MONTREAL - English-speaking families with special needs in Montreal's East End are upset with an administrative decision to pull the plug on the Pivot, a team of eight English-speaking social workers.

"We've been here so long that we've really established good links with other community resources in the east end that also want to help the English speaking community," said Carmela Piazza.

Piazza is a member of the Pivot and has gotten to know her clients, including Luisa Bongiovanni whose son was diagnosed with autism in 1999.

Luisa said that meeting Carmela was a great help.

"It pretty much saved my life because I was devastated," said Bonviovanni.

She says seeing a francophone social worker would have been a disaster.

"How do you express that in a language that you don't know? And then they're trying to help you and they can't even communicate to you so it's very, very frustrating," said mother Luisa Bongiovanni.

But the Pivot team will soon be dismantled and dispersed across four different centres in the east end.

The families worry that their needs will fall through the cracks.

Francophone social workers might not be able to help with some situations, admits one.

"I'm fine to go shopping in Plattsburgh," said CSN Union rep Nicole Daniel. "But I can't be a social worker in English and I'm not sure those making the decisions are considering that."

Some of the Pivot clientele would like the government to lay down some guarantees that they'll continue to get the same level of service.

"We'd like to be ensured and guaranteed by the government that we're going to continue getting our English service," said mother Josie Bongiorno.

But an official from Montreal Health and Social Services said that all will be maintained.

"If we only have one person speaking in English they have the right to get service in English and we will meet that need. Jeanne-Evelyne Turgeon, Montreal Health and Social Services. "Here we will have no disruption of services and they are not going to work the same way, they are going to be part of a new team."

Turgeon confirms that those affected will continue to have the right to English service.

And one school board official said that the new set-up could prove beneficial.

"We see the potential as probably on the positive side and maybe be more effective because they'll be an integral part of a multidisciplinary team," said Lew Lewis an official at the English Montreal School Board.