7004-0108 HomeBASE

For a program of short-term housing assistance to help families eligible for temporary emergency shelter under item 7004-0101 in addressing obstacles to maintaining or securing housing; provided, that the assistance provided under this item shall include not less than 12 months of housing stabilization and economic self-sufficiency case management services for each family receiving benefits; provided further, that a family shall not receive more than a combined sum of $10,000 in a 12-month period from this item and item 7004-9316; provided further, that so long as they meet the requirements of their housing stabilization plan, a family that received household assistance pursuant to this item whose income exceeds 50 per cent of area median income shall not become ineligible for assistance due to exceeding the income limit for a period of 6 months from the date that the 50 per cent level was exceeded; provided further, that the department shall take all steps necessary to enforce regulations to prevent abuse in the short-term housing transition program, including a wage match agreement with the department of revenue; provided further, that a family that was terminated from the program or did not make a good faith effort to follow its housing stabilization plan during the term of its assistance shall be ineligible for benefits pursuant to item 7004-0101 and this item for 12 months from the last date the family received assistance pursuant to item 7004-0101 and this item, including housing stabilization and economic self-sufficiency case management services; provided further, that a family's housing stabilization plan shall adequately accommodate the ages and disabilities of the family members; provided further, that families receiving benefits under this program who are found ineligible for continuing benefits shall be eligible for aid pending a timely appeal pursuant to chapter 23B of the General Laws; provided further, that families who are denied assistance pursuant to this item may appeal that denial pursuant to said chapter 23B, including subsection (F) of section 30 of said chapter 23B and regulations adopted to implement said chapter 23B; provided further, that benefits under this item shall only be provided to residents of the commonwealth who are citizens of the United States or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing under color of the law in the United States; provided further, that the department, as a condition of continued eligibility for assistance pursuant to this program, may require disclosure of social security numbers by all members of a family receiving assistance hereunder for use in verification of income with other agencies, departments and executive offices; provided further, that if a family member fails to provide a social security number for use in verifying the family's income and eligibility, then the family shall no longer be eligible to receive benefits from this program; provided further, that the department shall administer this program through the following agencies unless administering agencies are otherwise procured by the department: the Berkshire Housing Development Corporation; Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, Inc.; Community Teamwork, Inc.; the Housing Assistance Corporation; the Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority; HAP, Inc.; Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, Inc.; the Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development; South Middlesex Opportunity Council, Inc.; Housing Solutions for Southeastern Massachusetts, Inc.; and RCAP Solutions, Inc.; provided further, that the department shall reallocate financing based on performance-based statistics from under-performing service providers to above average service providers in order to move as many families from hotels, motels or shelters into more sustainable housing; provided further, that the department shall use funds provided for this program for stabilization workers to focus efforts on housing retention, and link households to supports including job training, education, job search and childcare opportunities available and may enter into agreements with other public and private agencies for the provision of such services, and that a stabilization worker shall be assigned to each such household; provided further, that funds shall be used to more rapidly transition families served by the program into temporary or permanent sustainable housing; provided further, that this item shall be subject to appropriation and, in the event of a deficiency, nothing in this item shall give rise to or shall be construed as giving rise to any enforceable right or entitlement to services in excess of the amounts appropriated herein; provided further, that the department may expend not more than $300,000 under item 7004-0108 on families residing in temporary emergency shelters and family residential treatment or sober living programs under items 4512-0200 and 4513-1130, if such families otherwise meet all eligibility requirements applicable to emergency shelter under item 7004-0101, except that, solely for the purpose of this item, the fact that a family is residing in a temporary emergency domestic violence shelter under item 4513-1130 or in a family residential treatment or sober living program under item 4512-0200 shall not preclude such family from receiving assistance; provided further, that guidance shall be developed by the department in consultation with the department of public health to provide that any unit in such temporary emergency shelter or family residential treatment or sober living program vacated through use of funds under this program has an opportunity to be filled by a family that is (a) eligible both for emergency shelter under item 7004-0101 and for such domestic violence or family residential treatment or sober living program and (b) referred to such temporary emergency shelter or family residential treatment or sober living program by the department; and provided further, that household assistance funds shall be advanced to the administering agencies at the end of each month and before the next month's disbursement, the amount of which shall be estimated based on the prior month's expenditure with a reconciliation not less than annually