This is an collaborate project with Nicholas OMalley.

Boston– Emergency Shelter shortage – it’s been a problem for a while since November, 2023, while the state government uses transportation building(MTB) as a temporary solution for two weeks. Later in January this year, the Terminal E of Logan Airport was used as “de facto shelter” as well. Both of the locations are the overnight only shelter for the homeless families. And this temporary shelter has been kept until now.

Where are the Shelters located across the state?

The current families in the shelters are located in the state with significant locations around the Boston area. According to the bi-weekly report from the state, more than a half of families who currently stay in the state’s emergency shelter are located in the greater Boston Area.

Most of the families live in the eastern part of the state. The families on the west side of the state are mostly located around the Springfield neighborhoods. In the Greater  Boston area, the city of boston took nearly 20% of the total 7500 families across the state.

Days and Night in Shelters

The average days in shelter for families active in the emergency assistance system were a little bit declined around 10 days at the end of 2022 then the mid of 2022. The maximum days in shelter reached the top of 3097 days by the end of September of 2022, and it dropped to 2880 days at the end of 2022. That means the family who spent the most time in the shelters left the system someday in October after 8 and half years in.

The change of the maximum days in EA

The compare of the average days and maximum day  in EA

How much does it cost? 

In the second half of 2022, the average household cost in the emergency assistance system was 65,369 dollars and the maximum and the minimum of household cost was at $417,145 and $153. For comparison, the Per capita income in Boston in the past 12 months (in 2022 dollars) is 55,949 dollars, and median household income was 89,212 dollars.

How City of Boston handle this crisis

The trend of how many homeless families Boston receives is almost the same as the state. Although there was a small difference from week to week, there was no huge change in the past 4 months from the first day of 2024 till April 22 in general.

Please refer the axis on the left for city of Boston and the axis on the right for Commonwealth of Masscuthss

There were around 50 shelters in the city of boston across the neighborhood. From East boston to Hyde Park. The city of Boston provides a map of all the shelters in the city. There is also a page that introduces how to help and contribute to the current crisis. If you are willing and able to contribute, check them out.

Map by City of Boston

One factor that Boston will have to grapple with in order to lower its homeless population is addiction. Substance abuse and homelessness have been shown to be linked in the past – 68% of cities reported that substance abuse was the leading cause of homelessness in single adults.

Boston is no exception in this relationship. A 2023 report from the Boston Public Health Division, titled Unhoused and Uncounted, detailed drug and substance abuse issues amongst Boston’s homeless. 36% of unhoused individuals reported using opiates or opioids in the prior month. This revelation is an especially disturbing fact, as opioids are the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the nation.

One way that Boston plans to fight addiction is through a method called “Housing First”, a term used in Mayor Wu’s citywide plan for addressing homelessness and substance abuse. The National Alliance to End Homelessness describes this method as providing housing for those without it, “thus ending their homelessness and serving as a platform from which they can pursue personal goals and improve their quality of life”.

The hope is that providing stable shelter for unhoused individuals can encourage and empower them to a healthier lifestyle and shed addiction. This runs in contrast to other systems that firmly place sobriety as a requirement for stable housing.

These differing methods are mirrored in Boston’s public shelter system. Some shelters are referred to as “wet” shelters – meaning they will take in anyone needing shelter, even if they are intoxicated, as long as the person is considered safe or under control. Wet shelters typically allow people to bring in and drink alcohol.  Wet shelters operate under the idea that safety is the highest priority, and that providing a more positive environment may influence those abusing alcohol to seek treatment.

Other shelters operate as “dry” shelters. These shelters require anyone coming in to have been sober for a certain period of time, usually being 24 hours. Potential residents are run through breathalyzers and urine tests to prove their sobriety. Those who fail these sobriety tests aren’t just kicked to the street – dry shelters typically try to refer them to another shelter, hoping to still find a safe place for the night.

18 of 39 shelters that receive state funding in Massachusetts are wet shelters. This diagram shows shelters in the Boston area, with blue representing wet shelters and red representing dry.

Proponents for the system argue that forcing sobriety will not solve the problem. Unhoused people who struggle with substance abuse need a support system and treatment, and requiring sobriety before they can be helped adds another unnecessary barrier that keeps people on the street.

However, not all conversations around wet shelters are positive. A common argument is that alcohol abuse should not be treated differently than any other kind of addiction. Others argue that wet shelters only encourage drinking by treating it flippantly, and only end up exacerbating the problem.

Some shelters have taken treatment into their own hands. The St. Francis Shelter in Boston feeds roughly 600 people a day. It also runs a Recovery Support Center. The shelter describes its treatment program as a “peer-based, member driven community” helping those who are unhoused and attempting to recover or maintain sobriety.

Another part of Mayor Wu’s city plan is to focus on decriminalization at the intersection of homelessness and substance abuse. The plan outlined the use of a crisis response team, instead of police, in nonviolent situations. Mayor Wu also made mention of expanding access to social services, such as medical care, housing resources, and  legal aid.

One example that Boston could keep in mind is Oregon. The state was the first in the nation to decriminalize the use of drugs. The state faced many of the same issues that Boston does – Oregon has struggled with increasing homelessness rates in the late 2010s. The controversial law has recently received criticism, as the state’s capital, Portland, is now in a state of emergency after a fentanyl crisis that has left state lawmakers scrambling to fix the issue.

Regardless of how Boston chooses to address its homelessness problem, it is clear that action must be taken. The city can follow its own history, and implement new and aggressive programs like transitional housing to lower the amount of transient people on the street. It must also tackle addiction, either by providing housing in hopes to lead to sobriety or enforcing sobriety to be granted shelter. Solutions must be found – or else Boston could see its progress in its rate of homelessness, a massive achievement, completely erased in just a matter of years.

Access our data and methods through this link.