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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 190 FILED ON: 1/11/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 87
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Adam Gomez
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act providing for coordinated data and assistance to address family homelessness.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Adam GomezHampden 1 of 3
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 190 FILED ON: 1/11/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 87
By Mr. Gomez, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 87) of Adam Gomez for legislation
to provide for coordinated data and assistance to address family homelessness. Children,
Families and Persons with Disabilities.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 110 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act providing for coordinated data and assistance to address family homelessness.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. There shall be an annual comprehensive report on housing instability faced
2by families in the commonwealth to enable the public to gain an informed understanding of the
3issue and to efficiently predict and better direct homelessness prevention and housing resources.
4The report shall be written cooperatively by the executive office of health and human services,
5the executive office of housing and economic development, the executive office of labor and
6workforce development and the executive office of education.
7 The report shall include the following information:
8 (1) the number of client households that have been identified as homeless and at risk of
9homelessness by each agency; 2 of 3
10 (2) the department of housing and community development shall provide the numbers of
11households receiving emergency assistance also receiving benefits and services from the
12following programs: (i) the supplemental nutrition assistance program and the transitional aid
13for families with dependent children program of the department of transitional assistance; (ii)
14workforce development programs; (iii) programs of the department of children and families; (iv)
15early intervention services of the department of public health; (v) MassHealth data on income
16sources for families in shelter and housing instability screening for patients.
17 (3) To better understand the level of housing stability among HomeBASE participants,
18the department of housing and community development shall provide the number of households
19that have received assistance from the HomeBASE program under line item 7004-0108,
20including, the number of households that were evicted, the number that returned to shelter, the
21number of households with involvement of the department of children and families and the
22number with incomes below 150 per cent of the Federal Poverty Level. The department shall
23coordinate with programs under the executive office of health and human services on matching
24data sets for the purposes of this report.
25 (4) The department of early education and care shall provide the number of contracted
26slots for homeless children and the current utilization, the number of childcare vouchers issued to
27homelessness households.
28 (5) All interagency teams or groups that are currently working on issues related to
29homelessness.
30 The report shall be filed with the clerks of Senate and House, the chairs of the
31committees on ways and means, the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness and the 3 of 3
32Learn to Earn Interagency Working group annually on the day assigned for submission of the
33budget by the governor to the general court under section 7H of chapter 29 of the General Laws.
34 SECTION 2. The executive office of health and human services, executive office of
35housing and economic development, executive office of labor and workforce development and
36executive office of education shall establish a single joint telephone hotline for residents of the
37commonwealth to receive information and assistance on benefits, eligibility and application
38processes for all benefit and assistance programs managed by the offices and the connections and
39relationships between their programs and other programs of the commonwealth.
40 Each agency of the executive office of health and human services, executive office of
41housing and economic development, executive office of labor and workforce development and
42executive office of education shall publicly conspicuously post on their main internet site
43information on the benefit and assistance programs managed by the agency, including a link or
44information on how to access a benefits calculator and guide for calculating benefits in relation
45to incomes. The agencies shall distribute information about the programs, calculator and guide to
46homelessness service providers in a form appropriate for distribution to their clients. Each state
47agency of these offices shall provide training for staff and vendors on the benefits calculator in
48order to help families receiving assistance gain information on the programs to access the
49programs and optimize their benefits, including avoiding cliff effects due to the income
50eligibility rules.