HOLYOKE — Recent state and federal policy changes have caused a dramatic 46% decrease in families living in shelters over the past year, a figure that advocates say is complicated because while some of those families were rehoused, others lost access to shelters and are living in unsafe places.
“We know that there are so many families who are actually sleeping in not safe places as a result of these regulations,” said Pamela Schwartz, director of the Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness.
Schwartz was speaking at the network’s 10th annual gathering of elected and community leaders who meet to review and call attention to policy changes that have either progressed or hindered homelessness action. This year, Schwartz said recent state changes have made it significantly more difficult for families without homes to access shelter.
“The network is advocating very fiercely for changes in the state policy,” Schwartz said to a packed room of housing advocates, local and state legislators, and residents that have faced housing insecurity at Holyoke Community College on Friday.
The 46% drop in families in shelters comes from a mix of those who cannot access shelter and those who have found homes. For instance, Schwartz said there are 474 families in the region that have found homes outside of shelters due to the state HomeBASE rehousing program, which helped contribute to the decrease.
There were 1,913 people without homes across the four counties of western Massachusetts this year, according to statistics gathered by counting the number of people living in shelters. Schwartz added that there are likely many more people without homes not included in the statistics.
Among the state restrictions implemented over the past year are a six-month limit on shelter stays, a requirement that families submit all necessary paperwork before being admitted and a policy barring families with criminal involvement from accessing shelter, according to Schwartz.
“The end of presumptive eligibility, so that families have to have all of their paperwork in order before they can access shelter … is an extremely serious barrier,” Schwartz said.
Additionally, Schwartz said there was a shift to the state Emergency Housing Assistance program that created greater restrictions excluding undocumented immigrants. That, on top of federal policy changes that have restricted immigration into the United States, have made it more difficult for immigrants to find shelter.
“Skyrocketing” rents are another contributing factor to homelessness, she said. Since 2022, average rents have increased by 58% in Hampshire County, 39% in Franklin County, 37% in Hampden County and 10% in Berkshire County.
The Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness has been seeking legislative action on bills that it feels would provide housing stability, mainly H.2328 and S.1447 that would give municipalities the option to adopt their own form of rent control.
Juana Matias, secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, discussed the steps needed to be taken to help prevent homelessness.
“We are all here because we share a common belief: homelessness should be rare, brief and non-inferring, and that starts with creating homes for people that they can actually afford,” Matias said.
Matias said that since taking office, the Healey-Driscoll administration has invested more than $342 million in housing production and preservation in western Massachusetts, supporting more than 800 homes across the region. Some current developments, Matias said, include 96 homes being built on Ferry Street in Easthampton and 50 homes through the EconoLodge redevelopment in Hadley.
In Franklin County, Bernardston, Buckland, Deerfield, Gill and New Salem were designated as Rural and Small Town Housing Choice communities in April. The state credential gives communities access to resources that help plan and build housing, Matias said.
“Creating more homes is only a part of the work. We also have to prevent homelessness before it happens,” Matias said.
The Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness is currently pushing for changes to the regulations, including a proposed nine-month stay limit in shelters instead of six months. Schwartz said there also needs to be more advocacy to increase the HomeBASE annual benefit.
“It is a combination of things that made for a dramatic shift in our responding to family homelessness in Massachusetts,” said Gerry McCafferty, administrator of the Hampden County Continuum of Care. “It includes a lot of state policy changes, it includes federal policy changes, because we also had a lot of families in the family shelter system that were immigrants.”
McCafferty said there needs to be increased advocacy to prevent potential cuts to the Continuum of Care program, which provides about $14 million a year to western Massachusetts communities in support of the most “vulnerable” residents.
On his birthday, state Rep. Homar Gómez, D-Easthampton, said that the number of people without homes are disproportionately people of color. As one of many legislators in attendance, he said he and his peers must continue to take action for change.
“Disproportionately between the Black and the Latino community, the people that look like me, the people that talk like me, are suffering,” he said. “This is unacceptable and I demand that we face the systematic roots of this injustice.”
