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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1140 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 873
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Paul R. Feeney
_________________
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 to transform the Commonwealth’s emergency response system and create housing
strategies to end the homelessness of unaccompanied adults.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Paul R. FeeneyBristol and Norfolk 1 of 3
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1140 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 873
By Mr. Feeney, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 873) of Paul R. Feeney for
legislation to provide for analysis of MassHealth claims data in relation to homeless management
information systems data related to Medicaid costs associated with persons experiencing
homelessness. Housing.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 3959 OF 2021-2022.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act to transform the Commonwealth’s emergency response system and create housing
strategies to end the homelessness of unaccompanied adults.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Chapter 23B of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-
2 Section xx. As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly
3requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
4 “Congregate shelter”, any sheltering approach of mass dormitory-style bed space in
5which individuals are not each sheltered in an individual or shared bedroom demarcated by walls
6on all sides and a door.
7 “Continuum of care”, has the same meaning as defined in Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the
8Code of Federal Regulations. 2 of 3
9 “Non-congregate shelter”, a setting where a person experiencing homelessness is
10sheltered within an individual or shared bedroom with walls on all sides, a door, and preferably a
11bathroom.
12 “Permanent supportive housing”, a model of housing that combines ongoing subsidized
13housing matched with flexible health, behavioral health, social and other support services.
14 “Department of Housing and Community Development” or “the department”, as defined
15in Section 1 of Chapter 23B of the Massachusetts General Laws.
16 (a) The department of housing and community development working closely with
17municipalities and the continuums of care shall conduct an objective and predictive study of
18future shelter and housing demand to determine the type and amount of permanent supportive
19housing, non-congregate and congregate shelter programmatic models necessary to reduce
20reliance on shelter and meet housing demand one year following the effective date of this
21section. This study shall determine housing and shelter capacity in every municipality in the
22commonwealth using calculations based on the ratio of the number of units to the overall
23population in order to ensure adequate capacity statewide.
24 (b) The department shall develop a plan to prioritize the building of permanent supportive
25housing and new non-congregate shelter solutions, that will supplement or replace existing
26congregate shelter programs, with a five-year implementation goal to meet the unmet needs of
27affordable housing capacity for each municipality in the commonwealth based on the ratio of the
28number of units to the overall population, in accordance with the findings of the study, in order
29to ensure adequate permanent supportive housing capacity statewide. The department shall
30determine benchmark goals for the implementation of said study recommendations within the 3 of 3
31five-year implementation goal to meet the permanent supportive housing needs for each
32municipality in the Commonwealth.
33 (c) The department shall create an inventory of existing congregate shelters, the cost to
34the commonwealth of these existing congregate shelters and conduct a feasibility study as to the
35extent these current resources can be converted to non-congregate shelter and/or permanent
36supportive housing. The department shall submit the plan to the chairs of the joint committee on
37housing and the continuums of care within one year following the effective date of this section.
38 (d) The department shall develop and provide a specific plan for unique housing
39responses specifically targeted to unaccompanied adult persons experiencing homelessness,
40including, but not limited to, long-term vouchers, shallow subsidy pools, rapid re-housing
41resources and permanent supportive housing. The department shall develop housing resources
42across a spectrum of need, but shall prioritize those elderly, disabled, medically complex, and
43LGBTQ+ persons experiencing homelessness. The department shall review and consider
44alternative construction models including, but not limited to, modular construction, micro-units,
45repurposed hotels or other alternatives capable of bringing homeless housing initiatives to an
46affordable scale necessary to end the homelessness of chronic and medically complex persons
47experiencing homelessness. The department shall submit a plan for the development of such
48housing to the chairs of the joint committee on housing and the continuums of care no later than
49one year following the effective date of this section.