State places homeless families in unstaffed sites, raising safety concerns (WBUR)
Below is an excerpt from an August 21 article published by WBUR expressing concern for homeless populations at unstaffed shelter sites throughout the state. Greater Boston Legal Services’ (GBLS) Senior Paralegal Adam Hoole is quoted.
More than 10% of the households in Massachusetts’ family shelter system are now in hotels and motels without the usual support staff and services. As of Sunday, 638 families were in these unstaffed units, raising concerns among advocacy groups about health and safety for those families.
The unstaffed units, which are meant to be temporary, are part of an effort to respond to increasing family homelessness. While the state does work to provide food or cooking facilities, many families in unstaffed units do not have access to translation, transportation and case management, among other services.
Adam Hoole, a senior paralegal at Greater Boston Legal Services, said he gets calls several times a week about problems at unstaffed shelter units.
“I had an organization call me about two weeks ago, and at that time, they were telling me about 10 families that had no access to food,” he said.
Read more at WBUR.
