Collection: TA Updates to Town Council Mtgs on Migrant Housing Status - Sep 6, 2023 through July 17, 2024 (audio)

FM #1252 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1252 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares the multiple segments from the Town Administrator’s Report section of the Town Council Meetings where Town Administrator Jamie Hellen provided an update on the Migrant Housing status.  

Some of the segments were published separately from the full Town Council audio recordings. The two most recent meeting segments (June 5 & July 17, 2024) had not yet been published separately so they are added here to give the complete chronological order of updates on this topic.

There is a brief intro before each section to say what date the meeting was held and hence the update provided. 

The combined recordings run about 88 minutes. Let’s listen to the chronological recordings on the migrant housing status updates.  Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1252-town-admin-reports-migrant-housing-status-collection-07-17-24/

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Audio Segments Combined (# indicates podcast episode)  

Approx. 21 minutes #1055 TA Report - Migrant Status - 09/06/23 

Approx. 25 minutes #1065 TA Report - Migrant Status - 09/20/23

Approx. 8 minutes #1076 TA Report - Migrant Status - 10/11/23

Approx. 12 minutes #1083 TA Report - Migrant Status - 10/18/23

Approx. 8 minutes #1093 TA Report - Migrant Status - 11/01/23

Approx. 5 minutes June 5, 2024 

Approx. 2 minutes July 17, 2024

Town Administrator page -> https://www.franklinma.gov/administrator

Migrant Housing Portal -> https://www.franklinma.gov/health-department/pages/migrant-dashboard-portal 

Town Council meeting archive

** 2024

July 17 -> recap & video -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2024/07/town-council-approves-additional-1m-for.html 

June 5 - recap, audio & video -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2024/06/town-council-tackles-multiple-zoning_8.html 

** 2023

Nov 1 - recap, video ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/11/town-council-views-4.html 

Oct 18 - recap, audio & video -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/10/town-council-observes-police-new-hires_0250604876.html 

Oct 11 - recap, audio & video -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/10/town-council-doesnt-like-snow-removal.html 

Sep 20 - recap, audio & video -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/09/town-council-receives-elks-donations_02090236383.html 

Sep 6 - recap, audio & video -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/09/town-council-hears-about-dean-college_0983870044.html

Prior individual podcast episodes on the Migrant Housing Status

• Update from the Nov 1, 2023 meeting -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/11/town-council-segment-migrant-housing.html 

• Update from the Oct 18, 2023 meeting ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/10/town-council-segment-migrant-housing.html

• Update from the Oct 11, 2023 meeting -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/10/town-administrators-report-migrant.html 

• Update from Sep 20, 2023 meeting -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/09/town-administrators-report-on-migrant_20.html
  

• Update from Sep 6, 2023 meeting -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/09/town-administrators-report-on-migrant.html 

• Notification on migrant temporary housing Aug 25, 2023 ->  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2023/08/ma-notifies-franklin-of-plans-to-house.html

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

Collection: TA Updates to Town Council Mtgs on Migrant Housing Status - Sep 6, 2023 through July 17, 2024 (audio)

Healey-Driscoll Administration: Changes to Emergency Assistance Prioritization, Safety-Net Sites Announced 7/23/24

The Healey-Driscoll administration is announcing changes to its Emergency Assistance (EA) prioritization and safety-net sites for families experiencing homelessness. These changes are intended to address the system’s continuing capacity constraints, lower costs, and protect the financial sustainability of the EA system. 

Beginning August 1, 2024, families will be prioritized for placement in EA shelters if they are homeless because of a no-fault eviction or because of sudden or unusual circumstances in Massachusetts beyond their control, such as a flood or fire, or if they have at least one member who is a veteran. Families will continue to be prioritized if they have significant medical needs, newborn children, are at risk of domestic violence, or are homeless because of fire, flood, or other disasters.

Healey-Driscoll Administration

Families who are not prioritized for placement in EA shelters will be eligible to stay at a “temporary respite center” for up to five days. On August 1, the state’s safety-net sites in Chelsea, Lexington, Cambridge and Norfolk will be transitioned to temporary respite centers. Norfolk is the newest of these sites and is nearing capacity. The administration will not be opening additional respite center sites due to operational and financial constraints.

Families who choose to stay at a temporary respite center will be required to wait six months or more for placement in the state’s emergency family shelter system. They will remain eligible for other diversion services, such as reticketing and the HomeBASE program. Families who have been in temporary respite centers prior to the policy change on August 1 will retain their prioritization for placement into EA shelter, and the state will begin helping them leave these sites according to the date in which they entered. This policy does not apply to United Way shelter sites.

“We have been saying for months now that the rapid growth of our Emergency Assistance shelter system is not sustainable. Massachusetts is out of shelter space, and we simply cannot afford the current size of this system. Our administration has taken significant action over the past year to make the system more sustainable and help families leave shelter for stable housing. But with Congress continuing to fail to act on immigration reform, we need to make more changes,” said Governor Maura Healey. “That’s why we are making changes to EA prioritization and transitioning our safety-net sites to five-day temporary respite centers. This is in line with the policies of other cities facing similar challenges as Massachusetts and will help give families some relief for a few days while they access the diversion services we can provide, such as reticketing.”

Last year, Governor Healey declared that a state of emergency exists in Massachusetts due to rapidly rising numbers of immigrant families arriving in Massachusetts in need of shelter and services and a severe lack of shelter availability in the state. In the fall, she announced that the EA system was at capacity at 7,500 families.

The administration has focused on getting immigrants work authorizations, English classes, and placed into jobs to give them the tools they need to move into stable housing and to meet the workforce needs of our employers. Governor Healey successfully advocated for U.S. Department of Homeland Security to hold a work authorization clinic in Massachusetts and processing times have significantly increased. Since November 2023, the administration has helped nearly 3,800 immigrants apply for work authorizations, the vast majority of which have been approved, and nearly 1,250 have been enrolled in ESOL classes. Across the system, nearly 1,300 EA residents have gotten jobs.

The administration also expanded the HomeBASE program, which helps cover rent and other costs for families with children under 21 years old or pregnant people and offered mobile vouchers to the approximately 1,200 EA families who were in EA longer than 18 months. 

As a result of these efforts, the number of families leaving the EA system has steadily increased each month, with more than 330 families leaving each month recently – the highest numbers in years.

The Legislature recently passed a nine-month length of stay requirement in EA shelters, which Governor Healey signed into law and recently implemented. Governor Healey also previously implemented a 30-day recertification requirement at safety-net sites.

Last month, Governor Healey sent members of her administration to the U.S. Southern Border to meet with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Joint Task Force-North, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and families to educate them about the lack of shelter availability in Massachusetts. The Governor also recently ended the practice of families overnighting at Logan Airport and increased outreach around the state’s reticketing program, which provides families with transportation to another location where they have friends or family or another option for a safe place to stay.

Shared from -> https://www.mass.gov/news/healey-driscoll-administration-announces-changes-to-emergency-assistance-prioritization-safety-net-sites

Massachusetts migrant shelters hardly impact community life, neighbors say

"Perry Eaton’s neighbors warned that migrants moving into Dedham would cause trouble. Last month, someone passed fliers around the neighborhood, which is nestled between a pair of hotels converted into state overflow shelters, warning that expanding services for the migrants would create “catastrophic” traffic and “inevitable” loitering, and leave the community’s security “compromised.”

But weeks later, Eaton and other neighbors said those fears haven’t materialized.

On a recent weekday morning, Eaton said traffic in and around his horseshoe-shaped neighborhood on Robinwood Road has remained consistent since the shelters opened weeks ago.

“It’s hard to tell any real difference in the day to day,” Eaton, 34, said."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) ->   https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/03/23/metro/massachusetts-migrant-shelters-community/

Five year-old friends who were born in Chile to Haitian parents colored at the Valente branch of the Cambridge Public Library. JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF

Migrant crisis: State Senate votes to limit time in family shelter

"As the state burns through the hundreds of millions already set aside to fund Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system, the state Senate late Thursday voted to inject millions more into the system, and limit the amount of time homeless families, including migrants, can stay.

The 32-8 vote, which happened shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday night, sets the stage for what will likely be a contentious debate with the House, which passed its own version earlier this month.

The proposal is part of a spending bill meant to buoy the strained shelter system through the end of the fiscal year, and help fund it into 2025. While the Senate proposal diverges from the House’s bill on some key details, both chambers are now united behind the concept of restricting, for the first time since the inception of Massachusetts’ right-to-shelter law, how long the state should provide a place to sleep for homeless families."

Shared from -> (subscription maybe required) https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/03/22/metro/mass-senate-vote-shelter-limit-on-shelter-stays-migrants/

The Senate legislation differs in many ways from the House’s proposal

"As Massachusetts struggles to find housing for an influx of migrants, a Globe analysis of state data finds that few wealthy communities are hosting emergency shelters for homeless and migrant families while the bulk are in middle-income cities and towns.

Of the 94 communities hosting emergency shelters, more than half have a median household income below $100,000, while just nine of those communities — including Acton, Concord, and Lexington — have household incomes above $150,000.

The state says its process for placing shelters is driven by the availability of space and factors such as their proximity to critical services such as public transportation.

But many communities say they are having trouble providing all the resources people need, such as transportation and translators, and worry the strain on their limited resources will reach a breaking point."

Buried within the Globe article above was this piece which I missed while I was away in February (subscription maybe required) ->   https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/02/09/metro/boston-migrants-globe-analysis/

"Migrants want to work. And employers want to hire them"

"In the midst of the migrant crisis, there is opportunity: thousands of new arrivals eager to find jobs that employers around the state are desperate to fill.

And these mutual needs are starting to be met. Migrants living in at-capacity emergency shelters are trickling into the workforce: packaging cooking oil in Ayer; caring for patients with developmental disabilities in Waltham; gearing up to clean hospital rooms in Salem.

But getting to that point has required a massive undertaking. After holding clinics to speed up the work authorization process, the state launched a job skills training program that allows migrants living in shelters to start learning — and earning a stipend — while they wait for the US government to issue them work permits, and just announced two new hires dedicated to connecting migrants with jobs. Workers from MassHire Career Centers are going into shelters to connect migrants with English classes and help them find jobs. And employers are opening their doors to shelter residents — donating space for training sessions and even hiring translators to assist new hires.

Salem Hospital has offered housekeeping jobs to six Haitian migrants living at a shelter nearby on the campus of Salem State University, and filling them would be a major milestone."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/01/15/business/migrants-work-employers/

"Migrants want to work. And employers want to hire them"

Franklin, MA: Town Council Agenda for January 17, 2024 Meeting

Franklin Town Council

Agenda & Meeting Packet

January 17, 2024 - 7:00 PM

Meeting will be held at the Municipal Building

2nd floor, Council Chambers 355 East Central Street

1. ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIR

a. This meeting is being recorded by Franklin TV and shown on Comcast channel 9 and Verizon Channel 29. This meeting may be recorded by others.

b. Chair to identify members participating remotely.

c. Upcoming Town Sponsored Community Events

2. CITIZEN COMMENTS

a. Citizens are welcome to express their views for up to three minutes on a matter that is not on the agenda. The Council will not engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during Citizen Comments. The Town Council will give remarks appropriate consideration and may ask the Town Administrator to review the matter.

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

a. December 20, 2023   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/december_20_2023_tc_meeting_minutes_-draft_for_review.pdf

b. January 3, 2024  https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/january_3_2024_tc_meeting_minutes_-draft_for_review.pdf

4. PROCLAMATIONS / RECOGNITIONS

a. Proclamation: FISH of Franklin

5. APPOINTMENTS - None Scheduled

6. PUBLIC HEARINGS - 7:00 PM - None Scheduled

7. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS - None Scheduled

8. PRESENTATIONS / DISCUSSION

a. Discussion: Franklin Food Pantry Update - Tina Powderly, Executive Director 

b. Discussion: Homelessness Report - Amy Frigulietti, Deputy Town Administrator and Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)

 

9. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

a. Resolution 24-05: Termination of the Massachusetts Statewide Opioid Settlement Stabilization Fund, as well as Dedication of Revenues Thereto, as Authorized by G.L. Chapter 77 of the Acts of 2023 (Motion to Approve Resolution 24-05 - Majority Vote)  https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/uploads/9a._24-05_-_termination_of_and_dedication_into_the_opioid_settlement_stabilization_fund.pdf

10. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

a. Migrant Housing Update

11. SUBCOMMITTEE & AD HOC COMMITTEE REPORTS

a. Capital Budget Subcommittee

b. Economic Development Subcommittee

c. Budget Subcommittee

d. Master Plan Committee

e. Davis-Thayer Reuse Advisory Committee

f. Police Station Building Committee

g. GATRA Advisory Board

12. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

13. COUNCIL COMMENTS

14. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None Scheduled.

15. ADJOURN

Note: Two-Thirds Vote: requires 6 votes

Majority Vote: requires majority of members present and voting

The agenda doc also contains remote participation info -> https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/town_council_agenda_-_jan_17_2023.pdf

Franklin, MA: Town Council Agenda for January 17, 2024 Meeting

This Talk Franklin covers the FY 2025 budget cycle starting with the tax rate for FY 2024 getting set (audio)

FM #1107 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1107 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares my "Talk Franklin" session with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen. We had our conversation in the Municipal Building on Tuesday, November 28, 2023.  

Topics for this session

• Budget cycle starting new with tax rate hearing pinning FY 2024

• Tough decisions face in FY2025 and beyond

• Migrant housing situation stabilized

The recording runs about 39 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Jamie on Tuesday, November 28, 2023. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1107-talk-franklin-11-28-23

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Town Administrator page -> https://www.franklinma.gov/administrator

Talk Franklin podcast page -> https://anchor.fm/letstalkfranklin 

Agenda for Tax rate hearing Nov 21, 2023  https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/november_21_2023_town_council_tax_hearing_agenda.pdf 

Budget cycle and financial terms audio with Chris Sandini & Kerry Bertone

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/04/the-town-of-franklin-budget-cycle.html

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

This Talk Franklin covers the FY 2025 budget cycle starting with the tax rate for FY 2024 getting set (audio)