A majority of hotel shelters for migrants and local homeless families in Massachusetts will be closed by the end of Monday — a move state officials credit to declining caseloads, one that a watchdog called a “gimmick.”

The Healey administration is expected to shutter 28 sites at the beginning of the week, while the remaining four are slated to stay open through the end of July, officials have confirmed. That will put pressure on advocacy groups working to relocate families who are without housing, the Boston Globe first reported.

Gov. Maura Healey has spent nearly $830 million on the emergency shelter system this fiscal year. Some critics fear that the state’s plan, which they say lacks important details, will prompt costs to skyrocket even more for taxpayers.

The emergency assistance program, exceeding $1.3 billion since the start of fiscal year 2024, has caused a heavy strain on taxpayers since 2022, when then-Gov. Charlie Baker converted some hotels into shelters to accommodate the growing need amid the influx of migrants.

Fiscal year 2025 also ends on Monday.

At the peak of the crisis, nearly 130 hotels operated as shelters, serving 7,500 families and more than 23,000 people in total. The Healey administration projected the caseload to drop below 4,000 families this summer, prompting the closure of all remaining 32 shelters six months ahead of schedule.

“Providers and on-site case managers have been working closely with all impacted families to help them identify secure housing before the closing date,” the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities told the Herald on Sunday.

Some Bay Staters are calling for more concrete details on the closures and the steps ahead.

“This move does not solve the crisis,” Jon Fetherston, a former emergency shelter director, told the Herald. “It will only drive up costs for taxpayers, worsen the housing market for working families by pushing up rents, and still offers zero transparency on who is being moved into our neighborhoods.”

Healey credits the declining hotel shelter caseload to a series of reforms her administration has made to the system. A couple of updates included requiring proof of Massachusetts residency and that all family members have lawful immigration status.

“A hotel is no place to raise a family,” Healey said in a statement in May, “and they are the least cost-effective.”

The Healey administration has said that because of the reforms, roughly 85 to 90% of families seeking temporary housing are “now longtime Massachusetts families.”

As hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent on emergency assistance, Healey has also dumped nearly $100 million toward HomeBase, a program that provides eligible families in the state-run shelter system with $30,000 over two years, and the possibility of a third year.

Housing Secretary Ed Augustus has said the administration will be pausing all approvals for the third year of HomeBase support starting Tuesday, allowing his office to focus on the most families relative to limited resources, the Herald reported last week.

The pause comes as the program’s total caseload increased dramatically between 2023 and 2025, surging from 1,473 families in January 2023, when Healey took office, to 9,059 families as of the end of June, according to state data. Some 5,154 are receiving rental assistance.

Paul Diego Craney, spokesman for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, said he expects HomeBase will absorb the families moving out of the hotel shelters.

“The governor is still expecting Massachusetts taxpayers to fund the bill for their housing,” he said. “It’s just a new gimmick.”

Augustus says officials also plan to implement “more consistent annual income checks” to ensure families remain eligible for HomeBase and “modernize” data collection to gain a better understanding of how people are leaving the program and target services that better help families.

Though most hotel shelters will be closing on Monday, Fetherston is still calling for the Department of Justice to conduct a federal probe into the system he describes as “dangerous and corrupt.”

Fetherston sprang into the national spotlight after blowing the whistle on the system when he highlighted incident reports alleging domestic abuse and child sexual assault inside the Marlboro shelter he managed.

Fetherston is not buying an argument from the Healey administration that it included criminal background checks on all shelter residents in its series of reforms earlier this year.

“None of the migrants have been properly vetted,” Fetherston said. “Communities across Massachusetts have been kept in the dark while Healey continues to gaslight the public, refusing to give honest answers about the scope, cost, and consequences of her policies.”

A 65-year-old man is dead, and a suspect has been detained in what authorities are calling a domestic stabbing in Middleborough, Massachusetts, on Saturday.

Massachusetts State Police and Middleborough police are investigating the fatal incident in the area of Fairview Street, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.

The male victim was taken to Morton Hospital where he was pronounced dead. His name has not been released at this time.

Middleborough police said on Facebook that they had issued an alert via Reverse 911 and later canceled it after a suspect was taken into custody.

“There is no threat to the public at this time,” police wrote.

The district attorney’s office said the suspect is being questioned, but their name was not shared, and there was no mention of a motive.

NBC10 Boston reached out to state police, who deferred to the DA’s office.

No other details were immediately available. An investigation is active and ongoing.

The Nonantum community in Newton, Massachusetts is seeing red because for 90 years, the red, white, and green lines painted on Adams Street have been a symbol of Italian heritage. 

But now they say the City of Newton crossed the line, painting over the Italian lines without warning. 

Neighbors surprised, upset

“Everybody is pissed off, it’s terrible,” said Jim Donovan, owner of Pressed Café Newton. “People have kind of been up in arms here today; there’s been a lot of people on the street being very vocal.” 

“It’s upsetting,” said Adams Street resident Paul Lupo. 

“What’s going on?” asked neighbor Margie Magraw. 

It’s just three weeks before the St. Mary of Carmen Society Italian Festival and parade. Society Chairman Chuck Proia says even they weren’t given notice. 

“In the last seven years there’s been nothing that the city has told us they had a problem with, why now?” said Proia. “We had no idea that was going to happen last night, as a matter of fact I was working as a firefighter last night for the City of Newton, and I had no idea at all.” 

Mayor cites safety reasons

But Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller says by state and federal law the yellow center lines must be on Adams Street for safety reasons because of its traffic volume and width, adding she’s been communicating with the group for months. 

“What we’re doing is marrying public safety and tradition,” said Mayor Fuller. “What we let them know for quite a few months now is that we’re going to have public safety with yellow center lines and also simultaneously allow the festival volunteers to paint the green, white and red of the Italian flag colors next to the yellow lines.” 

Again, volunteers say they didn’t know about that plan to paint the flag colors next to the yellow center lines. 

“I hope she’s going to do it for us then, if that’s the case, have her come down, take these yellow lines out and put the red, white and green back,” said Proia. 

It’s clear Italian pride is on full display in this community and neighbors can’t help but feel their heritage is being chipped away. 

“Newton is very proud of its Italian community, truly it’s a long-standing community,” said Magraw. 

“It’s a big deal for our community it really is,” said Lupo.