BOSTON — Homeless advocates are blasting Gov. Maura Healey’s move to set new stay limits in the state’s emergency shelter system, claiming it will force families to sleep on the street.
Healey signed an executive order last week she said is aimed at preserving space in the shelter system amid a surge of asylum seekers. Under the changes, which go into effect on Aug. 1, veterans and certain families facing “no-fault” eviction will be given priority for beds, and homeless families will be limited to five days in so-called “overflow” sites.
“This is a dramatic departure from Massachusetts policies,” Kelly Turley, associate director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, told people at a gathering outside the Statehouse on Monday. “Anyone who lives in Massachusetts knows it will be impossible for families who have already been deemed eligible for shelter to find someplace safe to stay.”
Massachusetts is wrestling with a record influx of thousands of migrants over the past year amid a historic surge of immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border, which has pushed the shelter system to the brink of collapse.
Under the “right-to-shelter” law, the state is required to provide emergency housing to homeless families, but critics say the law was never designed to provide for a large migrant population.
Healey declared a state of emergency last August and deployed the National Guard to help deal with the influx. Her administration also set a 7,500-family cap on the number of people eligible for emergency housing last October and required migrants to document that they are searching for work and permanent housing or risk being denied shelter.
As of Thursday, the emergency shelter system had 7,381 families enrolled, according to the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Roughly half of those families are staying in hotels and motels, the agency said. Hundreds are on wait lists to get into shelter.
Under the new shelter rules, the Healey administration will prioritize families who are homeless because of a no-fault eviction or because of “sudden or unusual circumstances beyond their control,” like a fire, flood, or other natural disaster.
Families that have at least one veteran, medical needs, or those with newborn children or at risk of domestic violence will also be prioritized, according to the administration.
Meanwhile, the state’s overflow sites in Chelsea, Lexington, Cambridge, and Norfolk will be “transitioned” into “temporary respite” shelters. Families that don’t meet the criteria for prioritized beds will only be able to stay at the respite shelters for five days.
Families that stay at the respite shelters will have to wait at least six months or more for placement into the emergency shelter system proper.
Republicans and conservative groups argue that the state’s hodgepodge of “sanctuary” policies are encouraging migrants to relocate to the state. They want the state to end the right-to-shelter law, among other proposals.
Healey has blamed Congress for not taking action on immigration reform, and says the state has no choice but to tighten the rules. She has declined to suspend the right-to-shelter law.
“Massachusetts is out of shelter space, and we simply cannot afford the current size of this system,” Healey said in a statement.
But homeless advocates say the new limits will force women and children to sleep on the streets and are calling on Healey to rescind the policy changes or for lawmakers to override her decision.
“The emergency shelter system is housing of last resort — that means people have nowhere else to go,” Craig Andrade, associate dean of practice and director of the Activist Lab at Boston University’s School of Public Health, said at Monday’s event. “This policy is not only immoral. This policy is inhumane.”
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com