HEALEY ADMINISTRATION RULE CHANGES EFFECTIVELY END MA RIGHT TO SHELTER FOR CHILDREN
On Tuesday, July 23, Governor Healey announced a major overhaul to the family shelter system, imposing dramatic limits on access to shelter.
According to State House News reporting: “Starting Aug. 1, the state will prioritize placement in emergency assistance shelters for families who are homeless because of a no-fault eviction, who have at least one member who is a veteran, or who are homeless “because of sudden or unusual circumstances in Massachusetts beyond their control, such as a flood or fire,” Healey’s office said.”
“On the same day, the administration will also impose a five-day limit on how long families can stay in overflow sites while awaiting a longer-term placement into the emergency shelter program. Families who stay in overflow sites after Aug. 1 will be ineligible to seek EA shelter for at least six months after their five days are up.”
Read yesterday’s full State House reporting here.
Our statewide advocacy partners offer this response:
“The Legislature mandated the overflow [sites] so that we wouldn’t have people who we deemed to be eligible sleeping on the street, and now that’s the situation we’ve created,” said Andrea Park of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.
“The state has completely stepped back at this point from the right to shelter law, which has been in effect for over four decades,” Turley said. “We need to have a broader conversations around what are our values, what are our minimum commitments to children and families, here in Massachusetts.”
In our own region, we are already hearing directly from providers about mothers and their children sleeping in a park because there is literally no place to go.
We will continue to work with our statewide partners on next steps to respond to this frightening situation.
