MA Shattering Silence

Massachusetts legislators and mental health advocates,

We are concerned about proposed mental health services budget cuts as shared by Governor Maura Healey. 

We have been collecting stories in the Boston News reports since 2019. In the last 5 years alone there have been 79 avoidable tragedies with 49 lives lost. The full ongoing list is available here. This is only a sliver of the actual amount of stories as the media does not share domestic violence incidents, and we are hearing from more families in the commonwealth in pain everyday about how many obstacles exist to getting their loved ones care. 

Tragedy of the week: 

January 15, 2025, Kevin Coelho, crashed his vehicle into a building after previously crashing his vehicle into a bank two days earlier. The woman who was held against her will and in the passenger seat called police. After speaking with the man, police noticed he was in a “state of altered mental status” according to news reports.

Coelho allegedly had been making comments which were suicidal/homicidal in nature and there were reports of concern regarding his access to firearms. He is currently being held at Bridgewater State Hospital. He had asked the officer during the first crash if he knew how to check the electronics to see if the electronics inside of his car were hacked and told officers he would not leave the bank until the “CIA” arrived.

Coelho is an army veteran who served in Afghanistan, where he was injured and received a purple heart. It was reported that the sergeant had spoken to a charge nurse at Cape Cod Hospital stating that Coelho should be evaluated by a mental health professional and was advised that it was hospital policy not to evaluate any person under arrest. Ultimately he was released from Barnstable District Court after his arraignment and the second crash happened putting other lives in danger once again.

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Our next monthly zoom meeting is Feb 20, where we will discuss needed mental health reforms in MA including the improvement of Bridgewater State Hospital, timely treatment, and supporting the continuum of care bill, which exists in 48 other states and would help provide treatment before tragedy. 

We hope you will join us and become more aware of our state’s mental health concerns. 

In Service,

Laura Craciun

Policy Director, Massachusetts, NSSC