Pittsfield Homeless Panel Considers Pressure to Change State Shelters / iBerkshires.com

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Statewide changes to shelter regulations have put even greater strain on the homeless population.

These include a nine-month stay limit for families waiting to find permanent housing and up to five days in a statewide respite care facility.

“There are currently about 7,500 family shelter units statewide, and there are probably another 700 individuals on the contact list waiting to be placed in a shelter,” Erin Forbush, director of shelter and housing at ServiceNet, told the Homelessness Advisory Committee.

She advised the panel to think about local families eligible for Emergency Housing Assistance who are waiting and families who are not. EA is a state program that provides shelter and financial support to families with children or pregnant women experiencing homelessness.

The approaching colder season also poses a threat.

“A lot of families I know in this community are in their cars,” Forbush said. “It makes it even harder to be in your car in the winter.”

Community Development Director Justine Dodds said there aren’t enough resources or housing for everyone and it’s becoming increasingly difficult, especially given the limitations of some of these programs.

Last year, the governor declared a state of emergency due to a surge in immigrant families coming to Massachusetts in need of shelter and services and a “serious” lack of shelter availability. The EA system was later determined to be fully operational and serving 7,500 families.

In July, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced changes to EA priorities and areas covered by the security network.

“These changes are intended to address ongoing system capacity constraints, reduce costs, and protect the financial stability of the EA system,” the press release reads.

As of August 1, families will have priority for placement in EA shelters if they are homeless due to a no-fault eviction, due to an emergency or unusual state circumstance beyond their control, or if they have at least one member who is a veteran. Families will continue to have priority if they have serious medical needs, newborns, are exposed to domestic violence, or are homeless due to fire, flood, or other disasters.

People who are not prioritized for EA shelters can stay in temporary respite care in Chelsea, Lexington, Cambridge and Norfolk for up to five days. If they choose that route, they must wait at least six months to be placed in the state’s emergency shelter system.

In the spring, a law was signed imposing a nine-month stay obligation on EA shelters.

ServiceNet operates two shelters in Pittsfield: a 40-bed facility on Pearl St. and a recently opened shelter for about 25 families.

Forbush said the average time it takes to find a home for a family is a year. With a nine-month limit on shelter, that’s a tight deadline.

“The change was that people could come into the system and stay there or in a shelter until we could find them permanent housing. Now, because of the crisis in the homeless family system, they’ve introduced a nine-month stay period for families,” she said.

“So families can stay in the shelter, but it has always been important that we get families a roof over their heads as quickly as possible, and it’s unfortunate that the timing has come because it’s much harder to get families a roof over their heads now than it was a year or two ago.”

Families can apply for a voucher that will allow them to stay in the shelter for a few more months.

“We’re fortunate to have a 40-bed shelter here in Pittsfield. It wasn’t always that way,” Forbush said. “But the need is greater than 40.”

The committee also discussed the coming winter and homelessness.

Dodds noted that ServiceNet’s temporary shelter at the former St. Joseph’s High School has the capacity to expand to accommodate more people, but that may not be possible at the new location on Pearl St.

More than 40 apartments for the “exceptionally poor” are under construction and will not be ready before winter.

Dodds suggested considering ways to provide more flexibility for temporary, emergency shelter needs.

“We’re going to try our best to advocate for some flexibility in how we interpret things. We’re going to try our best to advocate for funding and we’re going to do everything we can to really help our most vulnerable members of the community stay safe this winter,” she said.

Forbush added that “we don’t always think about families every winter, and we usually don’t because there’s a different system in place.”

“And now we have to add to that,” she explained. “Even families who qualify may not have a place.”

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