Number of migrants in Mass. shelters dropping steadily, but reasons are varied

The number of families in emergency shelters in Massachusetts is decreasing, and those families are increasingly from Massachusetts households — rather than migrant families — according to state data that shows a significant drop between July 2024 and April 2025. 

In July 2024, more than 7,600 households were in emergency shelters, the Boston Herald reported, significantly higher than the 5,388 households in shelters in July 2023 and the 3,181 households in shelters in July 2022. As of April 10, that number is down to 5,026 families, according to state data.

That change is in part the result of policy changes made by Gov. Maura Healey last year, including a nine-month limit on shelter stays and a two-track system introduced in November that put families on either a “rapid shelter” track, offering 30-day stays, or “bridge” track, that gives “high-risk families” six months. 

Kelly Turley, associate director of Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, told the Herald the decision to create two tracks had a major impact. 

“In December, when they launched that two-track system, it was that the state was deciding for families which track they were on, and except in very limited situations, families couldn’t switch tracks, so the majority of families aren’t deemed to have a priority,” Turley said, adding that the number of families in shelters decreasing does not necessarily mean there is “a decrease in family homelessness or a decreased need for shelter.”

Healey’s changes aside, Republican Sen. Ryan Fattman pointed to the Trump administration’s recent crackdown on immigration as part of the trend. 

“It’s a system that became overwhelmed because of inaction, and now certain things are starting to be put in place. But at the same time, the federal policy has changed completely,” Fattman said to the Herald. “So yeah, no duh, the numbers are going down.” 

Families having to exit the system quickly means they need places to go. 

The Office of Housing and Livable Communities reported 717 families leaving the emergency shelter system this past January compared with 213 in January 2024, and families are moving out into “permanent housing across the commonwealth,” Danielle Ferrier, CEO of shelter provider Heading Home, told WGBH.

That’s thanks in large part to HomeBASE, a tax-payer funded system that helps eligible households find apartments and cover upfront fees.

Of 153 families Heading Home has helped leave shelters since July 1, 2024, 124 used HomeBASE. Jeffrey Thielman, CEO of International Institute of New England, which has a state contract to get a group of families into longer-term housing, told WGBH the “number-one factor” is telling a family they have limited time in the shelter. 

“That is the one thing that motivates people the most, it seems,” Thielman said.