Mass. says five-day stays at overflow shelters can be extended

Governor Maura Healey announced major changes to the state’s overburdened shelter system last week, including a new five-day limit for certain families.

But on Wednesday, the night before the new limits are set to take effect, the state said in a new memo that some families could potentially receive up to a month-long extension. 

Last week, Healey said deprioritized families will only be able to stay at “temporary respite centers” for up to five business days starting Aug. 1. A Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities fact sheet released Wednesday detailed the option for an administrative extension, The Boston Globe first reported.

Providers at the currently full temporary respite centers, located in Cambridge, Chelsea, Lexington, and Norfolk, are now able to grant five- to 30-day “administrative extensions.”

A spokesperson for Healey said extensions of more than five business days will only be granted to families with “imminent access to housing.” In all other scenarios, a family could only be granted a one-time, five-day extension, for a total of 10 business days in the temporary respite centers.

“Administrative extensions are intended to provide families who are on the verge of securing stable housing with the time they need to finalize it,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the extensions are not a change in the governor’s newest policy for the overburdened emergency shelter system. Rather, the fact sheet released Wednesday is meant to educate families and providers about the policy going into effect Aug. 1.

According to the new policy, families who become homeless due to a no-fault eviction or because of situations like a fire or flood, as well as families with at least one veteran, significant medical needs, newborn children, or those at risk of domestic violence will be prioritized for emergency housing. All other families will stay at the temporary respite center.

Starting Thursday, families will be allowed to stay at a temporary respite center for up to five business days. (For example, if a family arrives on a Monday, they will leave by Tuesday morning of the next week, the state said.)

After that, the state will fly families out of state through the reticketing program or subsidize their housing through the HomeBASE program.

Healey has been grappling with the state’s unprecedented housing crisis for nearly a year. Massachusetts’s unique “right-to-shelter” law has been tested due to an influx of migrants starting last fall, when the governor began capping the number of families offered shelter at 7,500.

In July, the state began issuing 90-day notices for families to leave the system, which marks the system’s first state-mandated departures. After the announcement of the five-day limits, advocates rallied outside the Massachusetts State House Monday to protest, saying the revision will hurt children and families.

Last week, Healey said the state “simply cannot afford the current size of the system.” The emergency shelter system is currently predicted to cost more than $1 billion next year.