Homelessness Gotcha

For John, BLUF:  Maybe we should invite her to talk about it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Advocates hope to ease eligibility for Massachusetts emergency homeless shelters

This is from MassLive, Reporter Shira Schoenberg, 22 August 2017.

Here is the lede plus four:

For a family in Massachusetts to get into an emergency shelter, in many cases they must first spend a night in a car, emergency room, bus station or another place "not meant for human habitation."

"It shocks me to say it out loud," said State Rep. Marjorie Decker, D-Cambridge.  "This is no way for government to even think about dealing with homelessness."

Decker is the primary sponsor of a bill that would change the regulation, which today limits eligibility for emergency shelter to families who have already spent a night homeless.

There are other ways a family can enter a shelter -- for example, if they were a victim of domestic violence, were evicted or suffered a natural disaster.  But for a family to qualify under a rule meant to prevent children from living in unsafe situations, they must have spent a night in an unsafe place.

Decker and other advocates for homeless families say the current policy is inhumane, since it forces families to spend a night in a car or emergency room before they can get into a shelter.  Advocates are pushing for a bill, H.659, that would let families into state-funded shelters if they have no other feasible housing alternative, even if they have not spent a night in an unsafe place.  The families would still have to meet all the other requirements, such as income eligibility.

Human beings living in places, even for one night, not fit for human habitation, so they are qualified for suitable shelter seems a bureaucrat SNAFU.  We can do better.

Hat tip to the MassLive.

Regards  —  Cliff