Progressive Mass signed onto the following letter about the urgent need to allocate additional funding for emergency rental assistance.
December 20, 2021
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
Governor Charlie Baker
Secretary Mike Kennealy, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development
Undersecretary Jennifer Maddox, Department of Housing and Community Development
Re: Take immediate action to allocate additional funding for emergency rental assistance instead of curtailing benefits
Dear Senate President Spilka, Speaker Mariano, Chairperson Rodrigues, Chairperson Michlewitz, Members of the Legislature, Governor Baker, Secretary Kennealy, and Undersecretary Maddox:
The Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) provides critical emergency rent and utility funds to Massachusetts families and individuals dealing with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. ERAP is a program of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the bulk of funds awarded for Massachusetts residents are administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) through the network of regional administering agencies. The Baker Administration has begun notifying stakeholders that ERAP is projected to run out of funds in just over six months, and that in response, DHCD will begin to wind down key portions of ERAP.
We are alarmed that the state has abruptly decided to ramp down ERAP instead of allocating additional — and available — federal funds to continue this critical emergency assistance. At a time when application numbers are increasing, these changes will place additional burdens on families and individuals already in crisis due to the pandemic. These changes are being implemented on a very short timeline amidst another winter COVID-19 surge, without input from community stakeholders or notice to households counting on assistance to remain in their homes. We are asking you to leverage resources that were provided to the Commonwealth specifically for COVID relief and continue to allocate these critical funds to households in need while minimizing bureaucratic barriers to obtaining funds.
While DHCD is moving forward with multiple, unanticipated changes to ERAP, three policy changes in particular represent a fundamental shift in ERAP eligibility: (1) the recertification process will be eliminated as of January 1, 2022 [1]; (2) most tenants will be unable to apply for future rent assistance from ERAP or the parallel state-funded homelessness prevention program, Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT), unless they have already fallen behind on rent [2]; and (3) tenants will not be ableto use RAFT after exhausting ERAP benefits. [3]
At the same time, DHCD is planning to implement a decreased cap on RAFT benefits, as required by the Legislature’s language from the FY22 budget. As of January 1, 2022, households only will be eligible for $7,000 in RAFT assistance in a 12-month period, down from the current $10,000 cap. Like the planned ERAP changes, this restriction on RAFT benefits is ill-timed, and will lead to further housing instability at a time of heightened need.
These significant policy changes will add further confusion to an already complex process, causing more applications to “slip through the cracks” and further destabilizing families over the holidays. Taken together, these changes are likely to lead to an increase in eviction filings and displacement. With so much money available for emergency relief, moving forward with these changes would be a disgraceful and unnecessary outcome.
We must not allow the most vulnerable members of our community to suffer when we have the means to prevent it. We call upon the Legislature to take emergency action to access resources from the $2.25 billion remaining from the state’s allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fiscal recovery funds to replenish ERAP and eliminate arbitrary barriers to access, while also restoring the RAFT cap to $10,000. We also call upon the Baker Administration to cease implementation of these disruptive ERAP policy changes.
During yet another frightening surge of the virus, where positive infection rates have matched January 2021 levels and are increasing, families with children, unaccompanied adults, elders, youth, people with disabilities, and other households at risk of losing their housing must be at the top of our list of urgent priorities.
We look forward to working with you to further promote housing stability, equity, and public health.
[1] Through recertifications, eligible households in need of additional ERAP assistance have been able to request an extension of their approved benefits without falling behind on rent and with fewer administrative and documentation barriers. Recertifications have provided households with up to 18 months of assistance, allocated in three-month increments. This change presents tremendous barriers for tenants who still rely on ERAP for rent, such as those who have not yet found employment.
[2] Tenants seeking rent assistance are currently able to apply and receive upstream assistance before they fall behind on rent. Requiring tenants to have at least one month of arrears (absent an additional housing crisis) will incentivize people to fall behind on rent, straining tenant and landlord relationships and making eviction more likely.
[3] RAFT currently plays a critical role in keeping tenants safely housed by covering expenses not covered by ERAP. Under the new policy, tenants who use RAFT first might still be able to access ERAP, but households who have reached the ERAP limit will be unable to access RAFT. Tenants with pre-pandemic
utility debts not covered by ERAP will be unable to access relief. Households are being encouraged to pay for such expenses out of pocket, even when that is not possible based on their resources.
Coordinating Organizations and Contacts
Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless
Kelly Turley
Associate Director
kelly@mahomeless.org
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Andrea M. Park
Housing and Homelessness Attorney
apark@mlri.org
Homes for All Massachusetts
Isaac Simon Hodes and Rose Webster-Smith
Co-Anchors
info@HomesForAllMass.org
Endorsing Organizations in Alphabetical Order, as of December 20, 2021
ACE
Action for Boston Community Development, Inc.
Action for Equity
AFT Massachusetts
AIDS Project Worcester Inc.
Alliance of Cambridge Tenants (ACT)
Allston Brighton Health Collaborative
Amherst Survival Center
Arise for Social Justice
Asian American Resource Workshop
Asian Community Development Corporation
Beacon Communities
Behavioral Health Network
Berkshire County Regional Housing
Berkshire United Way
Bethel AME Church – Lynn
Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC)
Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program
Boston Tenant Coalition
Brazilian Women’s Group
Breaktime United, Inc.
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Cambridge City Councillor Quinton Zondervan
Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee
Cambridge Housing Justice Coalition
Cambridge Residents Alliance
CAN-DO
Castle Square Tenants Organization
Center for Human Development
Central West Justice Center
Children’s HealthWatch
Chinatown Community Land Trust
Chinese Progressive Association
Christian Community Church
City Life/Vida Urbana
City of Boston Office of Housing Stability
City of Lawrence Mayor’s Health Task Force
City of Somerville
Clean Water Action
Commonwealth Care Alliance
Community Action Agency of Somerville, Inc.
Community Action Pioneer Valley
Community Day Center of Waltham
Community Labor United
Community Service Network, Inc.
Congregation B’nai Israel Tikkun Olam Committee
De Novo Center for Justice and Healing
Domus Incorporated
DOVE (DOmestic Violence Ended), Inc.
Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath)
Eliot CHS Homeless Services
Emmaus Inc.
Essex County Community Organization
Evangelizo
Family ACCESS of Newton
FAMILY Movement, Inc.
Family Promise North Shore Boston
FamilyAid Boston
Father Bill’s & MainSpring
First Parish in Waltham, Unitarian Universalist
Franklin County DIAL/SELF, Inc.
Franklin County Transition from Jail to Community Task Force
Gandara Center
Greater Boston Legal Services
Greater Boston Real Estate Board
Greater Bowdoin/Geneva Neighborhood Association
Greater Lawrence Community Action Council
Greater Mattapan Neighborhood Council
Greening Greenfield
GreenRoots
Grow Food Northampton, Inc.
Hadwen Park Congregational Church, UCC
HallKeen Management Inc.
Harvard Law School Legal Services Center
Health Leads
Health Resources in Action
Healthcare & Human Service Consulting Group LLC
HealthLink
Heisler, Feldman & McCormick, P.C.
Homes for Families, Inc.
HomeStart, Inc.
Housing Families Inc.
Immigrant Service Providers Group/Health
International Language Institute of Massachusetts
Jay Rose Consulting
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
Jewish Climate Action Network – MA
Jewish Family & Children’s Service
Joint Executive Council, UMass Amherst and UMass Boston Professional Staff Union
Jordana Roubicek Greenman, Attorney at Law
Just A Start
Justice Center of Southeast Massachusetts
La Colaborativa, Inc.
Lawrence CommunityWorks, Inc.
Lynn United for Change
Male Engagement Network
Maloney Properties, Inc.
Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants
Massachusetts AFL-CIO
Massachusetts Climate Action Network
Massachusetts Coalition of Domestic Workers
Massachusetts Communities Action Network
Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition
Massachusetts Interfaith Power & Light
Massachusetts Jobs with Justice
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Massachusetts Public Health Association
Massachusetts Voter Table
Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee
Metro Housing|Boston
Metrowest Worker Center – Casa
My Brother’s Table
National Association of Social Workers, Massachusetts Chapter
Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts Education Fund
New England United 4 Justice
New Lease for Homeless Families
New Lynn Coalition
Northampton Survival Center
Northeast Justice Center
Northern Berkshire United Way
On The Rise
One Family
Our Revolution Cambridge
Partners In Health
Peabody Properties
Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts
Progressive Massachusetts
Project Place
Project Right to Housing
RCAP Solutions, Inc.
Reclaim Roxbury
Resist the Pipeline
Sociedad Latina
Somerville Homeless Coalition
Somerville Office of Housing Stability
Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services
Southeast Center for Independent Living, Inc.
Springfield No One Leaves
Springfield Technical Community College
Tapestry Health
Tenants’ Development Corporation
The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
The Neighborhood Developers Inc.
Three County Continuum of Care
Trinity Management LLC
UHM Properties LLC
Union of Minority Neighborhoods
United Way of Greater Fall River
United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region
Veterans Legal Services
VietAID
Waltham City Councillor Jonathan Paz
Waltham Public Schools
WATCH CDC
Western Massachusetts Network to End Homelessness
WinnCompanies
Worcester Interfaith
Y2Y Network
