There are new concerns regarding the Bay State’s emergency shelters and whether the people entering them have been properly checked.
The Governor’s office said Friday that Governor Maura Healey is now ordering CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) checks to be done on all Emergency Assistance applicants.
The governor’s office tells Boston 25 background checks have always been done for the EA applicants.
The Boston Globe reported a spokesperson said outstanding warrants and sex offense searches have been happening.
The governor’s office confirmed that those warrant checks are done when people apply for the emergency assistance and again every 30 days while they are in emergency assistance.
This all comes after Governor Healey recently ordered inspections of all Massachusetts emergency shelters following the arrest of an undocumented immigrant found with an assault rifle and ten pounds of fentanyl at a Revere shelter.
There’s been at least one other instance where an arrest was made.
Last March a shelter resident allegedly raped a 15-year-old at a Rockland shelter.
At that time, the Governor said that person had been vetted by the state.
The Globe also reports that between January 2023 and August 2024, records show more than 1,000 serious incidents at state shelters, including at least 170 incidents of domestic violence and nearly a dozen allegations of rape or sexual assault.
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