Emergency Assistance shelter policies updated

The Healey-Driscoll administration has implemented new policies for the overburdened Emergency Assistance shelter system that are aimed at limiting shelter stays while prioritizing the needs of Massachusetts residents over migrants for long-term placements.

Overflow shelter stays are now limited to five days, and those who use them are ineligible to be placed on the waitlist for longer-term placements until six months after their stay.

The changes, which took effect on Aug. 1, come in addition to earlier changes that limit shelter stays to nine months.

As the only “right-to-shelter” state in the country, Massachusetts must provide shelter and other necessities to homeless families and pregnant women through its Emergency Assistance shelter program. Last October, Gov. Maura Healey announced that the system had reached its capacity of 7,500 families. Approximately half of the families in the system are newly arrived immigrants and half and long-time Massachusetts families.

Under the new rules, Massachusetts families who become unhoused due to natural disasters and no-fault evictions, as well as families with at least one veteran family member, will be given priority status for housing. Families that use overflow sites, now called “temporary respite centers,” and are eligible to participate in the state’s Reticketing Program, which covers travel expenses for those that have a safe place to stay outside of Massachusetts, or to apply for a rental subsidy if a rental can be found.

The administration reports that approximately 400 families are entering the shelter system each month, with more than 750 currently on the waitlist for housing.