1. Massachusetts Motel-Shelter Service Proposal- February 22, 2016
Dear Governor Baker Administration,
I am contacting you directly to present a detailed service proposal for homeless families
living in motel-shelters. The enclosed plan consists of different phases which will involve
placing direct wrap-around support services into motels as well asa long-term plan to end
the use of motels as shelters. This is an issue that I have been passionate about for many
years given that I have served in the field and have been witness to how children are
suffering in these conditions.
The experience that I have obtained has allowed me to facilitate Temporary Rental
Assistance and Shelter Programs, managing Homeless Prevention Funding Networks, as
well asserving in Workforce Development as an Employment Specialist and Career
Navigator to help homeless clients secure living wage jobs.
Your administration has reported that Governor Baker plans to end the use of motels as
shelters before the end of his term. The state auditor reported that tens of millions of dollars
continue to be spent on the use of motels as shelters with estimated costs at $40 million
annually.
Homeless familiesand children being placed into motel-shelters are left in rooms that are in
deplorable conditions and often have no cooking facilities leaving them unable to prepare
healthy meals for their children. Many of these motels are also located alongside busy
highways with limited access to public transportation. This is preventing homeless families
from being able to get to medical appointments, jobs or even grocery stores.
In 2013, after I discovered bad motel conditions and familiesthat had been abandoned there
for months and years, I moved forward to implement a new motel-shelter initiative proposal
that would have allowed me to pilot a program to get better support services for familiesin
motels. I petitioned DHCD to allow me to move my office directly into one of our largest area
motels that was sheltering almost 100 homeless families.
In that proposal, I also requested an on-site Employment Specialist, and a part time Financial
Literacy Counselor as well as transportation services to the local medical centers. I drew up
plans to work with our Massachusetts One Stop Career Centers to provide transportation to
jobs for familiestrapped in the Route 1 motels through the Ride to Work Program. Then
DHCD representatives suddenly opted not to move forward with my proposal. Ultimately after
I notified the Patrick administration about motel conditions and homeless familiesthat had
essentially been abandoned there, case managers were then given authorization to work on-
site in many of the area motels. Unfortunately it did not accompany the other support
services that families needed to move out of the motels.
Meanwhile motel numberscontinue to climb and reports are still being made that families are
living in terrible conditions and are still not getting services they desperately need to secure

2. permanent housing. We are also receiving information that $40 million dollars last year may
have been spent on these motel-shelters while homeless familiesand children are still living
like this.
For example, I wanted to present one specific case involving a North Shore Motel that is
being utilized by DHCD as a family shelter and rents out 24-25 rooms on an ongoing basis.
Most of the rooms are in deplorable condition and have mold and bed bugs. This motel is not
equip with cooking facilities and it is located on a major highway. Now if we use the lowest
possible cost to calculate how much they are receiving per family, per room from DHCD, it
would equate to approximately $2,400 a room per month. That would mean that the state is
paying the owners of one run-down motel over $57,600 per month and $691,200 annually to
house just 24 homeless families and children in bad conditions with no services or a way to
properly prepare or cook food. After carefully examining those facts and financial figures,
most political leadersand the general public would agree that it is not a sensible solution to
continue operating in this manner.
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Below I have composed both sample phases of my plan. This would require adding the
necessary support services to help familiesexit motels more rapidly as well asmoving
forward to discontinue the use of motels as shelters.
Please Note: First Course of Action Proposed-DHCD must immediately send health
inspectors into in every motel-room being utilized as a shelter to identify serious issues.
Motel-owners must be forced to bring all rooms up to code and address health and safety
concerns such as bed bugs and mold. They must be forced to hire licensed exterminators
and replace mattresses/furniture where bugs are present. Motel owners will comply since
they are receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue being generated from this
financial arrangement that they would have difficulty obtaining otherwise from regular motel
customers.
PHASE I
The first phase of the proposal will implement the wrap-around support services in every
motel being utilized to shelter familiesacross Massachusetts. Additionally it will reintroduce
the Flex Fund Temporary Rental Assistance Program for familiessuffering from serious
disabilities. This will allow them to immediately move out of motels and into market rate units
which will be more cost effect and appropriate for the disabled than placing them into one
small motel room totaling $2,400 monthly. Especially for persons with mobility issues and
children and adults requiring specialized diets that need cooking facilities.
It will also allow:
 An onsite Employment Specialist in every motel-shelter that will work with families to make
them marketable to employers and provide job development assistance as well as
recruiting businesses to hire clients
 Providing access to domestic violence counselors that will work directly in motels
 Hiring Part Time Financial Literacy Case Managers

3.  Contracting for transportation services for clients living in motels located on highways so
that they can access jobs and critical appointments
PHASE II
This second phase of the proposal will be more involved. It will require leasing or purchasing
apartment buildings across the state to be utilized as apartment model-based shelters. This
will still be more cost effective than paying over $2,400 monthly to rent individual motel
rooms. This apartment-model based shelter concept has been implemented in different areas
throughout the country including parts of Massachusetts. Moving towards idea this will allow
us to begin to abolish the use of motels as shelters while providing familiesintensive case
management services for 3-12 months. Utilizing an apartment model based shelter concept
would not only allow them to have access to cooking facilities and healthy living conditions
but homeless familieswould also be able to reside in regular residential neighborhoods
where they could access public transportation to get to jobs, appointments, grocery stores
and schools for their children
It would also allow:
 Office space for on-site service providers including full time case managers.
 The state to contract with employment and training vendors to help familiessecure living
wage jobs as well asenrolling in short term training programs such as EMT Courses, CNA
certificates, Real Estate Licensing and building trades programs.
 Rapid re-housing specialists will be implemented and able to work directly with all families
placed into shelter
 Disability advocates will be available to assist families with securing needed benefits and
specialized housing accommodations
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Additional Notes
 The Flex Fund Temporary Rental Assistance Program allowed homeless familiesin shelter
to receive a temporary subsidy. It was issued in 6-12 month increments and clients paid
30% of their income to rent. This was an effective rapid re-housing program that allowed
clients to exit shelter and have ongoing access to a case manager for stabilization services
until they secured permanent housing.
 The Secure Jobs Program which would have allowed familiesin motel-shelters to receive
access to Employment Specialists has not been implemented effectively. The North Shore
region does not have any access to Secure Jobs Services despite having some of the
highest numbers of homeless familiesstatewide. Secure Jobs Contractors in Boston have
not taken the proper initiative or action to enter any of motel-shelters in the Allston-
Brighton area. This has resulted in hundreds of homeless families in Boston not having
the ability to access the critical assistance they need to secure full-time employment.
It is my hope that you will give strong consideration to moving forward with this proposal for
services. Please don’t hesitate to contact me directly with questions. I can be reached at

4. Respectfully,
Kristen Smith