The Providers’ Council and nearly two dozen of its members who provide Emergency Assistance Family Shelter programs in Massachusetts sent a letter to Senate leadership today in response to the House’s proposal to place length-of-stay limitations on families in the state’s emergency shelter system.
The Council and its members urged Senate President Karen Spilka and Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee Michael Rodrigues to reconsider some of the provisions in the House bill when it takes up the supplemental budget in the next few weeks. Some items that we asked the Senate to consider including in the supplemental budget were:
• The creation of three-month interval extensions based on certain circumstances, which would be work-based and include other criteria defined by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC).
• A formal process that would allow families to re-certify at 12 months based on criteria created by EOHLC.
• A phased-in implementation process from EOHLC that would include, but not be limited to, establishing a rolling start and a rolling exit process to ensure a smooth transition that considers the resources necessary to implement such a major policy change.
Click here to view the letter.
Back to All News