Families ordered to leave Massachusetts temporary shelters today

BOSTON, Mass. (WLNE) — Dozens of families will be required to exit one of the state’s temporary shelter sites today in Massachusetts.

Back in July, MA Governor Maura Healey announced a new policy change that stays at four temporary respite centers are limited to five days.

The five-day limit will be implemented on a rolling basis as 57 families who arrived prior to Aug. 1, have to leave by today, according to the administration. 

“Families will be prioritized for placement in EA shelters if they are homeless because of a no-fault eviction or because of sudden or unusual circumstances in Massachusetts beyond their control, such as a flood or fire, or if they have at least one member who is a veteran,” Healey’s office stated.

“Families will continue to be prioritized if they have significant medical needs, newborn children, are at risk of domestic violence, or are homeless because of fire, flood, or other disasters,” they continued.

Families who choose to use one of those locations will be required to wait at least six months to qualify for placement into an emergency assistance shelter.

Members of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless protested in front of the State House yesterday, opposing these changes by the the governor. 

“Families will be forced out of overflow shelter as early as this Friday with no safe place to go,” they wrote on social media.

“To be clear: putting children on the street is not a solution. We continue to call on the Administration and Legislature to reverse the recent policy changes and provide needed shelter and housing,” they continued.

In a statement, Healey said: 

“We have been saying for months now that the rapid growth of our Emergency Assistance shelter system is not sustainable. Massachusetts is out of shelter space, and we simply cannot afford the current size of this system. Our administration has taken significant action over the past year to make the system more sustainable and help families leave shelter for stable housing. But with Congress continuing to fail to act on immigration reform, we need to make more changes. That’s why we are making changes to EA prioritization and transitioning our safety-net sites to five-day temporary respite centers. This is in line with the policies of other cities facing similar challenges as Massachusetts and will help give families some relief for a few days while they access the diversion services we can provide, such as reticketing.”