Given the increased focus on registered sex offenders living in Massachusetts communities and the safety threat that such persons might pose in a family shelter, the Department has formalized its Emergency Assistance (EA) shelter intake and placement policies. Effective immediately, TAO staff will be required to determine if any member in the EA AU age 10 and older is listed as a sex offender with the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB). Placement of the family will not be delayed awaiting information from SORB.

Memo identifies the name of the contact person at the Sex Offender Registry Board.

DTA offers two shelter options for EA AUs who have a member with a current or past substance abuse problem: residential treatment programs and sober living programs. Both alternatives allow the applicant and his or her child(ren) to reside together during the program.

Clarifies that voluntary participation in this program is transitional housing and not permanent housing and therefore should not affect priority status on subsidized housing wait lists, should only occur when the family is deemed able to maintain housing beyond the program period, and if the family is unable to maintain housing may still be eligible for EA shelter within the 12 month period.

Shelter use has reached capacity, so families are to be placed in hotels or motels when necessary due to lack of shelter space. This memo provides procedures for doing this.

Process and preferences for placing homeless pregnant or parenting teens in shelter.

FS: recertification of NPA AU's associated with TAFDC AU's; UI compensation is counted gross for all programs; procedures for placing pregnant homeless teens who do or do not receive TAFDC.