Friends of the Homeless gets boost in state funding

Date: 7/12/2011

July 13, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD • While the Friends of the Homeless Inc. (FOH) recently received an allocation for additional state funding, Executive Director Bill Miller told Reminder Publications there is no formula used by the state to determine levels of aid for homeless shelters.

Funding is determined through the budget process in the Legislature and the increase was made possible through the efforts of the Western Massachusetts delegation supporting an amendment by State Sen. Gale Candaras, Miller explained.

The state contract had paid FOH $12.97 per person per bed per night to provide services. The amendment raised the rate to $20. Without this increase, Miller said the shelter would have faced serious cuts in service as of July 1.

“The increase in the rate to $20 per bed per night is a huge step in the direction of creating more equity statewide in providing services to the homeless. Without the assistance we would have been forced to drastically reduce the services we offer to our client population, particularly those related to programming including job and housing related services. We still have a ways to go to achieve parity with out counterparts across the state, but our legislative delegation is providing real leadership in helping us address this issue,” Miller said.

He noted the state average is $30 per bed and there are programs that receive a higher rate. Looking at the rates for the last fiscal year, FOH has two contracts from the state at $12.97 and $17.02 per bed. These rates can be compared with programs in Worcester at $32.66, Boston at $63.32 and Somerville at $75.09.

Funding FOH at a lower level “puts us at a disadvantage,” Miller said.

He added that funding is not determined by the need for the services. Programs can be “empty or full,” he said, and still receive the same earmarks in the budget.

“There is no rhyme or reason,” he said of the process of evaluating the programs to designate funding.

Miller praised Sate Rep. Joseph Wagner, chair of Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, who had made efforts to add $6 million to the budget to raise all of the shelters beneath the $30 average to that amount, but wasn’t successful.

Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray has met with Miller and the Patrick Administration is aware of the disparity, Miller added.

“The work of our area legislators, particularly Sen. Gale Candaras, who sponsored the amendment bringing the rate to $20, Senators James Welch and Michael Knapik, who supported her amendment, Rep. Thomas Petrolati who worked with House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey and Rep. Joseph Wagner, chairman of the Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, who sponsored a similar amendment in the House, along with Rep. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera, whose district covers the Worthington Street campus, were instrumental in making this happen,” he said.