SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1822        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 725

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Linda Dorcena Forry

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to interagency efforts to reduce and prevent homelessness.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1822        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 725

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act relative to interagency efforts to reduce and prevent homelessness.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  The executive office of housing and economic development, the executive office of health and human services, the executive office of labor and workforce development, the executive office of education, and the office of administration and finance shall develop and execute a memorandum of understanding to be known as the housing stability and economic mobility memorandum of understanding. The memorandum of understanding shall establish monthly meetings of the secretaries of each executive office and include a report within 6 months of the filing of the memorandum of understanding, and every sixth month following, with the following information: the total number of housing units affordable to extremely low income households needed in the Commonwealth and the net increase of units towards that benchmark; programs administered through all state agencies that serve households below 30% of the area median income; the total dollar amount administered by each agency relative to homelessness prevention, services and activities; programs that can be supplemented with federal funding; differences and gaps in program eligibility between identified programs and strategies for ensuring families receive and maintain services and benefits for which they are eligible; caseload, demographic, and utilization data for relative programs; and a plan with set timelines for coordination across agencies to provide, subject to appropriation, access to programs, services, and benefits for households with incomes below 30% of the area median income and recommendations for legislative and regulatory changes to implement the plan.

The memorandum of understanding shall include the creation of cross-agency teams of senior, managerial, and front-line staff of each department for the purposes of, but not limited to: training, developing interagency protocols, policy reforms, minimizing service gaps and duplication or services, cross agency cost analysis, and developing coordinated systems of care.

The memorandum of understanding shall include a mechanism for ongoing stakeholder involvement, including consumers, service providers, and advocates.

The memorandum of understanding and reports shall be filed with the governor, the lieutenant governor, the joint committee on housing, the join committee on children, families, and persons with disabilities, the joint committee on labor and workforce development, the joint committee on education, and the house and senate committees on ways and means within nine months of the passage of this bill.

The memorandum shall facilitate coordination in the delivery of services to households with incomes below 30% of the area median income to support housing stability and economic mobility.