Healey to phase out Massachusetts emergency shelter hotels by end of summer

Governor Maura Healey has been implementing significant changes to the emergency shelter system, reducing the size, cost, and reliance on temporary solutions like hotel shelters, instead transitioning families to permanent housing. According to multiple sources, the Healey administration is on track to close all hotel shelters—32 remaining as of April 30, 2025—by the end of summer 2025, six months ahead of the original schedule. This is primarily due to President Trump closing the border (95% decrease in illegal border crossing) and Governor Healey reforming the shelter system after reports of wasteful spending and rampant crime in the hotel rooms.

The emergency shelter system’s caseload has been reduced to approximately 5,800 families as of early 2025, a 22% decrease from its peak in 2023 and 2024, with plans to further reduce it to 4,000 families by the end of 2025. The administration has reported success in moving families to permanent housing, with nearly 700 families exiting to stable housing in January 2025 alone, the highest in over a decade. Programs like HomeBASE, which provides rental subsidies, are being expanded to support these transitions, and legislative changes have been proposed to increase temporary rental assistance.

The Massachusetts emergency shelter system itself is not being fully closed. Instead, it is being reformed to be more sustainable, with policies like a six-month stay limit (reduced from nine months), stricter eligibility criteria (e.g., requiring proof of legal presence or Massachusetts residency intent), and enhanced safety measures such as mandatory CORI checks for adults. These changes aim to manage costs—projected at $1.1 billion for fiscal year 2025—and prioritize long-term Massachusetts families, who now make up over 75% of shelter applicants. At the peak, newly arrived non-US citizens made up 50-60% of the occupants in the hotels, with 98% of the rooms at the Tauton hotel going to newly arrived migrants.

While the goal is to help more families move to permanent, stable housing, not all families will transition immediately, and some may still rely on restructured shelter options or face waitlists due to capacity constraints. Advocates note that housing needs remain high due to the state’s housing crisis, and some families may struggle to find affordable permanent housing despite these efforts.

As of 2023, a WBUR and ProPublica investigation reported approximately 184,000 people on the waitlist for the state’s 41,500 subsidized apartments. By March 2024, WBUR noted the waitlist remained over 180,000, despite efforts to fill vacant units. Most homeless in Massachusetts wait years before getting offered permanent housing.