Advocacy

Our major legislative priorities for the 2015-2016 legislative session are described in this overview sheet and below.



1.) Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children Program (EAEDC) bill:
     An Act relative to assisting elders and people with disabilities in the Commonwealth
     House Bill 529
     Lead sponsors: Representative James O’Day and Senator Patricia Jehlen
     Fact sheet and legislative page
     Online action alert in support of House Bill 529
 
2.) Bill of rights for people experiencing homelessness:
     An Act providing a homeless bill of rights
     House Bill 1129
     Lead Sponsor: Representative William Smitty Pignatelli
     Fact sheet and legislative page

3.) Bill to protect families who are being evicted from subsidized housing or terminated from shelter:
     An Act to end child homelessness
     House Bill 119
     Lead sponsor: Representative Denise Provost
     Legislative page
 

Past Policy Campaigns

Information on the Coalition's FY'17 Budget Campaigns Please follow these links to sections on our website with more details on the FY'17 budget process:

• Conference Committee budget page
• Senate budget page
• House budget page

Overall FY'17 budget priority fact sheet(updated 5-6-16), including the Coalition's requests for line items such as Emergency Assistance, HomeBASE, youth homelessness, RAFT, Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, EAEDC, etc.

Expanding the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT, line item 7004-9316) homelessness prevention program: Campaign fact sheet (updated 4-21-16); downloadable organizational endorsement form; online organizational endorsement; testimony from Susan O. in support of the RAFT expansion

Providing $4 million for housing and services for unaccompanied youth who are experiencing homelessness: Campaign fact sheet; current organizational endorser list (as of 4-15-16); campaign endorsement form; more information about youth homelessness and the work of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Unaccompanied Homeless Youth

Provide Emergency Assistance (EA) shelter and resources to families expreriencing homelessness before they have to stay in places not meant for human habitation: Campaign fact sheet; supplemental budget campaign fall 2016/winter 2017

Increasing funding for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP, line item 7004-9030): Campaign fact sheet

Maintaining TAFDC benefits for families with disabilities: Campaign fact sheet

• The Baker Administration plans to start counting SSI benefits when calculating welfare benefits for families in the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (TAFDC). The proposal, announced at the same time as the Governor's FY'17 budget recommendations were released, would lead to an estimated 6,900 families with children losing their TAFDC benefits completely, and another 1,600 families facing drastic cuts to their benefits. Such a policy would have dramatic impacts on the quality of life for those families (all of which have at least one member with a severe disability) and on the rates of homelessness and housing insecurity. Join with us in speaking up against this proposal!

Check back frequently for updates and additional campaign information.

Information on the Coalition's 2015-2016 Bill Campaigns 

• Overall bill priority fact sheet (updated 2-26-16)
• Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children Program (EAEDC) bill: An Act relative to assisting elders and people with disabilities in the Commonwealth, filed by Representative Jim O'Day and lead Senate sponsor Senator Patricia Jehlen (House Bill 529): Fact sheet (updated 4-8-16), legislative page; infographic; status: House Bill 529 was reported out favorably by the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs and sent to the House Committee on Ways and Means on December 10, 2015. The bill remains in House Ways and Means. The Coalition is working to move forward elements of the bill during informal legislative sessions, which will run from August 2016-January 2017.
  • Sign the Coalition’s one-minute online EAEDC action, which will send an electronic letter to your State Representative and State Senator in support of House Bill 529.
  • To participate in our Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children Program (EAEDC) bill campaign, please click here for the endorsement form (PDF), an online fillable endorsement form, and an EAEDC data fact sheet. For more information, please contact Sr. Linda Bessom at linda@mahomeless.org or 781-595-7570 x18.
• Bill of rights for people experiencing homelessness: An Act providing a homeless bill of rights, filed by Representative William Smitty Pignatelli (House Bill 1129): Fact sheet (updated 4-8-16), legislative page; flyer for 7-28-15 bill hearing at the State House; Rep. Pignatelli's December 2016legislative sign-on letter text; status: House Bill 1129 was reported out favorably by the Joint Committee on Housing and sent to the House Committee on Ways and Means on December 17, 2015. The bill remains in House Ways and Means. The Coalition is working to move the bill forward during informal legislative sessions, which will run from August 2016-January 2017.
  • Sign the Coalition’s one-minute online bill of rights action, which will send an electronic letter to your State Representative and State Senator in support of House Bill 1129.
  • To participate in our bill of rights campaign, please click here for the endorsement form (PDF) and an online fillable endorsement form. For more information, please contact Kelly Turley at kelly@mahomeless.org or 781-595-7570 x17.
• Bill to protect families with children who are being evicted from subsidized housing or terminated from shelter from having to stay in places not meant for human habitation: Filed by Representative Denise Provost (House Bill 119): Legislative page; status: The bill was heard by the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities on October 20, 2015, where it is awaiting further action.
• Sample of the Coalition's letter to legislators to request co-sponsorship of these three bills
• The Healthy Food, Healthy Homes, Healthy Children bill: An Act relative to ensuring the well-being of all children in the Commonwealth, filed by Representative Jay Livingstone (House Bill 429) and Senator Mark Montigny (Senate Bill 94): Fact sheet from the Healthy Food, Healthy Homes, Healthy Children Coalition; legislative pages for House Bill 429 and Senate Bill 94; status: The bill initially was assigned to the Joint Committee on Education, and then was sent to the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities. That committee heard the bill on October 20, 2015, and the bill is awaiting further action.

Information on the Coalition's FY'16 Budget Campaigns 

• Veto override campaign letter to Legislative Leadership to restore funding for housing/services for unaccompanied youth and for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (7-17-15); press release (7-22-15); email to Legislators (7-23-15)

Conference Committee budget outcomes (7-8-15)

Overall budget priority fact sheet (updated 4-15-15); letter to FY'16 budget Conference Committee members

Senate budget amendment fact sheet 

Housing and services for unaccompanied youth (updated 5-7-15)

Emergency Assistance family shelter and services program (EA) (updated 3-26-15); House budget amendment fact sheet; 

• Stand Up with Families without Homes: Ask Your Legislators to Oppose Family Shelter Access Restrictions in the Supplemental Budget: Action alert, 9-10-15 web version and PDF version; fact sheet for you; fact sheet to share with your legislators

HomeBASE re-housing and homelessness diversion resources for families: Senate budget amendment fact sheet; House budget amendment fact sheet

Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP)

Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP)

Transitional Aid to Families with Dependment Children program (TAFDC) House budget amendment fact sheet

To read our analysis of Governor Baker's FY'16 budget proposal, which was released on March 4, 2015, please click here.

Join us in calling on Massachusetts lawmakers to declare a State of Emergency to End Homelessness, and taking immediate actions to help stop the crisis!

Please complete this form to let us know you (as an organization or individual) stand in solidarity with our call for a state of emergency against homelessness in Massachusetts.

The text of our call to action is below and here in PDF form:

Across Massachusetts, an unprecedented number of children, youth, and adults are experiencing homelessness, primarily due to widespread poverty, and an insufficient supply of housing that is affordable to the lowest income households. Homelessness and housing insecurity also are exacerbated by domestic violence, substance abuse, inequality, illness, and unemployment. According to numbers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, there were 21,135 people in Massachusetts counted as experiencing homelessness during the 2015 point-in-time counts conducted by the HUD Continua of Care across the state. We know that this figure is just the tip of the iceberg, as the HUD count is a snapshot for one day in the winter and includes only people connected to shelters and social service programs and those visibly staying in places not meant for human habitation. Families and individuals (including many unaccompanied youth) without housing of their own who are staying in temporary doubled-up situations with friends and family members are not captured in the count. Many Massachusetts residents staying in cars, campgrounds, transit stations, and other places not meant for human habitation are never captured in official counts either.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s September 2015 American Community Survey report, the overall poverty rate in Massachusetts was 11.6% in 2014. This included an estimated 757,235 people in Massachusetts living in households that fell below the poverty threshold (at the time, $24,008 for a family of four). Families and children in Massachusetts experience poverty at an even higher rate, as 13.2% of families with children under 18 have incomes which fall below the poverty line.

Homelessness reflects the statewide housing crisis and has led to a public health crisis. Research in cities and states across America, including Massachusetts, shows that individuals experiencing homelessness are four times more likely to die of any cause than similar people who are housed. The effects are equally dire for families experiencing homelessness: housing insecurity for families is associated with poor child health and increased risk for developmental disabilities among young children, as well as less-healthy children of pregnant mothers experiencing homelessness. The way to improve the health and well-being of these populations is simple: increase the stock of affordable housing so that fewer individuals and families become homeless in the first place, and provide rapid pathways back to housing for those who have lost their homes.

For more than three decades, Massachusetts has been a national leader in responding to homelessness and housing instability. At the same time, there is much more work to be done to ensure that everyone has a safe, affordable place to call home. Taking the example from the cities of Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle, as well as the state of Hawaii, we are asking the Commonwealth to recognize the homelessness emergency here in Massachusetts, and to take immediate and sustained action to end homelessness.

We are asking state officials to prioritize homelessness and housing programs in the FY’17 state budget by taking actions including, but not limited to:

• Expanding the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition Program (RAFT, line item 7004-9316) to continue to help families with children avoid or exit homelessness and begin to provide homelessness prevention funds to elders, adults with disabilities, unaccompanied youth, and other household configurations. (RAFT fact sheet)

• Increasing funding for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP, line item 7004-9024) to $120 million to maintain existing services and benefits to the more than 7,000 households currently served by the program and to significantly increase the number of low-income households (including families, elders, and persons with disabilities) struggling with housing instability who will be served by the program.

• Providing adequate funding for the Emergency Assistance family shelter and services program (EA, line item 7004-0101) and including key language to provide shelter to families who are at “imminent risk of staying in a place not meant for human habitation”. Under current EA regulations, otherwise eligible families who are within 24 hours of staying in places not meant for human habitation can be turned away from shelter, even if DHCD believes that the family will be forced to stay in a car, emergency room, or transit station. Massachusetts can and must do better for its most vulnerable families. Between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015 (all of FY’15), 494 families with children were approved for EA only after first staying in a place not meant for human habitation. For the first five months of FY’16, 273 families first stayed in places not meant for human habitation before being approved for shelter (an average of 55 families/month). (EA fact sheet)

• Increasing funding for housing and services for unaccompanied youth and young adults who are experiencing homelessness outside the custody and care of a parent or guardian (line item 4000-0007) to $4 million, $2 million over the initial FY’16 investment in this new line item. (Youth homelessness fact sheet and endorsement form)

• Increasing funding for homelessness assistance for individuals (Line Item 7004-0102) to $50 million, an increase over the FY’16 funding level of $44.8 million.

• Increasing funding for the Home and Healthy for Good Program for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness (line item 7004-0104) to $3.8 million, a $2 million increase over the FY’16 appropriation) and continuing to provide support to LGBT young adults who are experiencing homelessness.

• Increasing the number of voluntary treatment programs and beds for individuals of all incomes in active opioid and other forms of addiction, as well mental health services will prevent shelters form continuing to be indefinite holding areas for individuals struggling with special challenges and issues.


Outside of the budget, we are asking the Administration to increase coordination among state agencies tasked with addressing homelessness and poverty, and asking the Legislature to pass key pieces of legislation such as:

• An Act providing a homeless bill of rights (House Bill 1129 fact sheet)

• An Act relative to assisting elders & people with disabilities in the Commonwealth (House Bill 529 fact sheet)

• An Act to end child homelessness (House Bill 119 legislative page)

• An Act relative to ensuring the well-being of all children in the Commonwealth (House Bill 429/Senate Bill 94 fact sheet)

Join us in calling on Massachusetts lawmakers to declare a State of Emergency to End Homelessness, and taking these immediate actions to help stop the crisis!

-Posted 2/12/16

As of March 17th, there are 33 organizational endorsers, as well as over 550 individual endorsers for the call-to-action. The organizations (in alphabetical order) that have signed on include those listed below. Add your name and organization today!

AIDS Action Committee

American Friends Service Committee Cambridge

American Friends Service Committee Material Assistance Program

Arise for Social Justice

Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program

Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee

Boston Warm

City Mission Boston

Community Works Inc.

COPE

Emmanuel Church

First Baptist Church in Framingham

First Church in Cambridge, Congregational, UCC

First Church in Swampscott, Congregational, UCC

First Church Shelter

Friends of the Homeless

Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless

Massachusetts Communities Action Network

Outdoor Fellowship

Poor People's United Fund

ROCA

Samaritans Steps

Sanctuary United Church of Christ

Somerville Homeless Coalition

South Congregational Church

Spare Change News

The Addict's Mom

The Plymouth Church in Framingham

Victory Programs

Wellesley Friends Meeting

Women's Lunch Place

Worcester Fellowship

Y2Y Harvard Square

Photos from our Legislative Action Day official launch of the State of Emergency campaign. Campaign endorsers and supporters dropped off materials about the State of Emergency request, along with blankets, to key legislative leaders and the Governor. The delegation underscored the message that a blanket is not a home.

What is EAEDC?
EAEDC is a state-funded cash assistance and benefits program providing support to approximately 22,000 extremely low-income individuals, administered by the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA).

House Bill 529 would:

1. Increase the EAEDC grant
2. Remove the shelter reduction/penalty for individuals experiencing homelessness
3. Increase the allowable personal asset limit from $250 to $2,500
4. Create an annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) for EAEDC program participants

Click here for the current campaign fact sheet and here for the legislative page for the bill.

Posted February 5, 2020, last updated March 16, 2020

** This year's Youth Count, which had been scheduled for
Monday, April 13th - Sunday, May 17th, is postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. **

* The results of last year's Massachusetts Youth Count are now available. Read the 2019 Youth Count report (PDF) and Executive Summary (PDF) from the Massachusetts Commission on Unaccompanied Homeless Youth here. Regional data will be posted on our Unaccompanied Youth Homelessness page.*

The Coalition is proud to be a lead collaborator once again with the Massachusetts Commission on Unaccompanied Homeless Youth for the 7th annual Massachusetts Youth Count. The Massachusetts Youth Count mobilizes youth, young adults, youth providers funded by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, Continua of Care, schools, and other community partners to survey young people under the age of 25 from all across the Commonwealth who are experiencing homelessness and housing instability. The insights and data gathered from the survey process are used to influence advocacy and programming to address youth and young adult homelessness.

This year's Youth Count, which had been scheduled for
Monday, April 13th - Sunday, May 17th, is postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Please stay tuned for additional updates.

• English language online survey: https://tinyurl.com/mayceng2020 and http://tinyurl.com/youthcount2020
  
  
• Spanish langauge online survey: https://tinyurl.com/maycesp2020

While the regional youth agencies will be entering most surveys, if you are young person completing a paper survey, completed printed surveys can be scanned/photographed and emailed to Kelly or mailed to the Kelly Turley, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, 73 Buffum Street, Lynn, MA 01902.

For more details about the Coalition's advocacy on addressing and ending youth and young adult homelessness, please click here:unaccompanied youth and young adult homelessness page or contact Kelly. Follow the Massachusetts Youth Count on social media: Youth Count Facebook page and Youth Count Twitter feed.