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Massachusetts’ Efforts to End Family Homelessness

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance. Massachusetts’ Efforts to End Family Homelessness. John A. Wagner, Commissioner MA Department of Transitional Assistance (Welfare) National Alliance to End Homelessness Annual Conference Washington DC July 17, 2006.

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Massachusetts’ Efforts to End Family Homelessness

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  1. Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance Massachusetts’ Efforts to End Family Homelessness John A. Wagner, Commissioner MA Department of Transitional Assistance (Welfare) National Alliance to End Homelessness Annual Conference Washington DC July 17, 2006

  2. Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance Background • MA Department of Transitional Assistance = Food Stamps, TANF, cash assistance, homeless shelters • $35M for individuals • $74M for families • Broken sheltering system for serving homeless families • Hotels at front-door (lack of capacity) • Little up-front case management or assessment • Over-reliance on deep-end, high-cost emergency shelter • Lack of good data (MIS) system • Lack of attachment to other systems (mainstream benefits)

  3. Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance Strategies—What We Did (2002-04) • Stabilized sheltering system • Implemented ~5-6 pilots focused on reforming the sheltering system • Improved tracking (e.g., BEACON then HMIS) • Gov’s Executive Commission (2/03) and MICHH providing a broad-based framework • Tackled an Identifiable Issue(“Tipping Point”) • Families in hotels, peaked Aug. 2003, eliminated Aug. 2004 • Legislative Response • FY05 legislative changes, increasing eligibility for shelter

  4. Short-Term Focus on Expanding Capacity >250 units 6/04 to 5/06 2/05 implemented “Toolbox”, $4-6K for prevention and/or placement. Prevention ended 12/05; 1/06 total capped at $2K Long-Term Focus on Reforming System Issued RFI for input Assembled advisory group (lead advocate, national researcher, United Way, H&HS staff) guiding agency planning Further research and analysis System inventory, cost analyses Caseload demographics, LOS data, entry/exit data Stakeholder meetings (providers, regional housing authorities, CBOs, CoCs Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance What We’re Doing (2005-present)

  5. Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance What We’re Doing (2005-present) cont. • Guiding Principles: • Community-based to leverage community strengths and resources; • Prevention-focused, with rapid attachment to housing; • Governed by a tripartite responsibility (between the family, state, community provider, all committed to maximizing a family’s economic opportunity and self-sufficiency); • Seamless and coordinated, to facilitate access, monitoring, and improved management; • Research-driven, performance-based and focused on results

  6. Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance

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