Gov. Maura Healey’s administration has spent nearly $830 million this fiscal year on the state-run emergency shelter system housing local families and a declining number of migrants from outside of Massachusetts, according to a report released Monday.
The latest data for the emergency assistance program was released as state housing officials are still pushing to close the remaining hotels and motels serving as shelters, and as immigration enforcement has become a flashpoint under President Donald Trump.
Roughly 90% of eligible emergency assistance shelter applicants are “Massachusetts residents,” a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities said in a statement to the Herald.
“Because of the reforms implemented by Gov. Healey, the cost and size of the emergency assistance shelter system is down. We are on track to close all hotel shelters this summer — six months ahead of schedule,” the spokesperson said.
The Healey administration has spent $679 million on “direct shelter costs” in fiscal year 2025 and another $149 million on services like HomeBase, National Guard payroll, education supports, and work programs, the report said.
Massachusetts taxpayers are shelling out an average of $3,496 a week for each family in the emergency shelter system, a decades-old program that was created to provide immediate, temporary housing to pregnant women and families with children, according to the report.
The two Republicans looking to challenge Healey in next year’s race for governor slammed the incumbent for her handling of the shelter system, which experienced a surge in demand amid an influx of migrants in 2023 and 2024 but has seen declining caseloads since the start of 2025.
Brian Shortsleeve, a venture capitalist and former MBTA official who is running for governor as a Republican, said despite “many promises” from Healey, the state is still on track to spend $1 billion on the emergency assistance program this fiscal year.
“She has taken no corrective action since the auditor’s report went public. She has abandoned the hard-working taxpayers for the illegal immigrants. This warped sense of justice is bankrupting our state and driving taxpayers and businesses away, and it will end when I am governor,” Shortsleeve said in a statement to the Herald.
The 52-year-old Barnstable resident pointed to a report released earlier this year by Auditor Diana DiZoglio that accused the Healey administration of approving “improper and unlawful” no-bid contracts for shelter services.
Healey has pushed back against the claim and previously said she was unlikely to make changes to the emergency shelter program based on DiZoglio’s findings.
The latest shelter spending figures were released weeks before fiscal year 2025 ends on July 1, and as budget-writers still expect the total spend for the past 12 months to surpass $1 billion despite the approval of legislative and administrative restrictions on access to the program.
Healey and Democratic lawmakers on Beacon Hill signed off on a six-month length of stay limit for families in shelters, rules blocking out anyone who is not lawfully present in the United States, and a 4,000-family cap on the system starting at the end of December.
The spokesperson for the state’s housing did not say how much the Healey administration expects to save because of the new policies.
“We are continuing to assess the full cost impacts of these reforms,” the spokesperson said.
The Healey administration spent $894 million on the emergency housing assistance program in fiscal year 2024, a figure that was less than the original projection of $932 million for that 12-month period.
There were 4,088 families in shelters as of June 12, including 3,340 in traditional shelters, 608 in hotels and motels, and 140 in “rapid shelters,” or locations that only offer 30-day stays, according to state data.
State officials said 1,599 individuals of the 4,088 families in the shelter system are employed.
Boston tops all other cities and towns in Massachusetts for the most families in state-run shelters, with 1,134 residing in locations scattered throughout the hub, state data showed.
Top expenditures this fiscal year include $614 million to pay for shelter sites, $97 million to fund the housing assistance program known as HomeBase, $58 million for overflow shelters and clinical assessment sites, and $17 million for educational aid to cities and towns, according to the report released Monday.
The Healey administration has also shelled out $9.9 million to National Guard troops servicing shelters, $6.9 million for “shelter support services,” $5.2 million for “public and mental health services,” and $4.7 million for “new arrival supports,” the report said.
Mike Kennealy, a Republican running for governor who served as housing and economic development secretary under Baker, said taxpayers are “being forced to bankroll billions to an unaccountable, broken system that perpetuates the migrant crisis—and we’re fed up.”
“The middle class is carrying this state on its back, and getting nothing in return,” he said in a statement to the Herald. “While families are struggling to afford everyday necessities, the state is shelling out $15,166 per family per month. It’s not just insane — it’s offensive and a betrayal of the taxpayer.”
Nancy Lane/Boston Herald
Gov. Maura Healey (Herald file)