Housing, Not Shelters, to Abate Homelessness

A Massachusetts state report urges the governor to shift the state's efforts from funding homeless shelters to producing more permanent, affordable housing and providing programs to prevent evictions. In particular, the report urges the governor "to provide emergency-assistance dollars to temporarily subsidize housing, develop an early warning system to prevent evictions, and pay landlords directly from a tenant's welfare checks to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place." However, the report provides few details as to how the state should address these goals, leaving some to worry that siphoning money into housing will leave little for much-needed shelters.

Thanks to Connie Chung