For the operations of the homeless shelter and services unit, including the compensation of caseworkers and support personnel; provided, that not later than 90 days following the effective date of this act, the executive office of housing and livable communities, in consultation with family homelessness service providers, advocates, the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities and the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on housing, shall create a plan to divert families from emergency assistance shelter including, but not limited to, reducing barriers to the residential assistance for families in transition program and the HomeBASE household assistance and other shelter diversion programs; provided further, that the plan shall include, but not be limited to: (i) programmatic and fiscal information on the most effective and cost--effective state programs and investments for the prevention of family homelessness; (ii) various benefit levels and eligibility criteria for the commonwealth's shelter diversion and prevention programs and how said criteria impact housing stability; (iii) an evaluation of changes to the benefit levels and eligibility criteria for the commonwealth's shelter diversion and prevention programs including, but not limited to: (a) establishing alternative criteria for the residential assistance for families in transition program that shall be in lieu of requiring the notice to quit or summary process summons and complaint; and (b) removing the requirement of emergency assistance eligibility established in
section 30 of chapter 23B of the General Laws for the HomeBASE household assistance program; (iv) a detailed cost analysis of the changes evaluated in clause (iii), including the projected savings to the emergency assistance shelter program from providing increased access to homelessness prevention and diversion programs, which shall include data on the rate at which families are denied residential assistance for families in transition and within 6 months enter the emergency shelter system and shall consider regional differences in the costs of housing; and (v) proposed legislative or regulatory recommendations on new or existing programs to prevent or divert homelessness and the projected cost or savings of such recommendations; provided further, that the plan shall be submitted to the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on housing and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities; and provided further, that the executive office of housing and livable communities shall take steps to extend intake hours for families seeking assistance from item 7004--0101
