Advocates Demand Restored Funding for Homeless Care Program Expiring in June

BOSTON — March 31, 2026 — Advocates crowd a Massachusetts Joint Ways and Means hearing to urge reversal of proposed cuts to homeless care, housing, and education funding. Dozens of nurses, teachers, and community college workers testified Tuesday in the third session of the committee's FY27 budget hearings, with the most urgent appeals focused on the Behavioral Health Community Partners Program at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless — serving 1,200 medically complex patients and slated to close June 30 — which has already stopped accepting new referrals. Pam Rivas of the Boston Coordinated Care Hub told the committee that 46 percent of her program's patients carry a serious mental illness diagnosis, eight times the state average. Ashley Smith and Beth Murphy each urged lawmakers to add $7 million beyond the governor's House 2 proposal for the Department of Mental Health rental subsidy program, noting a DMH voucher costs roughly $1,300 per month versus $1,300 or more per day for inpatient care. Michael Caine of the Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants requested a $22 million addition to the governor's $278 million Mass Rental Voucher Program request to house 1,000 homeless families, while Superintendent Brian Forgett of Triton Regional warned that Chapter 70 aid now covers only 17 percent of his district's costs, down from 34 percent in 2002, with an impossible $4.25 million level-service gap for FY27.