Shelter Commission to hold first meeting

BOSTON, Mass. (SHNS)–As emergency family shelter system costs officially surpass $1 billion a year, a new commission formed to explore the struggling system will have its first meeting Thursday.

The commission was established in a supplemental budget passed in April that also injected $251 million more into the shelter system and established new time limits on how long families can stay in the state-supported housing.

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll will chair the commission, which is charged with studying the shelter program’s future, and was sworn in Tuesday to lead the group. Driscoll will swear in other members of the commission at their inaugural meeting on Thursday.

The commission, per the law passed in April , will “review: (i) the sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness of the emergency housing assistance program; (ii) how to best support and ensure the long-term sufficiency of those seeking shelter; and (iii) creating a regional based response to support families in need of shelter.”

Their scope also includes reviewing safety practices and procedures at emergency shelters and overflow sites. The commission is required to deliver a report on the shelter system by December 1st.

The emergency family shelter system has been buckling under the weight of a flood of new arrivals from other countries over the past two years. Gov. Maura Healey effectively ended the spirit of the state’s 40-year-old right to shelter law last year when she capped the system at 7,500 families. A waitlist to get into shelter has been growing since the limits were put into place, and the same law that created the commission also newly specified that families could only live in the state-funded housing for nine months, with a few exceptions.

With the migrant crisis taking unpredictable turns, state shelter system and related costs topped $1 billion in fiscal year 2024, including dollars to support municipalities and school districts that have made room for new families, according to the most recent report out of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. The office estimates the state will spend $915 million on the crisis in fiscal 2025.

The agenda for Thursday’s meeting includes the swearing in of members, an overview of the history of the Emergency Assistance program, its fiscal history and the policies shelters have to follow, and a discussion of the commission’s future goals.

The commission’s roster includes Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus, Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh, and Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew Gorzkowitz. Massachusetts Office of Refugees and Immigrants Director Cristina Aguilera is also on the commission. Joint Committee on Housing Co-chairs Lydia Edwards and Jim Arciero, and Joint Committee on Children, Families & Persons with Disabilities Co-chairs Robyn Kennedy and Jay Livingstone will also be sworn in on Thursday.

The Republican minority leaders in each chamber appointed Sen. Ryan Fattman and Rep. Paul Frost to join the commission.

The governor appointed an additional three members: president and executive director of the homelessness shelter the Pine Street Inn, Lyndia Downie; CEO of the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, Leah Bradley; and pastor and founder of Haitian community advocacy center True Alliance Center, Inc., “Keke” Dieufort Fleurissaint.

The majority of immigrants coming into Massachusetts and looking for shelter in the state’s Emergency Assistance system are from Haiti.

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