said she shared similar views on the benefits of regionalization with Orleans Town Manager Kim Newman during a meeting this past fall.

“She understands the whole issue, she sees it across the board,” she said of Newman. “So that’s very encouraging.”

The committee has extended its deadline for accepting grant applications for the current fiscal year until Feb. 14. Moore said Monday that the establishment of the town’s new health and human services committee delayed the start of this year’s grant cycle, which has resulted in fewer applications than usual. She said she anticipates additional applications to come in thanks to the deadline extension.

“We did sort of a postmortem on why things didn’t come in,” she said. “People were saying ‘well, we didn’t know’ and ‘the schedule had changed.’ Then we said ‘would you submit a submission if we could get the deadline lifted?’ Most of them said yes, we’ll see how many respond.”

Looking ahead, the committee has requested $200,000 as part of the fiscal 2026 budget, which is due to be approved through town meeting in May and go into effect July 1. While it is still early in the budget process, Moore said there has been support for the increased figure in town hall.

Email Ryan Bray at ryan@capecodchronicle.com