SECTION 1. Section 3 of chapter 121H of the General Laws, as established in section 44 of chapter 150 of the Acts of 2024, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- “The executive office may expend funds to support efforts by the interagency housing and homelessness external advisory council to create and expand supportive housing units.”              SECTION 2. (a) A working group of the interagency housing and homelessness external advisory council  shall be established and charged with examining and preparing report on the following objectives: (1) development of strategic and financial plans to guide the commonwealth’s creation of a pipeline of supportive housing and to increase supportive housing units by at least 2000 units; (2) identification of opportunities to combine resources from state agencies and the supportive housing pool fund under chapter 121H; (3) best practices to identify and prioritize households experiencing chronic homelessness or with complex needs that prevent them from maintaining housing independently; (4) ensuring regional coordination with local homelessness system Continuums of Care to align and match housing and services, including geographically equitable access options; (5) personnel resources and other infrastructure needed to sufficiently staff access and coordination; (6) identification of Medicaid housing benefits and service options that may be leveraged for case management services and housing stability supports services; (8) strategies to develop child care subsidies and supports, behavioral health and other vital services to support families experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness; (9) increasing access to medicaid housing benefits and community-based behavioral health services for families living in supportive housing units; and (10) a potential action plan to coordinate the procurement and availability of community-based supportive services, capital subsidies and operating subsidies for new and existing housing available to residents with very low and extremely low-incomes, as those terms are defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in 24 C.F.R. § 5.603.

(b) The working group shall consist of at least 8 members, including the secretary of the executive office of housing and livable communities or designee, who shall serve as chair, the secretary of the executive office of health and human services or designee, the commissioner of the department of mental health or designee, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on housing or their designees, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities or their designees; and 1 representative from the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance. The chair may appoint additional members to provide the expertise needed to fulfil the duties under subsection a.

(c) The report under subsection a shall be submitted to the clerks of the house of representatives, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on housing and the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities no later than December 31, 2027.