Since declaring a state of emergency in August 2023 due to an overwhelmed emergency shelter system, Massachusetts continues to grapple with how to meet the soaring demand for emergency shelters while complying with the state’s right to shelter law. The administration's newest shelter report shows the state has spent $277 million in this fiscal year on the emergency housing program, an increase of $30 million from the last biweekly report. Additionally, the report identifies a $224 million emergency shelter budget shortfall and comes at a time when state tax revenue growth has slowed. As reported by MSCA last week, in response to the slowed tax revenues, Governor Healey made the first mid-year spending cuts by a governor in seven years.
The increased need for emergency shelter is primarily due to an influx of immigrants coming into Massachusetts legally but unable to work due to difficulty obtaining work permits. The number of families on the emergency shelter wait list is now 542, an increase of over 100 families in two weeks. The number of individuals living in emergency shelters that have obtained work authorizations is 2,713, a number that remained stagnant over the last two weeks and is entirely dependent upon federal immigration laws. MSCA continues to encourage nursing facilities to employ work eligible migrants as they offer an important source of workers to help fill nursing facility job vacancies. Please contact MSCA with questions about hiring work eligible migrants.