BOSTON (WWLP) – Costs continue to skyrocket around the emergency housing crisis the state is experiencing.
As the waitlist for emergency housing continues to grow, so don’t the costs. The governor has put forward a plan to pay for this crisis but with one-time funds. Governor Maura Healey put in place a cap on the amount of families the state could house back in the fall with a limit of 7,500 families. However, that cap was reached soon after and a waitlist ensued, one that only continues to grow.
Four days after the cap was reached, the waitlist was at 22 families. Latest numbers show that the states waitlist is at 692 families. Numbers are being reported in amount of families, not individuals, so we do not know how many people are on the waitlist. That being said, western Massachusetts is housing around 800 families, mostly in hotels and motels.
The governor’s budget proposal maintains level-funding of $325 million for the emergency shelter system. That number represented funding needed for a caseload of 4,100 families, far below what the state is at now.
Alongside the budget, the governor also filed a supplemental budget which would move the entire balance of the state’s transition escrow fund to an emergency housing trust fund. The transitional escrow fund has a balance of $863 million. Even with completely draining that fund, there is still a $91 million gap in funding.
This fiscal year, the state has already spent $325 million on the crisis and it is expected costs will skyrocket to close to $1 billion this fiscal year. This plan still needs to be reviewed and approved by the legislature.
Ellen Fleming is a reporter at the Boston State House who has been a part of the 22News team since 2022. Follow Ellen on X @EllenFlem and view her bio to see more of her work.
