After previously warning that families in Massachusetts’ emergency shelters could get notice starting June 1 that they have 90 days to exit the state-funded housing, the Healey administration said Friday that it is holding off on delivering those notices until early July.
Healey administration officials said earlier this month that families could start getting kicked out of the emergency shelter system by Sept. 1, after receiving a 90-day notice to exit on June 1. The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities is writing the regulations to implement a law that legislators passed in April setting a nine-month limit on how long families can stay in the state’s emergency shelters.
EOHLC said Friday that it has not finalized its formal guidance on the length of stay policy approved by the Legislature, so the first exit notices will not go out at the start of June.
“In accordance with the supplemental budget passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities will release formal guidance outlining the polices and protocols for the 9-month EA length of stay limit soon. Notices under this new policy will begin going out to the first families in early July,” a spokesperson for the secretariat said.
The first families to exit the emergency assistance program under this new policy will receive 90-day exit notices beginning in early July — meaning they will have until early October to find other housing options — but not all families will be affected by the length of stay policy immediately, according to EOHLC.
Providers have said they are concerned about thousands of families having to exit the system at the same time — putting even more pressure on Massachusetts’ already low-vacancy housing market. EOHLC said it will implement the policy on a rolling basis to ensure that families are adequately supported in their transition out of the shelter system.
Housing advocates have pushed…