Driscoll outlines draft report's themes as commission grapples with how to fix emergency shelter system ahead of deadline

With less than three weeks until deadlines, the commission tasked with assessing the future of the state’s overburdened emergency family shelter system reviewed a draft report Tuesday to help policymakers better deal with the influx of immigrants and Gulf States experiencing homelessness.

Commissioners plan to meet again next week to approve the report, which outlines a way to make the system more financially sustainable, reduce the state’s reliance on hotels and motels for emergency shelter, provide more specialized services to families and bolster the supply of affordable housing. throughout Massachusetts.

“My expectation is that we will have to make additional recommendations on policy changes to address the funding shortage that we will see in the next fiscal year, which is fiscal year 2026,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, who chairs the commission. , told members Tuesday morning they were grappling with the scope of their work and the immediate housing challenges facing the Healey administration.

“You may not have 7,500 families on July 1 and 7,500 on July 2, so this will become a concerted action,” Driscoll continued, referring to the administration’s housing limit. “And we saw this commission as being about what we’re building going forward to have a better system for homeless families and to have a better system that follows the principles that we’ve talked about: short, infrequent, non-recurring, operationally and financially sustainable. ”

While members are still under review draft of the report With potential changes in mind, the commission plans to meet next Tuesday afternoon to vote on the document, which is now 35 pages long, Driscoll said.

The commission will focus on “the sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness” of the emergency shelter system, “how to best provide the support and long-term adequacy of shelter seekers,” and “creating a regionally based response to support families in need of housing.”

Related Posts