Massachusetts spending on the emergency shelter system housing migrant families and local residents has crossed the $700 million threshold, according to data released Monday.
Government budget writers have projected the state will shell out approximately $932 million on the emergency shelter system in fiscal year 2024 and another $915 million in fiscal year 2025, which began on Monday. The massive costs were spurred by an influx of migrants over the past year.
Gov. Maura Healey’s finance and housing offices said the state had spent $715 million on the emergency shelter program as of June 27, though the figure is largely representative of costs through mid-March.
“March invoices are currently being received and processed,” the report said.
Advertisement
As migrants arrived in droves to Massachusetts, the state turned to a network of hotels and motels to increase state-run shelter capacity for families with children and pregnant women. Housing people in those locations can often prove costly, sometimes running $300 a night.
Healey over the past year has approved restrictions on the shelter system, including a nine-month time limit on families’ stay, a 7,500 family cap, a monthly requirement for people in overflow sites to reapply for services, and just last week a prohibition on sleeping overnight at Logan Airport.
At an unrelated event in Lowell Tuesday, Healey said while the state is required to provide families with children and pregnant women with shelter, there is only so much room.
“It’s why I took action this fall to announce the cap and to establish a waiver,” she told reporters. “My position has been, we simply cannot shoulder this. It’s why I also demanded time and time again that Congress step up and act and provide relief to the state.”
Boston, Worcester, Springfield, and Lynn are playing host to the most families in shelters, hotels, and motels of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, according to the report.
Advertisement
About $210 million, or one third of the total money spent, has been paid to shelter providers who run traditional locations as well as the hotels, motels, and overflow sites, according to the report.
Another $24 million has gone to municipalities to help alleviate costs associated with an increased number of students from shelters, the report said. The state has also spent $2.7 million for “additional educational supports” like student transportation and multilingual faculty.
After Healey put a capacity limit on the emergency shelter system, those who applied for services were directed to overflow sites, including at state-owned facilities in Lexington, Roxbury, Chelsea, Cambridge, and Norfolk.
The locations were oftentimes unsuited to house families immediately and the state had to spend money to upgrade the sites. The report released Monday shows officials have spent $1.1 million to make “life safety improvements” at overflow sites.
There were 7,463 families in the emergency shelter system, another 417 at overflow sites, and 699 on the waitlist for placement as of June 27, according to state data and the report.
Advertisement
A separate report released Monday provides an update on an effort to move 400 migrant families out of state-run shelters and into stable housing by the end of the year.
Healey and the state’s eight resettlement agencies inked $10.5 million worth of contracts to stand up the program, which takes a well-known resettlement strategy used at the federal level with humanitarian parolees from Afghanistan and Ukraine and applies it to those in local emergency shelters.
Ascentria Care Alliance committed to helping 75 families in the Worcester and Greater Springfield area move into long-term housing and is expected to receive $1.5 million to do so, the most of the eight organizations, according to the report.
Five other groups contracted to help 50 families and are in line to receive $1 million while Jewish Family Service of Metrowest agreed to assist 25 families and is expected to receive $500,000 to do so, the report said.
Gov. Maura Healey (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald, File)
Up the road from Gillette Stadium, a town neighboring Foxboro is pressing for funding to meet public safety demands arising from the World Cup, with the first match just over a month away.
Walpole’s state delegation has written a letter to the state Office of Travel and Tourism requesting approval of the town’s request for nearly $200,000 to support “essential public safety personnel,” as officials expect “significant spillover impacts” from the premier soccer tournament.
As the Walpole/Foxboro town line on Route 1 is a handful of miles north of Gillette Stadium, officials are expecting increased traffic congestion and pedestrian activity to amount to “heightened public safety demands.”
“As outlined in the Town’s proposal,” the state delegation wrote in the letter it sent to the state last week, “Walpole will play a critical role in ensuring safe and efficient operations for both residents and visitors.”
Advertisement
“This funding will help close a critical gap and ensure that Walpole can safely support this internationally significant event,” the delegation added.
The state Office of Travel and Tourism confirmed to the Herald that it received the letter from state Reps. John H. Rogers, Paul McMurtry, Ted Philips and Marcus Vaughn and Sen. Mike Rush. The office said it will announce decisions in the coming weeks about round two of the $2 million grant program that supports municipal public safety needs tied to the World Cup.
The first round of the program, a $10 million competitive initiative, awarded funding earlier this year to 17 communities to support tournament-related events, including fan festivals, watch parties and regional activations.
This comes after the Foxboro Select Board battled the Boston Soccer 2026 nonprofit host committee and Kraft Sports & Entertainment, which operates Gillette Stadium, for months to ensure it received full funding to cover all security personnel and equipment.
In mid-March, the David vs. Goliath fight concluded, with Boston Soccer 2026 and the Krafts agreeing to cover Foxboro’s $7.8 million request.
Advertisement
Gillette, which will be rebranded as “Boston Stadium,” is set to host seven matches – five in the group stage and two knockout games – between June 13 and July 9. The World Cup is considered a SEAR 1 event, the highest risk level for public gatherings in the country.
“These matches will bring an excitement that this town has never seen,” Foxboro Police Chief Michael Grace said before the Select Board voted to grant an entertainment license for the matches to go on.
Gillette Stadium. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)
No other city in the country boasts more championships than Boston, giving Massachusetts a sporting pedigree unlike any other.
What’s unique about many of the state is that several of the stars from those championship-winning teams were Massachusetts natives.
Before they were winning the Stanley Cup, the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, World Series or a gold medal, those athletes were high school standouts.
Which high schools in Massachusetts are considered the best for athletes today?
Advertisement
According to a study conducted by Niche, which accounts for survey feedback from students and parents—accounting for “reviews of athletics, number of state championships, student participation in athletics, and the number of sports offered at the school”—and data from the U.S. Department of Education, these are the top 25.
BOSTON (WHDH) – It was a powerful moment on Friday during the annual Law-Enforcement Memorial Ceremony at the State House, as the ceremony remembered those lost in the line of duty, including State Trooper Kevin Trainor.
Trainor was killed in a wrong-way crash this week. Trainor’s family was in attendance.
“We’re here today with the Trainor family as another tragedy and agonizing time in policing has found us,” Larry Calderone, Boston Police Union President, said.
The day brought a moment to pause and remember the 30-year-old who is being hailed a hero after he was struck and killed Wednesday morning on Route 1 in Lynnfield.
Advertisement
“We’ve lost a brother,” Massachusetts State Police Col. Geoffrey Noble said.
The fallen trooper’s fiancée spoke out for the first time since losing the love of her life. She posted to social media, “I am beyond proud of the amount of love you have been given by those who loved and cared about you shows us who you really were, a friend, a partner, a brother, a son, and a hero. You weren’t just a hero to me but a hero to all.”
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Join our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox
