PM Joins Organizations in Calling for an Extension to Eviction Protections

March 17, 2023
Trial Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Locke
Housing Court Chief Justice Timothy Sullivan
Senate President Karen Spilka
Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano
Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Michael Rodrigues
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Aaron Michlewitz
Members of the Massachusetts Legislature

Re: Take swift action to extend Chapter 257 eviction protections before they expire on March 31st


Dear Chief Justice Locke, Chief Justice Sullivan, Senate President Spilka, Speaker Mariano, Chairperson Rodrigues, Chairperson Michlewitz, and Members of the Legislature:


“Chapter 257”, a key eviction prevention tool, is set to expire on March 31st. Chapter 257 provides an avenue for a tenant who has applied for rental assistance but is in eviction proceedings to request, and requires the judge to grant, a continuance of the case or postponement of physical eviction until a decision is made on the rental assistance application. Allowing this critical tool to expire now could result in evictions where tenancies could have been resolved with rental assistance, pushing many families and individuals into homelessness. We call upon you to take immediate action to extend these protections until July 31, 2024 to allow more time for a permanent solution to be put into place.


The Legislature first enacted Chapter 257 of the Acts of 2020 to ensure tenants are not physically evicted while rental assistance applications are pending. The Legislature extended the deadline in Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021, and extended it again through March 31, 2023 in Chapter 42 of the Acts of 2022. The law ensures that tenants are not needlessly displaced and maximizes rental assistance payments to landlords. It also requires landlords to upload notice to quit letters to a state tracking system, enabling agencies administering rental assistance to conduct outreach to landlords and tenants to prevent evictions. While not perfect, Chapter 257 has been an essential protection for tenants waiting for rental assistance applications to be processed.


The number of families and individuals applying for assistance through the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) homelessness prevention program remains at very high levels, reflecting the experience of tenants and advocates on the ground that Chapter 257 protections are still extremely important. Although the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has made efforts to streamline the program, the RAFT application process is complex and can require a significant amount of time for a tenant to gather their paperwork, the property owner to input their information, and the administering agency to process each application. The unfortunate reality is that many landlords are simply unwilling to wait for RAFT funds — even if the result could be receiving money they are owed and preventing families and individuals from experiencing homelessness.

Before Chapter 257 was enacted, tenants awaiting rental assistance who already were in eviction proceedings had few options. Since going into effect in January 2021, at least 9,000 case continuances have been granted under the law, and untold numbers of tenants have been able to stabilize their housing and prevent eviction simply by having the chance to complete the rental assistance process. There is broad agreement among policymakers that residents across
Massachusetts are experiencing a housing crisis. Chapter 257 is a key homelessness prevention tool that we know is working, at a time when housing instability is on the rise and the state is struggling to provide adequate shelter to families and individuals who are unhoused. Extending Chapter 257 is a simple and commonsense action that will prevent unnecessary evictions, as the state works to address the broader housing crisis.


Judges, court staff, attorneys, and rental assistance providers are familiar with how Chapter 257 operates, and it has undoubtedly saved tenancies and provided money to landlords. Legislation already has been filed that includes language to codify Chapter 257 protections.1 While we await legislative action on that bill, we call upon the Trial Courts or Legislature to act immediately to extend Chapter 257 until at least July 31, 2024, either through a standing
order, attaching language to pending legislation, or with the filing of a new targeted bill, that ensures that protections afforded in Chapter 257 continue without disruption.

We look forward to working with you in the days and weeks ahead to promote greater housing stability.

[1] See An Act relative to summary process and rental assistance, House Docket 3096 (filed by Representative Sam Montaño) and Senate Docket 1883 (filed by Senator Liz Miranda.)


Sincerely,

Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Andrea M. Park
Director of Community Driven Advocacy
apark@mlri.org


Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless
Kelly Turley
Associate Director
kelly@mahomeless.org

Endorsing Organizations (in alphabetical order):
2 Birds No Stones LLC
Amherst Affordable Housing Trust
Amherst Community Connections
Amherst Survival Center

Arise For Social Justice
Bay Cove Human Services
Behavioral Health Network, Inc.
Berkshire Community College
Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority
Berkshire Housing
Berkshire Immigrant Center
Berkshire United Way
Boston Children’s Hospital
Breaktime
Cathedral of the Beloved
Center for Human Development (CHD)/Family Outreach of Amherst
Center for Living & Working, Inc
Center for New Americans
Central Hampshire Veterans’ Services
Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance
Central West Justice Center
Chelsea Black Community
Chelsea Chamber of Commerce
Citizen STEAM
Citizens’ Housing And Planning Association
City of Chelsea Acting City Manager Edward Keefe
City of Chelsea Department of Housing and Community Development
City of Chelsea Police Department
City of Chelsea Public Schools
City of Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne
City of Somerville Office of Housing Stability
Coghlin Electrical Contractors
Commonwealth Care Alliance
Community Action Agency of Somerville, Inc.
Community Action Pioneer Valley
Community Action Programs Inter-City
Community Healthlink
Comunidades Enraizadas Community Land Trust, Inc.
Craig’s Doors
Disability Law Center
Dismas House of Massachusetts
DOVE, Inc.
Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath)
Eliot CHS Homeless Services
FamilyAid
Fenway Community Development Corporation
First Parish in Brookline
Franklin County DIAL SELF Inc.
Friendly House, Inc.
Friends of Hampshire County Homeless Individuals
Greater Boston Legal Services
GreenRoots
Grow Food Northampton
HarborCOV
Harvard Legal Aid Bureau

Homeless Prevention Council
Homes for All Massachusetts
HomeStart, Inc.
Housing Families Inc.
Housing Greenfield
HousingMatch.org
Humanity First Landlords
Independence House
Institute for Community Health
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
Justice Resource Institute, Inc.
La Colaborativa, Inc.
Lawrence CommunityWorks
Lynn United for Change
Manaa
Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants
Mass General Brigham
Mass Senior Action Council
Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless
Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Massachusetts Public Health Association
McCarter Law Office
Metro Housing|Boston
MetroWest Legal Services
MLPB (formerly Medical Legal Partnership | Boston)
Neighbor to Neighbor MA
NeighborWorks Housing Solutions
New England Learning Center for Women in Transition, Inc
New England United 4 Justice
New Lynn Coalition
Northampton Survival Center
Northeast Justice Center
Old Lesbians Organizing for Change, Western Massachusetts Chapter
One Family
OUR Resurge
Pax Christi Beverly
Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts
Progressive Massachusetts
Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts
RCAP Solutions
Reclaim Roxbury
Regional Housing Network of Massachusetts
Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds Inc.
Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston
Southeast Center for Independent Living
Springfield No One Leaves
St. Luke’s-San Lucas Episcopal Church
The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
The Midas Collaborative

The Neighborhood Developers Inc.
United Way of Central Massachusetts
United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley
Vasquez Mary Kay
Way Finders
Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness
Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj
Worcester Common Ground, Inc.
Worcester Community Action Council
Worcester Interfaith
Worcester Together
YWCA Central Massachusetts


cc: Trial Court Administrator Tom Ambrosino
DHCD Undersecretary Jennifer Maddox

Citizens for Juvenile Justice Debunks Myths about Metal Detectors and School Safety

Metal Detectors

By Stav Keshet

We all want students to feel safe at school. How can a student thrive if they don’t feel secure? In a recently released report titled Metal Detectors: “Security theater,” Not Safer Schools, Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CFJJ) answer an important question: do metal detectors in schools increase school safety? The answer: no. Research has shown that there is ‘insufficient evidence’ that metal detectors decrease crimes or violence in schools. So why do we use them? There are many reasons that factor in, including the fact that security systems got a boost from federal grant programs following the terrorist attacks of September 11.  For many, the “perception of safety” is a major motivator, but that perception is not anchored in reality or universally shared. Such claims around safety lack solid evidence, and make many students, especially students of color, feel less–not more–safe. These issues are not distinct to metal detectors, but demonstrate a larger pattern. Studies have shown that in addition to metal detectors, security cameras and the number of visible physical security measures tend to negatively affect perceptions of safety.

It is important to remember the effects of enhanced security on students’ mental health. As highlighted by the report, enhanced security measures have been documented to cause students to suffer from mental health impacts ranging from anxiety to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other forms of psychological distress.”  At a time when our nation is struggling with an ongoing mental health  crisis, it is more important than ever to notice how oversurveillance makes it harder for students to find a sense of trust and of belonging, necessities for any healthy learning environment. School should be an enjoyable experience—not a scary one.

The report also looks at the intersection of mental health and racial discrimination. A key takeaway from the report was that even when controlling for multiple other variables, the concentration of students of color [Black, Latine, and Native] at the school was a predictor of whether or not schools decided to rely on more intense security measures And while all students’ mental health is negatively impacted by surveillance measures, Black, Latine, and Native students are often uniquely impacted. The report highlighted a study which found that “the use of surveillance methods, especially when applied disproportionately to students of color, …. skews minorities’ perceptions of their standing in our society, and sends harmful messages to members of all races that students attending majority-white schools enjoy greater privileges and have superior privacy rights.”

Studies have shown that enhanced security measures have negative impacts on teachers and staff, too. The report details several research and anecdotal evidence of school administrators who were concerned about the negative social consequences of metal detectors, in addition to the high financial cost to the school.A senior analyst for the campus safety group Safe Havens International said that: “metal detectors… can also create a prison-like feeling among students, have been linked to diminished academic performance, and, worst of all, don’t work well in school settings.” At the best, ineffective devices are wasting valuable funds in many schools across the United States. At the worst, many students are unable to fulfill their academic potential because instead of school- they attend a quasi- prison.