The CMM Advocacy Network to End Family Homelessness was formed in response to the worsening housing and homelessness crisis in Massachusetts. The Network is committed to eliminating the root causes of family homelessness through public education and advocacy. As a result of calls from Network members, lawmakers added Network programs to their priority lists and tallied more phone messages than they had ever received on homeless prevention issues.
Based in Concord and Acton, the Network also includes participants from Sudbury, Carlisle, Lincoln, Stow and Bedford. The Network is a model for other areas and welcomes inquiries and members from all locales.
HOMELESS FAMILIES ARE THE FASTEST GROWING HOMELESS POPULATION IN THE U.S. TODAY.
A recent study (Massachusetts Department of Education) found that the number of homeless children far exceeds those counted in the shelter census, the usual basis for assessing the extent of the problem. In addition to shelter residents, many children and families with no permanent place to live struggle to survive doubled or tripled up with friends or relatives; reside in camp grounds or cars; or move from one person's house to another every few days.
The Numbers:
In Massachusetts:
* Family homelessness has risen 50% in Mass. 1,900 homeless families with nearly 4,000 children are in state funded family 
shelters each night; half are preschoolers, half are of school age.
shelters each night; half are preschoolers, half are of school age. [In addition, more than 600 homeless families stay in motels every night.]
* Overall, 96,000 children have no permanent home, according to a July 2007 report, A Snapshot of Homelessness in
Massachusetts Public High School, by the Massachusetts Department of Education. Click here for the report. * Housing a family in a shelter for a year costs roughly $36,000. The average shelter stay is about 71/2 months.
* Nearly one-third of homeless parent work but don't earn enough to support their family.
Nationally:
* Every year 600,000 families with 1.35 million children experience homelessness in the United States. This is half of the homeless population. (National Alliance to End Family Homelessness)
Homelessness Hurts Children
(National Center on Family Homelessness)
*Homeless children get sick and go hungry twice as often as other children.
*Homeless children struggle in school.
Compared to other students, homeless children who are able to attend school are:
*Four times as likely to have developmental delays.
*Twice as likely to have learning disabilities.
*Twice as likely to repeat a grade, most often due to frequent absences and moves to new schools.
Why Families Are Homeless
*Housing is not affordable for many low-income families:
*The U. S. economy has caused rents to soar, putting housing out of reach for the poorest Americans housing out of reach for the poorest Americans (National Center on Family Homelessness.)
for the poorest Americans (National Center on Family Homelessness.) *A person making minimum wage $8.00 per hour has little chance of affording a two bedroom apartment in Massachusetts which would take an income $21.88 an hour.
which would take an income $21.88 an hour. *In Massachusetts, 50,000 very low-income households are on the 5-year waiting list for the federal Section 8 housing voucher program. The program’s funding was repeatedly slashed in the last two decades. Households with Section 8 certificates pay 30% of their income for rent.
voucher program. The program’s funding was repeatedly slashed in the last two decades. Households with Section 8 certificates pay 30% of their income for rent. *118,831 households in Massachusetts earn less than 30% average medium income which, for a family of three in Boston,
is $22,750. These families often pay half of their income for rent and utilities. *The supply of affordable housing is declining while the demand remains high (National Center on Family Homelessness.)
*A family’s apartment may have been converted to a condo.
*Close to two-thirds of homeless mothers have been victims of domestic violence sometime in their lives.
*A family might have experienced a fire in their apartment and can’t find another at a price it can afford.
*A parent might have been laid off or had her work hours reduced.
*A parent may be unable to get a child care voucher to pay for day care while she works and market rate child care is
draining her budget. *A family may have been evicted when, because of insufficient income, they were unable to pay back rent or utility bills.
*A mother may be unable to work regularly because of a child’s recurring illness or disability.
*Governmental financial support, such as public assistance, is too little to make ends meet and frequently ends before people
have sufficient training for jobs that pay a living wage.SOLUTIONS THAT PREVENT AND REDUCE FAMILY HOMELESSNESS
For many families, a sufficient income averts homelessness. That income can come from employment that pays enough to support a family or from a combination of earnings or public assistance supplemented by some public benefits to cover the costs of rent, utilities, day care, medical care and/or other expenses. Depending on the reasons a family is homeless, or is at risk of becoming homeless, there are many programs and services that can help. Unfortunately, most are severely underfunded and require significantly more dollars so they can come closer to meeting the need.
The Advocacy Network to End Family Homelessness chose its priority issues based on these principles:
1. A stable place to live is essential to family well-being and economic progress.
2. Education and marketable skills are central to holding a living-wage job.
3. Prevention is extremely important and pays off in dollars saved and in human suffering avoided.
CURRENT ADVOCACY FOCUS
The Advocacy Network chose to concentrate on the following key homelessness prevention programs funded through the state budget. The Network’s activities are part of statewide efforts to advocate for more adequate funding for these lifeline programs. Sharing our opinions about the importance of adequate financial support for the programs made a difference in the final dollar amounts allocated to them in the state budget.
Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT), a homelessness prevention program initiated in 2005 by the Massachusetts Legislature, provides up to $3,000 in flexible funds to low-income households in emergency situations to allow them to stay housed or move from a shelter into an apartment.
Due to the huge demand for RAFT assistance, RAFT ran out of funds half way through the last two years. Increased funding will help more families avoid homelessness or reduce the length of time they are without a more permanent residence.
* Click here to read the most recent RAFT fact sheet.
* Click here to read the Boston Foundation report on the effectiveness of RAFT.
State Budget Outcome: RAFT funding was increased from $3 to $5 million per year and then maintained at that level for a second year (Fiscal Year 2008 which runs from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008). This $2 million increase resulted in more than 1,000 additional families annually being assisted either in keeping their housing or in leaving a shelter. Residents in subsidized housing remained eligible for RAFT.
Adult Basic Education, ABE, provides literacy and English proficiency services to adults. ABE includes English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), General Education Development (GED) programs, and adult basic education (non-reader to pre-GED), with targeted services in Workforce Development, Family Literacy, and Transition to Higher Education.
* The yearly cost of adult basic education is about $2,000 per person. Insufficient marketable skills are often the gatekeepers
that prevent families from leaving a shelter more quickly or avoiding homelessness early on. * About 24,000 people are on the waiting lists for Adult Basic Education programs due to underfunding. Waiting lists vary from
2 to 8 months for Adult Basic Education and 6 months to 2 years for English for Speakers of Other Languages. State Budget Outcome: Funding was boosted by over $1 million in the most recent state budget (Fiscal Year 2008), allowing 1000 additional people to receive ABE training annually.Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, MRVP, is the state’s rental assistance program. It aides low income households in paying their rent in private market rate apartments and helps developers build housing for low-income families.
* Click here to read the Mass Rental Voucher Program fact sheet.
State Budget Outcome: Mass Rental Voucher Program funding was increased by $2.5 million in FY2008 budget, from $28.5 million to $32.0 million. As a result, over 350 new households (mostly homeless families and domestic violence survivors) will have a housing voucher that gives them permanent, stable, safe housing. In addition, 400 units of affordable apartments were preserved as affordable by funding a small rent increase in the rental voucher.
The new homelessness prevention initiative proposed by the Mass Coalition for the Homeless, funded in FY2009 at $5 million. With this funding, Dept. of Transitional Assistance will be able to intervene EARLY with clients to assess needed services and connect clients rapidly with those services, preventing housing crises before they occur. Homeless prevention both avoids the trauma of homelessness and eliminates the costs of months in an emergency shelter.
Click here for Early Warning Homelessness Prevention Program fact sheet.
Funding to implement the recommendations of the Mass. Commission to End Homelessness at $8.25 million as a new line item in FY09 budget. The Commission recommended:
* Ending the widespread use of shelters and promoting more prevention resources and permanent housing opportunities for
those in need. * Creating flexible resources to stabilize, divert, and re-house those who are experiencing or at-risk of homelessness.
* Increasing housing production and affordable housing opportunities statewide.
* Establishing regional coordinating entities, utilizing existing resources and community networks.
* Developing a uniform assessment tool to be used by state and non-profit organizations to better target available resources.
* Click here for Overview of Commission Recommendations.
A PROGRAM OF LOCAL CONCERN: Funding for Sylvia's Haven, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, was restored to $100,000 with the help of Advocacy Network and others’ phone calling.
ANNUAL COMMUNITY FORUMS
The Advocacy Network also organizes community education on family homelessness through its annual interfaith forum co-sponsored by congregations, schools, and community groups in Concord, Acton, Sudbury, Lincoln, Stow, and Carlisle.
* Family Homelessness - You Can Make a Difference! (2005)Ninety attendees heard: a formerly homeless woman describe her faith journey; an advocacy expert speak on how a few phone calls to your legislator put an issue on their priority list; Representative Cory Atkins highlight the difficult lives of low income people; and an advocate from Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership describe the lack of availability of Section 8 housing certificates. * Click here to read the article about this forum.
* Solutions to Family Homelessness: A Roundtable Discussion with our State Legislators (2006)
Three of our local legislators – Senator Pam Resor, Representatives Cory Atkins and James Eldridge spoke to 60 attendees on major issues affecting homelessness on an evening when outside temperatures hovered around 5 degrees. The lawmakers highlighted the growing problem of homeless families and explained how federal and state policies can prevent and ameliorate family homelessness. * Click here to read the article about this forum.
* Overlooked Strategies to End Family Homelessness: What Works and Why (2007)
First hand accounts were given by: two mothers who benefited from adult basic education programs (ABE); directors of two community college ABE and transition to work programs; and, a leading state house advocate from the Massachusetts Coalition for Adult Education for adequate funding for these services. These talks focused on the key role adult education plays in preventing and ameliorating family homelessness. Panelists suggested actions the 90 audience members can take to reduce long waiting lists and assure that sufficient learning programs and community support services are available for those who want and urgently need them. * Click here to read the article on this Adult Basic Education forum.
* Helping the Homeless Child in School (2008)
The forum looked at how the lack of permanent housing affects school children and youth. The presenting forum panel included a young mother who, growing up, attended 13 different schools because of her family’s housing dependence on others for their housing; a high school teacher with homeless students in her classroom; a Boston social worker and a Framingham social worker directing programs for the homeless student, and the executive for the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. At the close, three state lawmakers charged the audience to contact their state legislators regarding the importance of reducing family homelessness in Massachusetts. If that can be done, more children can achieve educational and developmental equality with their peers. * Click here to read the article on this forum.
" Together We Can End Homelessness in Mass" (2009) – State Rep. Byron Rushing
"Homelessness is as terrible as slavery. People have been homeless for over 25 years, which is longer than the great depression!" We must eliminate homelessness, state Rep. Byron Rushing told attendees of the homelessness forum on Sunday, Jan. 25, sponsored by the Advocacy Network to End Family Homelessness.Led by Rep. Rushing, the Mass Commission to End Homelessness has developed a plan that will end homelessness, provide low income housing for the homeless, and have vital services provided for formerly homeless in that housing. Moreover, the Commission concluded the amount now spent on shelters would house the homeless. Funds are needed only for the transition from shelters to housing.The Commission's plan included building or acquiring housing where the formerly homeless can be incorporated into the community and are near public transportation. In addition, early intervention is necessary so that clients get services without becoming homeless. Also there must be better coordination between service agencies. * Click here for the summary on this forum.
* Click here for talk by Rep. Rushing.
* Progress of New Mass. Regional Programs to End Homelessness (2010) - Rev. Liz WalkerRev. Liz Walker gave a powerful faith based challenge to 200 forum attendees at the 6th annual area forum on the homeless. She urged faith communities to become involved in ending homelessness. "Moments are where things change. Seize the moment, Take control. The time is ripe for a movement of Housing solutions to homelessness."The new regional programs are testing a range of innovative Housing First solutions to ending homelessness. These solutions include adding enough low income housing so that shelters are not needed.The main program innovations are prevention, diversion, and early intervention.(1) Prevention involves use of flexible funds to avoid eviction when renter is in fiscal crisis. Flexible funds are used for payment of rent, utilities, and health bills. Flexible funds range from a few hundred dollars up to $2000 whereas shelter costs are much more expensive, $3000/month for a family.(2) Diversion involves diverting a family to temporary housing as they are about to enter a shelter. Then the family receives all needed services for a year while putting together a financial plan, including employment or training, so they can go to subsidized housing after a year.(3) Early intervention involves screening e.g. all welfare or nutritional assistance families at welfare offices or health clinic to identify and counsel at risk families. All of these avoid the disruptions and trauma of losing housing and living in a shelter.* Click here for summary of this 2010 forum, including current accomplishments of new programs* Click here for photos from this forum* Click here for video from forum"Ending Homelessness: Recent Successes and the Next Steps (2011) - Tina Brooks, Mass. Undersecratary
Department of Housing and Community DevelopmentFamily homelessness is a devastating experience, especially for children, and has been at crisis levels in Mass. for the last three years. Over 33,000 families applied for emergency shelter last year. Currently 2100 families fill emergency shelters and 1000 families are in motels nightly.The Patrick administration has committed to ending family homelessness in Mass. The two year Mass. regional network pilot programs, focused on preventing family homelessness, were very successful. In the 10 regional pilot programs, prevention – short term rental assistance- kept 10,883 families from becoming homeless; 839 families were diverted from emergency shelters and given rental assistance and support services for a year; and 464 families were rapidly re-housed from shelters.At the forum, a single mother, who was laid off two years ago, told attendees that she was able to stay in her home thanks to prevention funding in the pilot program. The hardest part of facing possible homelessness was the fear of letting her children down. "It’s a great feeling to stay home, instead of going from one place to another."Using the experience of the regional pilot programs, Tina Brooks described the administration's shelter reform plan which aims to prevent homelessness for the great majority of at-risk families. Specifically, homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing will be achieved through flexible rental assistance provided by the new Mass. Short Term Housing Transition Program, funded at $38.5 million. Eligibility for emergency assistance is unchanged.Emergency shelters will be mainly for families threatened with domestic violence or families losing their housing from fire or natural disaster. Also, families with mother age 21 or under will go to cong regate housing and receive key services. This shelter reform plan will begin in July 2011.However, three significant improvements in the emergency shelter line item are essential and should be made in House budget deliberations. The most needed improvement is that families eligible for short term housing assistance should be allowed the safety net of entering shelter while waiting for housing they can afford. See the advocacy postcard for all three improvements.Five local state legislators told attendees their calls and emails have made ANEFH homelessness issues their priority issues.Forum attendees were encouraged to advocate for support of the shelter reform plan by filling out the attached advocacy letter and sending it to their local state legislators. * Click here for photos from the 2011 forum* Click here for video of 2011 forumHOW THE ADVOCACY TACKLES THE ISSUES
Public Education
The CMM interfaith Advocacy Network to End Family Homelessness expands understanding of the causes of family homelessness and highlights its remedies -- through its annual forums, media coverage of the forum, and letters-to-the-editor written by Network members. Network members also include information on family homelessness and its remedies in their congregations’ newsletters and websites.
Email Action Alert List
The Network develops advocacy strategies that encourage our state legislators to strengthen important family homelessness legislation. Through its Email Alert List, The Network notifies members (open to anyone who is interested) at times when it is important to contact state house lawmakers about key homeless prevention programs being deliberated on Beacon Hill.
The Network’s Steering Committee, which is open to all interested people, meets monthly with guidance from Miriam Stein, MSW, the advocacy consultant to Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries. New members are very welcome at the evening meetings held at Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord.
NETWORK MEMBERS’ VOICES ARE HEARD
Responses from State House Lawmakers:
* After our second forum where Senator Pam Resor spoke, she wrote a letter to all her Senate colleagues urging them to support
increasing RAFT funding to $7 million. * Representative Cory Atkins wrote to us stating her strong support for our three homelessness issues. She also told us that our
phone calls and emails brought our three issues to her priority list.Comments from Advocacy Network Members:
* The Advocacy Network has provided a meaningful way for me to connect with our political leaders and play a role in some positive changes for homeless people in MA. – Alice Lehmann* Sen. Susan Fargo told my husband, when she called, that she had never before received so many calls on one issue as our calls on increased RAFT funding. – Jane Blumberg* I have learned that most citizens' calls and letters to legislators are from people who will be directly affected, in their business, school, neighborhood, etc. So this kind of advocacy-- for others who are not likely to speak for themselves-- is especially important. – Judy Hill* What is really special to me is it feels like we are really making a difference and seeing some changes because of our calls. That feels empowering and it proves that getting involved as a group is a good way to be heard! – Ann Jacob* Faith Community Guide Distributed to Congregations: Family Homelessness – You Can Help - Volunteer and Advocacy Opportunities a Faith Community.Advocacy Network Background:
The Social Concerns Committee of Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord realized that congregation members regularly spent hours cooking meals for the homeless, donating food for the homeless and very needy, collecting warm clothing for poor people, and making financial contributions to charities that helped homeless and at-risk families. Still, we knew we wanted to address the root causes of family homelessness. With the guidance of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, the Social Concerns Committee organized an interfaith forum on family homelessness in January 2005.
This forum highlighted the causes and problems of family homelessness and ways to address the root causes of the problem. Follow-on workshops and meetings provided detailed training in (1) homelessness advocacy, such as campaigns of letter writing and calling your state lawmakers, and (2) faith community - shelter partnering to meet the needs of a family shelter. This forum drew about 100 concerned individuals to Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord in January 2005.
From this forum, the Concord Acton Family Homelessness Advocacy Network was formed, to find effective ways of working to end family homelessness. Renamed recently the Advocacy Network to End Family Homelessness, the Advocacy Network has carried out effective advocacy and community education on key homelessness issues for three years.
Family Homelessness Advocacy Opportunities: With a small amount of effort, you can help increase vital state funding for important family homelessness legislation.
Wow, I called Sen. Fargo's office, first time I'd ever done this – I felt empowered, and the office was very supportive.
– Dr. Gary Cushing * Click here to receive email alerts about times to contact my State House lawmakers about homelessness issues.
* Click here to receive email announcements of Advocacy Network meetings, events, and activities.
* Click here to join the Network Steering Committee. Meetings are held one evening a month at Trinitarian Congregational Church in
Concord. * Click here to download the Faith Community Guide:
Family Homelessness – You Can Help Volunteer and Advocacy Opportunities for a Faith Community. * Click here to receive a phone call and more information from an Advocacy Network leader.
Leader Contact Info:
* N. Carl Miller (Network Coordinator), 978-369-3755, normancmiller@comcast.net
* Jane Blumberg, 978-369-8520, janie@media.mit.edu
* Jean Bell, 978-369-5018, jeangordonbell@earthlink.net
* Frank Austin, 978-263-0812, franklyn.austin@shawgrp.com
* Shirley Ormsby, 978-263-2169, shirleyormsby@comcast.net
* Eric Lind, 978-443-9130, ericlind@earthlink.net
Advocacy Network Steering Committee:
* Judy Hill, Ann Jacobs, Deana Kohl, Carl Miller, Emily Mitchell, Bob Nelson, Peter Nelson, Polly Vanasse – Trinitarian Congregational Church, Concord MA
* Jane Blumberg, Deb Dormitzer, Alice Lehmann, Mike Palin – First Parish in Concord MA
* Jean Bell, Garvin Moore, Arthur & Barbara Walker – Trinity Episcopal Church, Concord MA
* Frank Austin – Church of the Good Shepherd (Episcopal), Acton MA
* Shirley Ormsby – St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish, Acton MA
* Eric Lind, Rev. Richard Harding – Sudbury United Methodist Church, Sudbury MA
* Lisa Richards, Nancy Sanderson – Open Table Concord MA
LINKS OF CONTACTS:
STATE SENATOR CONTACT INFO (2011)
ADVOCACY NETWORK TO END FAMILY HOMELESSNESS
(ANEFH)
© 2012 - Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries (CMM)
474 Centre Street - Newton, MA 02458
Office: (617) 244-3650
Alexander Levering Kern, Executive Director (akern@coopmet.org)
Matt Carriker, Program Director/IFYI (ifyi@coopmet.org)
Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries
"How Homelessness Hurts Children's Health – And How You Can Help" (2012)
When she was nine months pregnant, Diane Sullivan and her family became homeless.
For two and a half months, she and her husband and two small children lived in a motel without a microwave or refrigerator.
“It was tuna fish, turkey sandwiches,” she said of a typical meal for her family.
The bathroom became their kitchen. They kept a Styrofoam cooler in the bathtub, and used hot water from the sink to make ramen noodles. The food they could store and use was far from nutritious.
“If you are housing insecure, you’re twice as likely to be underweight than a kid who is not housing insecure,” said Dr. Megan Sandel, associate professor of pediatrics and public health at Boston Medical Center.
At the Grow Clinic at Boston Medical Center, Sandel said she sees children whose physicians have diagnosed them with “failure to thrive,” which means they are not growing at the rate of other children their age. Many of these children are homeless, she said, and have symptoms that meet the World Health Organization’s criteria for malnutrition.
Part of the problem is the price of housing. Sandel said many families she works with spend more than half of their budget on housing.
“They’re constantly making these really tough tradeoffs,” she said. “Am I going to pay for rent or am I going to pay for food?”
Other families are what she calls “doubled up,” meaning they live in a friend’s or family member’s living room. Although they have access to refrigerators, microwaves and stoves, the stress of not having their own spaces causes health problems, too.
Sandel said what’s exciting about the governor’s budget is that it increases funding for programs that will allow low-income families to find stable housing.
“I often refer to a safe, decent affordable home as a vaccine,” she said. “It keeps kids healthy.”
Proposed Changes in Mass. Housing Based Shelter Reform Program (2012)
Robert Pulster, associate director of the Division of Housing Stabilization at the Department of Housing and Community Development, said the state is moving toward a “housing first” model, through programs designed to get families out of shelters and motels and into affordable apartments and homes.
Since July 2009, Pulster said 15,000 families have entered the state’s Emergency Assistance system. In the same time period, the state has helped find adequate housing for 10,000 families.
For many years, shelters were the only option for the homeless, Pulster said. Today, however, that’s changing.
“It’s not about a single dose, it’s about having prescriptions available for a while range of issues,” he said.
Pulster said the major thrust of the proposed reform is to help families where they are. The governor’s fiscal 2013 budget allows for an additional $8.8 million for Rental Assistance for Families in Transition, or RAFT, a prevention program that gives low-income families in danger of becoming homeless up to $4,000, which they can use toward housing. $8.8 million of RAFT funding will help 2000 families avoid homelessness. In fiscal 2012, RAFT was allotted $260,000.
The proposed budget sets aside an additional $10 million for the state’s Mass. Rental Voucher Program, providing vouchers and thus housing stability for 800 additional families.
The proposed budget also continues to fund the HomeBASE program, a prevention and rapid re-housing program. All families now on HomeBase will continue to receive support while new families will be eligible for $4000/year of housing assistance.
The governor’s shelter budget allows families to access $4000 in HomeBase funds soon after entering shelter, which should reduce shelter stay. However, this budget also includes two changes that concerned residents and advocates. First is a proposed eight-month limit on shelter stays. When Sandel asked if the state would turn homeless families out on the street at the end of eight months, Pulster neither confirmed nor denied.
Second, the budget also proposes stricter eligibility criteria for shelters, limiting them to victims of domestic violence, fire or natural disaster; families who are being evicted through no fault of their own and given 48 hours to vacate; and doubled-up families whose living situations are deemed a health risk by a social worker. However, ANEFH recommends that all EA eligible homeless families be offered emergency access to family shelters.
“Being in a shelter is not very easy, particularly for young moms,” said Pulster, saying that the longer a person is in a shelter, the less empowered he or she feels. “It is an issue, which is why we believe shorter shelter stays are best."
Click here for invitation to the 2012 advocacy skills workshops
Click here for Childhood malnutrition has long lasting effects
Click here for
The Housing Vaccine: Why Housing Matters to Young Children by Dr. Megan
Sandel and Dr. Deborah A. Frank, Children’s HealthWatch
Click here for Governor’s FY2013 homelessness budget plan
Click here for photos from the 2012 forum
Our Budget Priorities for the fiscal year 2013 State Budget (July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013). The Mass. Legislature reviews, debates, and votes on the budget from January thru June 2012.
Mass. Emergency Assistance Reform funding for Regional Network Programs. This shelter reform plan aims to prevent homelessness for the great majority of at-risk families while keeping emergency assistance eligibility unchanged. These programs administer short-term flexible funds to prevent homelessness and facilitate home placement. In the reform plan, emergency shelters are limited to families threatened with domestic violence; families losing their housing from fire or natural disaster; or evicted for no fault of the family. (1) Retain the current eligibility standards for emergency access to family shelters. Do not limit access to family shelters to the four categories in Governor's budget. No eligible family should be out in the cold while waiting for affordable housing. (2) Remove restriction of maximum shelter stay of 8 months. Also provide effective housing search services for families in shelters and in motels. Funding Request: at least $118 million, Budget line item 7004-0101.
Massachusetts Short Term Housing Transition Program. Homelessness prevention, diversion, and rapid re-housing are achieved through HomeBASE, the new Massachusetts Short Term Housing Transition Program. Assistance may include payments of rent arrears; a portion of the household's monthly rent, first and/or last month's rent, and/or security deposit; utility charges; and extraordinary medical bills. HomeBASE aims to prevent homelessness for most at- risk families with qualifying income under 115% of the federal poverty level. Fund the HomeBASE program so that all families now receiving HomeBASE FY2012 Household Assistance & Rental Assistance may continue to receive that assistance in FY2013. New families will only be eligible for Household Assistance in FY2013. Significantly increased Funding Request at $83.4 million as part of larger housing reform. Budget line item, 7004-0108.
Mass. Rental Voucher Program (MRVP). Through rent subsidies, MRVP provides very low-income households (families, seniors, disabled people, and others in need) assistance in paying rent and helps developers build housing that is affordable to this constituency. MRVP is a cost effective alternative to shelters: the average MRVP voucher costs approximately $600 per month, significantly less than the average cost of shelter which is $3,000 per month. The FY2013 funding recommendation of $46 million will increase funding for MRVP by $10 million, allowing DHCD to provide an additional 800 housing vouchers over FY’12 levels for 5200 recipients. This increased funding will help the state move closer towards the goal of preventing and ending homelessness for families, persons with disabilities, and elders. FY2013 Funding Request: $46. million Budget line item: 7004-9024.
Adult Basic Education (ABE). Approximately 20,000 adults are currently on waiting lists for ABE programs (adult literacy, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, & job training) funded by the Mass. Dept. of Education. The need for ABE classes is great: waiting lists vary from 2 to 8 months for literacy to up to two years for English learners. ABE programs are key in helping low-income persons escape poverty. Funding Request: Level funding at $30.7 million, a $3 million increase to meet projected need. Budget line item #7035-0002.
Click here for photos from the 2012 forum
Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT). RAFT is a homelessness prevention program that now will focus on allowing very low income families to access up to $4000 in flexible funds to help them stay housed in a time of economic stress, such as job loss or illness. RAFT funding should be greatly increased from 260K in last year's budget. Funding Request: $8.76 million will help up to 2000 families. Budget line item 7004-9316.
More information on these issues & on family homelessness can be found on our web site, www.coopmet.org. Click on Programs/Advocacy Network to End Family Homelessness & download fact sheets for these five FY2013 Budget Priorities.
The Advocacy Network to End Family Homelessness is committed to eliminating the root causes of family homelessness through public education and advocacy. Based in Concord and Acton, the Network also includes congregations, organizations and individuals from Sudbury, Carlisle, Lincoln, Maynard, Stow, Bedford, Lexington, Cambridge, Arlington, Waltham, Wellesley, Framingham, and Natick. The Network is a model for other areas and welcomes inquiries and members from all locales. For more information, contact Carl Miller, Network Coordinator, at NormanCMiller@comcast.net or 978-369-3755
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