Massachusetts issues tighter restrictions on access to homeless shelter system

BOSTON -- Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey unveiled new restrictions Tuesday on the state's homeless family shelter programs.

Beginning Aug. 1, families that are not prioritized for placement in emergency assistance shelters will be eligible to stay at overflow sites for just five days.

Healey said she was tightening restrictions on emergency assistance system eligibility because of the system's “continuing capacity constraints" and the need to protect its financial sustainability — in part due to the influx of migrants to the state.

Families will be prioritized for placement in emergency assistance shelters if they have been made homeless by a no-fault eviction or by sudden or unusual circumstances beyond their control, such as a flood or fire. They will also be prioritized if at least one family member is a veteran, Healey said.

Families will also continue to be prioritized if they have significant medical needs or newborn children, or are at risk of domestic violence, she said.

Families that are not prioritized for placement in emergency assistance shelters will be eligible to stay — for just five days — at what the administration refers to as “temporary respite centers.” Such families are currently eligible to stay for 30 days at the overflow shelters and can apply to extend stays. As of Aug. 1, families staying at a temporary respite center will be required to wait six months or more for placement in the emergency family shelter system.

There are currently about 300 families in overflow sites, Healey said.

“I have said for a long time that we are overcapacity here in Massachusetts and that my message is clear to folks who are looking to come to Massachusetts — we do not have housing, we do not have capacity," Healey told reporters. “I think that is the right thing to do.”

The Democrat also defended the state’s “reticketing program,” which covers travel expenses for families with a safe place to stay outside of the state.

“We’ve also offered them the alternative path that they may wish to go to family members or ones they know elsewhere, communities elsewhere in the country and I think that is a humane and appropriate thing to do,” she said.

Amy Carnevale, who chairs the state Republican Party, said Healey “is finally implementing some of the measures we’ve been advocating.”

Democratic Senate President Karen Spilka said the federal government needs to better address the immigration issue.

“We cannot continue to do this alone," she said. "Massachusetts has stepped up to the plate and done a terrific job, but we need federal help.”

Earlier this year, Healey announced that families would have to recertify every month to remain in Massachusetts overflow shelter sites, in part by documenting their efforts to find a path out of the system, including by looking for housing or a job.

The change comes after the state barred homeless families from sleeping overnight at Logan International Airport in Boston.

Families on the emergency assistance shelter waitlist who had been sleeping at Logan have been offered transfers to the state’s safety-net system, including a Norfolk site that opened to accommodate up to 140 families.

Beginning June 1, the state also began limiting how long homeless families can stay in shelters to nine months. After that, families are eligible for up to two 90-day extensions.

The latest restrictions are another departure from the the state’s unique 1986 right-to-shelter law, which guaranteed homeless families shelter without restrictions.

Last year, Healey declared a state of emergency, capping shelter capacity at 7,500 families.

Healey said her administration has focused on getting immigrants work authorizations, English classes, and placed into jobs to give them the tools they need to move into stable housing.