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Healey announces major shelter system changes, caps stays at overflow sites to 5 days

Certain families will be eligible for new prioritization inside the overburdened shelter system.

By Ross Cristantiello

July 23, 2024

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Mass. Gov. Maura Healey announced major changes to the state’s emergency shelter system Tuesday in an effort to preserve space and money almost a year after declaring a state of emergency regarding the situation. Certain families will be given extra priority, and officials will implement a five-day limit on how long families can stay in overflow sites. 

Amid a surge in migration and an ongoing housing affordability crisis, the shelter system has been severely overburdened. Families have been forced to sleep on the floor of Logan Airport, hotels have been turned into extra shelters, and overflow sites have opened around the state for waitlisted families. 

Now, the Healey administration will prioritize families who have become homeless due to a no-fault eviction or because of “sudden or unusual circumstances in Massachusetts beyond their control,” like a fire or flood. Families that have at least one veteran will also be prioritized. Those with significant medical needs, with newborn children, and those at risk of domestic violence will continue to be prioritized. 

Families not being prioritized will only be able to stay at “temporary respite shelters” for up to five days. 

The changes will go into effect Aug. 1. 

The existing overflow sites in Chelsea, Lexington, Cambridge, and Norfolk will be transitioned into temporary respite shelters at that time. Officials noted that the Norfolk facility is the newest of these sites and is reaching capacity. The state does not plan to open up more respite shelter sites due to “operational and financial constraints.”

The families that do choose to stay at the respite shelters will have to wait six months or more for placement into the emergency shelter system proper. 

In a statement announcing the policy changes, Healey blamed lawmakers in Washington, D.C., for not taking substantive action on immigration reform. 

“We have been saying for months now that the rapid growth of our Emergency Assistance shelter system is not sustainable. Massachusetts is out of shelter space, and we simply cannot afford the current size of this system. Our administration has taken significant action over the past year to make the system more sustainable and help families leave shelter for stable housing. But with Congress continuing to fail to act on immigration reform, we need to make more changes,” Healey said. “That’s why we are making changes to EA prioritization and transitioning our safety-net sites to five-day temporary respite centers.”

The families that are not being prioritized will still remain eligible for other diversion services, like reticketing and the HomeBASE program. The reticketing program covers travel expenses for newly arrived migrant families with a safe, long-term place to stay outside of Massachusetts.

Those who have been in the overflow shelters, soon to become the temporary respite shelters, before Aug. 1 will retain their prioritization for placement into the shelter system. The state will help them leave the overflow sites according to the date in which they entered. 

The state has been partnering with United Way to provide community-based organizations with the resources for other shelters. The new policies will not apply to these sites. 

Massachusetts’ unique “right-to-shelter” law has long guaranteed shelter to homeless families. But that has been tested during the ongoing crisis. A few months after her initial declaration of a state of emergency, Healey announced that the shelter system had reached capacity at 7,500 families and that a waitlist would be necessary. 

In May, the state started to limit stays in overflow sites to 30 days. Those staying there were required to reapply monthly to show that they were seeking work permits or pursuing housing. In June, the state began to limit shelter stays to nine consecutive months, and officials distributed 90-day exit notices earlier this month. 

As of last Thursday, the system had 7,381 families enrolled, according to state data. About half of those families are staying in hotels and motels. 

Officials have focused on getting migrants the permits they need to begin working and supporting their families. Since November, officials said that they have helped nearly 3,800 migrants apply for work authorizations. The “vast majority” of these have been approved, and nearly 1,250 have enrolled in ESOL classes. About 1,300 emergency shelter residents have gotten jobs. 

The Healey administration touted its expansion of the HomeBASE program, which helps cover housing costs. As a result, the number of families leaving the emergency shelter system has increased each month, officials said. Around 330 families are now leaving the system a month.