Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S988 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1982 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 988
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Paul R. Feeney
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act to transform the Commonwealth’s emergency response system and create housing
13	13	strategies to end the homelessness of unaccompanied adults.
14	14	_______________
15	15	PETITION OF:
16	16	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Paul R. FeeneyBristol and NorfolkCarmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex2/17/2025 1 of 3
17	17	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1982 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
18	18	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 988
19	19	By Mr. Feeney, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 988) of Paul R. Feeney and Carmine
20	20	Lawrence Gentile for legislation to provide for analysis of MassHealth claims data in relation to
21	21	homeless management information systems data related to Medicaid costs associated with
22	22	persons experiencing homelessness. Housing.
23	23	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
24	24	SEE SENATE, NO. 873 OF 2023-2024.]
25	25	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
26	26	_______________
27	27	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
28	28	(2025-2026)
29	29	_______________
30	30	An Act to transform the Commonwealth’s emergency response system and create housing
31	31	strategies to end the homelessness of unaccompanied adults.
32	32	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
33	33	of the same, as follows:
34	34	1 Chapter 23B of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-
35	35	2 Section xx. As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly
36	36	3requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
37	37	4 “Congregate shelter”, any sheltering approach of mass dormitory-style bed space in
38	38	5which individuals are not each sheltered in an individual or shared bedroom demarcated by walls
39	39	6on all sides and a door.
40	40	7 “Continuum of care”, has the same meaning as defined in Section 578.3 of Title 24 of the
41	41	8Code of Federal Regulations. 2 of 3
42	42	9 “Non-congregate shelter”, a setting where a person experiencing homelessness is
43	43	10sheltered within an individual or shared bedroom with walls on all sides, a door, and preferably a
44	44	11bathroom.
45	45	12 “Permanent supportive housing”, a model of housing that combines ongoing subsidized
46	46	13housing matched with flexible health, behavioral health, social and other support services.
47	47	14 “Executive office of housing and livable communities” or “the executive office”, as
48	48	15defined in Section 1 of Chapter 23B of the Massachusetts General Laws, as appearing in Section
49	49	16102 of Chapter 7 of the Acts of 2023.
50	50	17 (a) The executive office working closely with municipalities and the continuums of care
51	51	18shall conduct an objective and predictive study of future shelter and housing demand to
52	52	19determine the type and amount of permanent supportive housing, non-congregate and congregate
53	53	20shelter programmatic models necessary to reduce reliance on shelter and meet housing demand
54	54	21one year following the effective date of this section. This study shall determine housing and
55	55	22shelter capacity in every municipality in the commonwealth using calculations based on the ratio
56	56	23of the number of units to the overall population in order to ensure adequate capacity statewide.
57	57	24 (b) The executive office shall develop a plan to prioritize the building of permanent
58	58	25supportive housing and new non-congregate shelter solutions, that will supplement or replace
59	59	26existing congregate shelter programs, with a five-year implementation goal to meet the unmet
60	60	27needs of affordable housing capacity for each municipality in the commonwealth based on the
61	61	28ratio of the number of units to the overall population, in accordance with the findings of the
62	62	29study, in order to ensure adequate permanent supportive housing capacity statewide. The
63	63	30executive office shall determine benchmark goals for the implementation of said study 3 of 3
64	64	31recommendations within the five-year implementation goal to meet the permanent supportive
65	65	32housing needs for each municipality in the Commonwealth.
66	66	33 (c) The executive office shall create an inventory of existing congregate shelters, the cost
67	67	34to the commonwealth of these existing congregate shelters and conduct a feasibility study as to
68	68	35the extent these current resources can be converted to non-congregate shelter and/or permanent
69	69	36supportive housing. The executive office shall submit the plan to the chairs of the joint
70	70	37committee on housing and the continuums of care within one year following the effective date of
71	71	38this section.
72	72	39 (d) The executive office shall develop and provide a specific plan for unique housing
73	73	40responses specifically targeted to unaccompanied adult persons experiencing homelessness,
74	74	41including, but not limited to, long-term vouchers, shallow subsidy pools, rapid re-housing
75	75	42resources and permanent supportive housing. The executive office shall develop housing
76	76	43resources across a spectrum of need, but shall prioritize those elderly, disabled, medically
77	77	44complex, and LGBTQ+ persons experiencing homelessness. The executive office shall review
78	78	45and consider alternative construction models including, but not limited to, modular construction,
79	79	46micro-units, repurposed hotels or other alternatives capable of bringing homeless housing
80	80	47initiatives to an affordable scale necessary to end the homelessness of chronic and medically
81	81	48complex persons experiencing homelessness. The executive office shall submit a plan for the
82	82	49development of such housing to the chairs of the joint committee on housing and the continuums
83	83	50of care no later than one year following the effective date of this section.