Mass. emergency shelter spending just shy of $900M for FY25, latest state data shows

Gov Maura Healey s administration spent just shy of million on crisis family shelters and related services last fiscal year but the final total is expected to increase to nearly billion as the state settles the final bills for the past months according to a review circulated Monday Taxpayers are on track to shell out more than billion over the last two fiscal years on shelters housing homeless families with children and pregnant women An influx of refugees in and spiked demand but caseloads have fallen significantly since January In a summary from Healey s budget and housing offices administrators revealed the tally for state spending on the shelter system in fiscal year was up to roughly million as of July Total spending for the fiscal year that ended June is projected to hit million the description stated The Healey administration spent million on direct shelter costs including for the actual locations to house people to pay National Guard troops to utility those sites and sites to screen people before they enter the system according to the record Another million has been spent on HomeBase a housing assistance undertaking that has seen a five-fold increase in demand since Healey took office in The state has also spent million on other services like training supports and work programs the document reported There were families in shelters as of July a massive drop from the more than families that were in the system roughly a year ago according to state statistics The state was spending an average of a week on each family in the emergency assistance shelter scheme according to the summary State housing personnel declared earlier his month that the cost to run urgency shelters will be hundreds of millions of dollars less during the fiscal year that started July as a end of length of stay and access restrictions Beacon Hill Democrats have approved Healey has commented nearly all of the costly hotels and motels serving as shelters have closed with the remaining sparse to shut down by the end of July Housing families at those sites could often run taxpayers hundreds of dollars a night the Herald previously announced The fiscal year budget appropriates only million for the state-run family shelter system set up under the s right-to-shelter law But various Democrats have left the door open to approving more funding if the need arises