On Monday, January 6, Governor Maura Healey filed a supplemental spending bill, requesting an additional $425 million from a reserve account to maintain Massachusetts’ EA Shelter system for the next six months.
The Healey administration hopes that the changes proposed in the budget will help reduce shelter costs from roughly $1 billion from the previous year to $400 million.
In addition, the budget outlines initiatives to reduce the system’s caseload back to 4,000 families from the current 7,500 families it currently serves by June 2026. It also includes increasing financial assistance for municipalities to help with the impacts of hosting unhoused families and family shelter sites in their communities and school districts that have seen their enrollment rise with the addition of students from families in the EA system.
This budget follows the Special Commission on Emergency Housing Assistance Programs report that was published in November, which recommends several cost saving measures following the finical challenges facing the EA shelter system.
The full governor’s supplemental budget is available here.
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