THE NUMBER of homeless families housed in motels across Massachusetts is at a peak. This unfortunate statistic is both an indicator of the hard times wrought by the economic climate and stark evidence that the approach state government has used over the years to address homelessness has not solved the problem.
Homelessness is a complex and heart-wrenching issue, but we must do our best to address it. Early in our administration, Governor Patrick asked me to lead the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness, with a mission of breaking down bureaucratic barriers and finding better ways to deal with the issue so that we can end homelessness in Massachusetts.
On July 1, we took an important step toward that goal. While much of the focus in the news has been on major reforms in pension, transportation, and ethics, there have also been significant reforms to state homelessness programs.
Based on 18 months of work by the council, and following on the recommendations of the Massachusetts Commission to End Homelessness, we have shifted our approach on homelessness from a sheltering model to a “housing first’’ model. We have overhauled the state’s existing emergency shelter system and reorganized the state agencies that provide homelessness services.
As of July 1, shelter programs previously under the Department of Transitional Assistance were combined with the state’s housing resources under the Department of Housing and Community Development. This allows us to better coordinate and streamline services through a single entity, the department’s new Division of Housing Stabilization, and to shift the focus away from emergency shelter use to permanent housing. Our goal is to get the right resources to the right people at the right time to prevent homelessness and rapidly re-house those who are already homeless.
In addition, with support from the Legislature and with help from The Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation, we have established 10 regional networks across the Commonwealth, bringing together agencies involved in the housing and support continuum that did not always communicate effectively before. In almost all areas across the state, these networks are up and running and will help us to intervene sooner, with integrated services focused on securing permanent housing options for at-risk individuals and families, and ultimately lessening the need for emergency assistance in shelters or motels.
MassHousing is also investing $7 million over four years to provide rental support subsidies combined with employment assistance and an asset-building component to keep at-risk families in their homes. This complements the administration’s efforts to increase funding to operate and repair the state’s 50,000 public housing apartments that serve our neediest families and seniors, and to direct federal funds to support housing for extremely low-income people.
Preventing homelessness means keeping children stable in one school, almost guaranteeing better academic performance. It saves school districts the cost of transporting children back to their previous school, if their family chooses, and it enables people to find and keep jobs more easily because they are not being shuttled between relatives’ or friends’ houses and shelters. Moreover, helping people stay in their homes costs a fraction of what it costs to house a family in a shelter or motel.
With the recent reforms and reorganization, as well as the establishment of regional networks focused on a housing-first strategy, the state has made a fundamental change in its approach to helping those at-risk of homelessness. These strategies should end the need for emergency motel placements, and help us achieve our goal of ending homelessness.
Timothy P. Murray is the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. 
