'Beyond terrible': With overflow shelters full, families huddle in cars and at Logan
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January 24, 2024
Gabrielle Emanuel
Massachusetts has historically been viewed as a model for its unique state-run family shelter system. But in a stark break from the past, many families now find they’ve been deemed eligible for shelter, a rigorous process in itself, yet they remain without a roof over their heads.
Facing record-high demand over the last year, the state placed a cap on the number of homeless families it can serve, adding new applicants to a waitlist. Last month, lawmakers ordered the Healey administration to create overflow shelters for waitlisted families. Officials complied and can now provide beds for 195 families.
Traducido en español por El Planeta, Boston's Latino daily.
But that is just a fraction of the need: As of Monday, there were 592 families on the state’s shelter waitlist. Plus, whole regions of the state have no local overflow shelters.
“There isn't really a safety net any longer. I mean if the safety net is: ‘You're approved and we'll call you — sometime,’ that's not a safety net,” said Emily Herzig, a senior paralegal at the Northeast Justice Center.
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