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Elected officials call on Healey to rescind recent shelter stay policies
Officials from 39 cities and towns said that Gov. Maura Healey's decision to cap shelter stays at six months was the wrong call.
More than 100 elected officials from across Massachusetts sent a letter to Gov. Maura Healey Friday urging her to roll back major changes she recently made to the state’s emergency shelter system.
The letter was signed by officials representing 39 different communities, including multiple Boston City Councilors and Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons.
It comes as the Healey administration navigates a delicate balancing act: maintaining strong public support for immigrant rights ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s anticipated crackdown, while simultaneously working to manage the high costs and space constraints of a system that has been at capacity for more than a year.
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“Immigrants didn’t create this crisis, yet they have become easy scapegoats and targets,” the letter reads. It was co-authored by Worcester City Council members Etel Haxhiaj and Thu Nguyen along with Salem City Councilor Kyle Davis.
The overburdened shelter system is expected to cost the state more than $1 billion in fiscal year 2025. Amid surging migration and high housing costs, the system reached capacity last November. Healey has been petitioning the federal government for more aid and comprehensive immigration reform, all while setting up more overflow shelters and tapping hotels and motels to house families in need.
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But last month, the governor announced plans to phase out the use of hotels and motels, while introducing a two-track system for eligible families. The changes went into effect last Tuesday. Homeless and migrant families are being “assessed according to their risk and need.” Some will be eligible for a 30-day shelter stay in the overflow sites, dubbed “respite centers,” while others will have a chance for a six-month stay in traditional shelters.
The officials behind the letter asked the Healey administration to rescind the two-track policy, comparing the respite centers to “barracks” and taking issue with the six-month cap for those families the state deems “high-risk.” They also urged state officials to rescind a policy that barred families who stayed in overflow sites from accessing traditional shelter soon after.
A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities referred a reporter to the administration’s press release announcing the most recent changes. Those changes were based recommendations outlined in a detailed report compiled by the state on the shelter system released last month. While working on the report, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll held a listening session for municipal leaders. The feedback from that listening session and others was used to craft the final recommendations.
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Davis said Monday that he has not yet seen a response from the Healey administration.
“I have a lot of concerns,” Davis told Boston.com “I’d certainly love to see a more humane shelter system that sees different individuals in crisis as individuals and recognizes that they have different needs and could need vastly different shelter stays.”
Davis also said he wants to see more information about what supports are being offered to families at the end of their “harshly short” shelter stays.
“I’d certainly love to see more policies from the state… so there’s not this giant hole in the rungs of the ladder where people are expected to move from crowded shelters to saving first, last and security for an apartment. I think it’s unrealistic for folks,” he said.
In announcing the changes last month, the Healey administration also said it would expand certain programs to help families as they exit the shelter system. This includes proposed legislation that would increase temporary rental subsidies offered under the HomeBASE program, which offers money to help families pay for rent, moving expenses, utility costs, and furniture. Right now, families are eligible for a total of $30,000 over two years or $45,000 over three years. The proposed changes would allow families to secure $25,000 in rental assistance per year for two years.
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The officials who signed the letter said they supported the proposed funding increase for HomeBASE, but that the shelter stay restrictions and the region’s “brutal” real estate market will still force families to “double up” with family or friends as they search for affordable housing. Those without friends and family that can take them in will inevitably be forced back to sleeping in unsafe locations, they said. At the same time, an extra financial burden will be placed on municipal governments and community groups looking to help.
“Housing is a human right. We cannot sit idly by when witnessing a policy that has forced and will force families with children to sleep in apartment hallways, Emergency Rooms, parks, cars, and vacant commercial stores,” the officials wrote.
Trump is promising to oversee the largest mass deportation effort in American history when he takes office next month, perhaps by declaring a state of emergency and using military resources. Healey said shortly after the election that her administration would not cooperate with federal agents attempting to conduct mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
The officials who signed the letter said that Healey’s new restrictions on shelter stays could make life more difficult for immigrants just as they are getting ready to navigate the realities of Trump’s second term.
“This policy will increase the stigma and anti-migrant rhetoric against migrants as calls for mass deportations become reality. We appreciate your public commitment to not participate in mass deportations,” they wrote. “We must protect families with children from immigrant communities who are experiencing homelessness, in addition to anyone with no safe options.”
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