BOSTON – Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced Friday the official closure of all hotels used as emergency shelters for homeless families—months ahead of schedule. She also declared an end to the state of emergency she had enacted in August 2023, paving the way for a series of reforms that, according to her administration, have significantly reduced both the size and cost of the state’s emergency shelter system.
“When we came into office, families were being placed in hotels across the state, and some were staying for months or even years. There was no plan to reform the system to handle increased demand, protect taxpayer dollars, or help families move out of shelter. We can all agree that a hotel is no place to raise a family. So we took action,” Governor Healey said in an official statement.
She stated that these measures have allowed her administration to tangibly reduce the number of families in shelter. “Because of my reforms and our efforts to help families get jobs and stable housing, there are now fewer families in shelter than when we took office, and every hotel shelter is now closed – months ahead of schedule. We are saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and putting families on a path to self-sufficiency,” she added.
Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Augustus praised the work of frontline teams and service providers. “We are deeply grateful to the frontline teams whose extraordinary work is making a difference for families. The dedication of our shelter providers enabled thousands of families to access safe shelter and the support they needed at the moment they needed it most,” Augustus said. He also expressed appreciation for the local communities that supported the effort.
When the Healey-Driscoll administration took office in 2023, it inherited a dual challenge: an unprecedented rise in the number of families seeking emergency shelter and a system ill-equipped to manage such pressure. In response, Governor Healey declared a state of emergency and imposed a cap of 7,500 families in the shelter system that year. Without that cap, projections estimated the number of sheltered families would have reached 13,000 by summer 2024.
Governor Healey also worked with the state legislature to reform the “Right to Shelter” law. The new provisions include a six-month time limit on shelter stays, a requirement to prove Massachusetts residency, and a mandate that all family members have legal immigration status—with limited exceptions. Additional reforms included expanding job training, employment assistance, increased case management to support access to permanent housing, and mandatory CORI background checks for all adults entering the system.
According to the Healey administration, the reforms have already shown clear results. The number of families in shelter is now lower than in January 2023, when the administration took office. All hotel shelters were officially closed as of Thursday. Since the beginning of 2025, approximately 4,500 families have exited the system, while only 1,500 have newly entered. Additionally, between 85% and 90% of the families now seeking shelter are long-term Massachusetts residents.
Using hotels for emergency housing is not new in the state. In 2014, 1,500 families were placed in hotels due to a shortage of traditional shelter space. The previous administration resumed use of hotels in 2022 amid surging demand linked to the housing crisis, the lack of effective federal immigration policies, and an absence of safeguards to control the system’s growth, said Governor Healey.
In addition to hotels, two temporary shelters—the Rapid Shelter at the former Bay State Correctional Center in Norfolk and the facility in Chelsea—have also been closed.
The Healey administration stated that the adopted reforms will remain in place to ensure the long-term viability of the shelter system while safeguarding public finances.
“These reforms were essential to deliver a sustainable response to an emergency situation, while restoring hope and stability for thousands of vulnerable families,” the official statement concluded.
With this announcement, the Healey administration claims not only to have regained control of the state’s emergency shelter system, but also to have laid the groundwork for a more sustainable housing policy in the years ahead.
The closure of the program represents a significant setback for immigrant communities in Massachusetts, who relied heavily on it. While some newly arrived families were able to access temporary shelters last year, others—less fortunate—were forced to spend several weeks sleeping at Boston Logan Airport, a situation that drew sharp criticism of the governor, especially from Republican lawmakers in the state.
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