Nearly 300 families waiting for emergency housing as temps drop, right to shelter committee meets

It’s generated too much demand, it’s too expensive and, some would say, it’s not benefiting those it was meant to benefit. It’s the state’s Right to Shelter law, which sat quietly on the books for decades.

And then came 2023 -- when thousands of migrants moved to Massachusetts and took advantage of the law -- which mandates housing for homeless families and pregnant women.

Last fall, Governor Maura Healey finally capped the number of families in emergency housing at 7,500. The system has been running at full capacity now for a year. In fact, the state Department of Housing and Livable Communities tells Boston 25 News there are 278 families on the waitlist for housing.

At a State House meeting Tuesday, the Emergency Assistance Commission, chaired by Lt. Gov Kim Driscoll, continued its discussion about reforming the Right to Shelter law. The main reason: it’s expensive. It’s estimated that during Fiscal Year 2024, the state will spend more than $1 billion to uphold the law -- some of that going to hotels, where about half the migrants live.

“Our hope is that we can have a model true to our values,” said Driscoll, “and operationally and fiscally sustainable.”

At the current pace, funds for Right to Shelter will run out at the end of January. The Governor plans to ask the legislature for an additional $455 million from a state escrow fund to close the gap.

But that will pretty much be the end of the escrow fund. Next fiscal year, which begins in July 2025, money for Right to Shelter will come from the General Fund or other sources.

Though the emergency assistance shelters are at capacity, Driscoll said that as winter approaches, that’s not the case at the state’s four overflow or respite centers.

“We’re hopeful families are not sleeping outside because we do have capacity at TRCs to welcome them there,” she said.

The benefit of doing so, besides not freezing to death, is access to intensive case management services, which could potentially accelerate movement to more permanent housing.

But housing advocates say bunking down at a respite center comes with a catch.

“As of August 1, families who are new arrivals are being told they can take a placement in one of these respite shelters,” said Emily Herzig, a paralegal at the Northeast Justice Center, which helps homeless families access the EA system. “But if they take the placement, it’s only for five days and then they can’t get  onto the waitlist for EA shelter for six months.”

A few dozen housing advocates attended Tuesday’s commission meeting to protest what seems the ‘poison pill’ of respite housing.

By December 1, the Commission is required to submit a plan to reform the Right to Shelter law.

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