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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1982 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 988
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 NorfolkCarmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex2/17/2025 1 of 3
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1982 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 988
By Mr. Feeney, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 988) of Paul R. Feeney and Carmine
Lawrence Gentile 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 SENATE, NO. 873 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
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 “Executive office of housing and livable communities” or “the executive office”, as
15defined in Section 1 of Chapter 23B of the Massachusetts General Laws, as appearing in Section
16102 of Chapter 7 of the Acts of 2023.
17 (a) The executive office working closely with municipalities and the continuums of care
18shall conduct an objective and predictive study of future shelter and housing demand to
19determine the type and amount of permanent supportive housing, non-congregate and congregate
20shelter programmatic models necessary to reduce reliance on shelter and meet housing demand
21one year following the effective date of this section. This study shall determine housing and
22shelter capacity in every municipality in the commonwealth using calculations based on the ratio
23of the number of units to the overall population in order to ensure adequate capacity statewide.
24 (b) The executive office shall develop a plan to prioritize the building of permanent
25supportive housing and new non-congregate shelter solutions, that will supplement or replace
26existing congregate shelter programs, with a five-year implementation goal to meet the unmet
27needs of affordable housing capacity for each municipality in the commonwealth based on the
28ratio of the number of units to the overall population, in accordance with the findings of the
29study, in order to ensure adequate permanent supportive housing capacity statewide. The
30executive office shall determine benchmark goals for the implementation of said study 3 of 3
31recommendations within the five-year implementation goal to meet the permanent supportive
32housing needs for each municipality in the Commonwealth.
33 (c) The executive office shall create an inventory of existing congregate shelters, the cost
34to the commonwealth of these existing congregate shelters and conduct a feasibility study as to
35the extent these current resources can be converted to non-congregate shelter and/or permanent
36supportive housing. The executive office shall submit the plan to the chairs of the joint
37committee on housing and the continuums of care within one year following the effective date of
38this section.
39 (d) The executive office shall develop and provide a specific plan for unique housing
40responses specifically targeted to unaccompanied adult persons experiencing homelessness,
41including, but not limited to, long-term vouchers, shallow subsidy pools, rapid re-housing
42resources and permanent supportive housing. The executive office shall develop housing
43resources across a spectrum of need, but shall prioritize those elderly, disabled, medically
44complex, and LGBTQ+ persons experiencing homelessness. The executive office shall review
45and consider alternative construction models including, but not limited to, modular construction,
46micro-units, repurposed hotels or other alternatives capable of bringing homeless housing
47initiatives to an affordable scale necessary to end the homelessness of chronic and medically
48complex persons experiencing homelessness. The executive office shall submit a plan for the
49development of such housing to the chairs of the joint committee on housing and the continuums
50of care no later than one year following the effective date of this section.