The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance today responded to the latest biweekly emergency shelter report released by the Executive Office for Administration and Finance and the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

The report shows that the weekly average cost per family in the state’s Emergency Assistance (EA) shelter program has climbed to $3,389, up from the previous report.

“The numbers continue to speak for themselves. Over the summer months, nothing meaningful was done to drive down these costs. The state is now spending almost $3,400 per week, per family, to maintain this program. At a time where the state’s budget outlook is extremely uncertain, this is an unsustainable burden on taxpayers. The costs continue to spiral with no end in sight,” said Paul D. Craney, Executive Director for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.

In Fiscal Year 2025, Massachusetts spent more than $819 million on shelter costs alone, with total expenditures for emergency housing and related services nearly topping $1 billion. The FY26 budget only appropriated $276 million for family shelters.

“Beacon Hill has known for years that the shelter program is out of control, yet the administration and legislature continue to spend like there’s no limit. You would think that over the summer months, major changes could have taken place to drive down costs but it appears nothing was done. Taxpayers are footing the bill for a program that has grown beyond its capacity, and the average family is left wondering why their tax dollars are being drained to sustain a system with no long-term plan,” Craney added.

The latest report confirms what many have feared, that the financial strain of the emergency shelter system is growing worse, not better. With an average stay in the program now stretching close to a year, and caseloads projected to serve over 6,600 families this fiscal year, Massachusetts is on track for another year of crisis level spending.

“Taxpayers deserve accountability. Instead of pouring billions into temporary fixes, the legislature must face reality. Without reform to the right to shelter law which has been expanded well beyond its intended purpose, the emergency shelter system will continue to fail both the families who depend on it and the taxpayers forced to fund it,” Craney concluded.