Making a life in a motel

Motels in Danvers have 108 families, or about 10 percent of the total number forced to live in motels, because the state’s 2,000 shelter units for families, including apartments and group housing, are full.

Malden has the second-highest population in the region, with 83 families living in motels there. Chelmsford has 24 homeless/motel families, Saugus 21, Haverhill 14, Chelsea seven, and Salem one, according to data provided by State Representative Theodore Speliotis, a Danvers Democrat.

“It’s the overflow in the shelters that has brought this about,’’ said Speliotis, whose district also includes Peabody and Topsfield. “These are families who have lost their homes, lost their jobs, and have to cram everything into one room. Nobody is happy about it.’’

At an average cost of $85 to $90 a night for a motel room, the state is spending about $2.8 million per month to pay for families to live in motels, the data show. Massachusetts law requires the state to provide housing for homeless families who meet income guidelines.

Speliotis said he plans to convene legislators from the 29 Bay State communities where homeless families are living in motels. Federal stimulus dollars, such as $18.5 million designated by Governor Deval Patrick for homeless issues in the state, could be one source of assistance, he said.

“Whatever money we can put into housing, it will alleviate the use of motels,’’ Speliotis said.

A year ago, there were 654 families living in motels. As jobs vanished in the last year, and foreclosure rates climbed, the number of homeless families surged. “It’s scary to think 1,000 families are living in motels,’’ said Libbie Hayes, executive director of Homes for Families, a nonprofit in Boston. “The number is unprecedented.’’

Most of the impact on local communities is in school costs. Homeless students, most of whom are from low-income families and change schools frequently, often require additional services, such as special education. But the single largest cost is transportation, local educators said.

State law allows a homeless student to enroll in the school district where a motel is located or to be transported back to their original school district. In most cases, the school district where a motel is located and the child’s home school district split transportation costs, officials said.

Still, the high number of homeless families living in motels has led to skyrocketing transportation costs for local school districts. In Danvers, there are now 77 school-age children living in motels. Of that number, 42 are transported to their original school district, while 35 have enrolled in Danvers schools, officials said.

Danvers estimates it could spend $205,000 by the end of the school year to bus homeless kids to their home school districts, compared with $49,000 last year, officials said.

“The cost has just exploded this year,’’ said Richard Warren, business manager for the Danvers Public Schools. “I would challenge any community to come up with $200,000 they hadn’t planned for.’’

School officials in Chelmsford, Malden, and Saugus did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

In Peabody, where the schools spent $100,284 last year on homeless transportation costs, the cost is estimated to be $80,000 this year, according to David Keniston, the school department’s business manager. There are now nine homeless students bused to other districts.

“We typically send minivans to get the kids. We don’t rent a 60-seat school bus to take a small number of kids to their school,’’ Superintendent C. Milton Burnett said.

Since July, as part of a long-term plan to end homelessness in Massachusetts, the state has provided financial assistance to families on the brink of losing their homes. “There are different levels of hardship,’’ said Phil Hailer, spokesman for the state Department of Housing and Community Development. “If we can help people on the cusp [of losing housing] to stay in their homes just a little longer, maybe their situation will stabilize.’’

When a family does become homeless, the state aims first to place them in one of 2,000 family shelter units across the state. When those are full, they are placed in a motel. Since the shelters have been full for more than a year, families now live longer in motels. “It’s not just a week or two,’’ said Hayes, of Homes for Families. “We’re looking at months.’’

Laconia Strothers lived in a local motel with her two young sons for three months before moving to an apartment in a shelter this month. “Just being able to go from one room to another has made a difference for us,’’ said Strothers, 24. “Now I can cook my kids breakfast, instead of grabbing a bagel or a muffin from the lobby.’’

Strothers became homeless after leaving a domestic violence situation. She was unemployed for a year, until getting a job in October as an outreach worker at a Boston nonprofit. She now earns $30,000, and is looking to move to an apartment that costs no more than $1,000 per month, she said.

“That’s the most I could afford, ’’ said Strothers, who has an associate’s degree. “But even that would be tight.’’ She still can’t afford to have a repair done on her car, which she needs to get to work. “The piece costs $700 and then you have to pay to put it on. . . . It just costs a lot to live.’’

Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com.