Courtesy of Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf
On August 1, 2024, the Driscoll-Healy administration implemented changes to Massachusetts' Emergency Assistance (EA) program. EA — a consequence of the “right-to-shelter” law — is meant to provide emergency shelter or financial aid for housing to needy families and pregnant people who meet certain qualifications.
The primary purpose of the EA program is the protection of children and assurance of resources to Massachusetts families that need such resources to keep their children housed. Such protections have been in place in Massachusetts since 1983, yet the increasing number of qualifying families is placing immense strain on the system.
Governor Maura Healy and her administration have attributed the increase of qualifying families to the large influx of migrant families, coupled with rising living costs and a lack of affordable housing. On August 8, 2023, Governor Healey declared in a state of emergency that the state was no longer able to sustain the binding demands of the “right-to-shelter” law.
“This state of emergency arises from numerous factors, among them federal policies on immigration and work authorization, inadequate production of affordable housing over the last decade, and the end of COVID-era food and housing security programs,” said Governor Healy. Less than a year later, the Driscoll-Healey administration declared substantial changes to the EA program.
On Feb. 28, 2024, the Secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities stated that the growing demand on the EA program was no longer sustainable, and was on track to significantly surpass the allotted budget for the fiscal year of 2024.
In order to continue to provide resources for needy families in a sustainable way, the EA program would have to impose a maximum capacity of 7,500 families. Subsequent to the cap, the Healey administration announced on August 1, 2024 changes to the EA program, and called for cooperation at the local, state and federal levels.
Changes to the EA program include the enactment of prioritization criteria as well as the implementation of “Temporary Respite Centers”, where non-prioritized families are able to stay for a maximum of 5 business days while caseworkers help them find alternative housing options or arrange for travel outside of the state.
Once in an EA shelter, a family will have nine months to transition out of the temporary accommodation. However, the Healey administration hopes to provide the resources necessary for a faster transition out of EA with services like HomeBASE, a financial assistance service that provides rent subsidies for up to two years.
Prioritization for EA housing will be given to families that are homeless due to a no-fault eviction, have experienced sudden or unusual circumstances beyond their control, or have significant medical needs. This priority also extends to needy families with a member who is a veteran, newborn children, those at risk of domestic violence, or are homeless due to natural disasters.
Families who do not meet the criteria are able to go to newly implemented Temporary Respite Centers in Chelsea, Lexington, Cambridge, and Norfolk, which were previously centers used as safety-net sites with a 30-day maximum stay period. If a non-preferred family chooses to stay at the temporary respite center for five days, they are required to wait a minimum of six months for placement in EA housing, a ruling which has proved to be a point of contention for many activists.
The Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) has called the Healey Administration’s approach “clearly unsustainable,” stating that these changes have forced families into the streets while putting more pressure on NGOs and faith-based organizations to fulfill what used to be the state’s role.
In an Emergency Assistance Fact Sheet, the Healey administration clarified that case managers will work with families at Temporary Respite Centers to arrange for housing after the five-day limit. The case management services are focused on identifying any possible support system that families may have, including resources outside of Massachusetts. The Healey administration is offering families transportation assistance to viable locations outside of Massachusetts along with access to services like HomeBASE.
The lingering question for immigrant and housing activists remains where families with no existing alternative or safety network are to go as shelters across Massachusetts are reaching capacity. Amid emergency declarations from the Healy administration and requests for the federal government’s assistance in managing the large influx of migrants, a point of debate has been raised regarding the feasibility of the right-to-shelter law considering present circumstances.
Sarang Sekhavat, chief of staff at MIRA, argues that the systemic remedies that the law provides are working exactly as intended, while Republican State Representative Peter Durant argues that the law was never intended to attract people from outside the state looking for services, referencing to the amount of migrant families who have traveled to Massachusetts seeking emergency assistance.
The Massachusetts government’s response to constraints on the EA program that have arisen due to a lack of affordable housing, an influx of migrant families, and the government’s responsibilities to the “right-to-shelter” law will provide insight into whether more restrictive regulations are the answer to the shelter housing crisis that Massachusetts currently faces.
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