Homelessness
A priority for MLRI has been to preserve the shelter safety net for families experiencing homelessness, while supporting efforts to place as many homeless families as possible in housing instead of shelter.
Due to the poor economy and high rental housing costs, the number of homeless families with children in Massachusetts and around the country is at or near an all-time high. Currently, there are more than 3,500 families in homeless shelters in Massachusetts, with several thousand more in receipt of time-limited rental assistance that will expire within the next few years.
In the face of soaring state costs, proposals were made in 2011 to eliminate the emergency shelter safety net for most homeless families with children in Massachusetts. In response to advocacy by MLRI, the Legislature rejected these proposals. At the same time, the Legislature, with MLRI support, adopted a new short-term rental assistance program called HomeBASE, which seeks temporarily to place homeless families in apartments instead of shelter whenever possible. The wisdom of retaining the shelter safety net for homeless families was quickly proven when, due to funding constraints, the HomeBASE program was closed to new homeless families only a few months into the fiscal year. (Without preservation of the shelter safety net, many homeless families and children would have been left with no safe place to sleep at night.)
Helping Families Access Shelter and HomeBASE:
Since the introduction of HomeBASE on August 1, 2011, MLRI has monitored the often changing policies governing the program and kept local legal services programs advised of the many changed. In addition, MLRI has engaged in regular outreach at local DHCD offices to monitor whether homeless families are receiving the services for which they are eligible. Due to these outreach efforts, many homeless families have been able to access emergency shelter or HomeBASE assistance. (In one case, MLRI went to court to obtain an emergency order to ensure that a mother of a newborn baby was allowed to join her child and his father in shelter.)
Maintaining Housing Priorities for Families with Temporary Rental Subsidies:
In October 2011, the state agency that administers the family shelter and HomeBASE programs threatened to deny most homeless families access to both emergency shelter and temporary rental assistance due to funding shortfalls. MLRI simultaneously prepared a lawsuit and engaged in legislative advocacy to stop the agency from going forward. The Legislature promptly took steps to prevent the threatened action, including enacting a supplemental budget to keep the programs running.
In response to MLRI advocacy, the Legislature included language in the FY 12 budget requiring the state's housing agency to adopt regulations ensuring that families who receive temporary rental subsidies, like HomeBASE, do not lose their homelessness-related priorities for state public housing and rental assistance. The Legislature wants to ensure that families who receive temporary subsidies are not in a worse position to access long-term stable housing than if they were staying in shelter. The state housing agency (Department of Housing and Community Development, "DHCD") has thus far failed to promulgate the required regulations.
On December 21, 2011 MLRI filed a lawsuit against DHCD to ensure that families can access affordable housing before their temporary rental assistance runs out.
Building Better Temporary Rental Subsidy Programs:
In the fall of 2010, MLRI published a report entitled "A Bridge to Where? Short-Term Housing Assistance for Homeless Families in Massachusetts and the Ongoing Need for Affordable Housing and Emergency Shelter," which highlighted some of the unintended consequences of an overreliance on temporary rental subsidies as the response to family homelessness.
In late 2010, MLRI filed a lawsuit challenging the lack of due process protections for homeless families being placed in the Flex Funds program -- the precursor to the new HomeBASE program. As a result, the state adopted new policies and protections, including better administrative appeals processes and access to shelter for those who become homeless again once their temporary rental assistance ends.
During the fiscal year 2012 state budget process, MLRI successfully encouraged the Legislature to include additional protections in the HomeBASE program, including a provision that families not be required to pay more than 35% of their very low incomes for rent and utilities.
In October 2011, the state agency that administers the family shelter and HomeBASE programs threatened to deny most homeless families access to both emergency shelter and temporary rental assistance due to funding shortfalls. MLRI simultaneously prepared a lawsuit and engaged in legislative advocacy to stop the agency from going forward. The Legislature promptly took steps to prevent the threatened action, including enacting a supplemental budget to keep the programs running. MLRI continues to be in close communication with key legislative personnel to ensure that protection of these vital programs remains a priority.