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Advocates urge more supportive housing and easier access to prevention funds as evictions rise
Summary
Supportive‑housing advocates, shelter providers and legal services told the Joint Committee on Housing the state should increase funding for supportive housing, expand RAFT and MRVP access, and make eviction‑prevention assistance more accessible to avert homelessness.
Supportive‑housing providers, homelessness‑service advocates and legal aid described increases in visible homelessness and urged the Joint Committee on Housing to expand operating and service dollars alongside capital investments.
Joyce Tavon, chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (testimony used the organization name Mahasa), said chronic homelessness and the number of adults living on the streets have grown and that the state should “add and preserve supportive housing” and double the current inventory of supportive units from an estimated 9,500 units. She told lawmakers the Affordable Homes Act includes a flexible supportive housing pool but that the next step is funding that pool and coordinating capital, operating and services.
Chris Norris, executive director of Metro Housing Boston, described Homebase and RAFT as cost‑effective alternatives to shelter but said demand remains elevated. He said RAFT distribution during the pandemic prevented evictions for many households and that Metro Housing is still receiving hundreds of applications per week. Norris emphasized that vouchers and MRVP have kept families stably housed but noted wait lists are long and some programs have been frozen.
Hed Ehrlich, managing attorney for the Greater Boston Legal Services housing unit, urged permanent access to counsel in eviction cases, describing a case his office resolved where a family with a Section 8 voucher lost subsidy because of administrative error and would have lost their home if legal help had not intervened. Ehrlich said only about 1 in 20 tenants in eviction cases now has legal representation and that access to counsel helps keep families housed and landlords paid.
Witnesses asked the committee to fund a statewide supportive‑housing strategy (House bill 1552 / Senate 991 referenced in testimony) that would coordinate housing, human services and data across agencies, and to extend or preserve Medicaid 1115 waiver supports that pay tenancy‑support services. They also urged lawmakers to expand or codify RAFT and the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, and to fund eviction prevention services, legal assistance and diversion programs to reduce shelter entries.
The hearing included no committee votes; the session was for testimony and questions.
