The Town Line Motel in Malden looks like any other cheap place to spend a night. But the kids riding their bikes and chasing balls in the parking lot are a sign something's different here.
Philip Lorino stands outside the door to the room where he, his wife, and their two-year-old twin sons are staying.
“We were living in an apartment," Lorino said. "We got our own place in Lynn, and my sons ended up getting lead poisoning because the house was never de-leaded. And we got evicted.”
On the campaign trail, Gov. Charlie Baker talked about the 1,500 homeless families in the state who are living in hotels and motels, and he said something needed to be done about that. The governor’s now trying to reduce that number of families placed into motels in the first place.
The Lorinos had nowhere to go and wound up homeless. When they asked for help, the state put them in the motel. Lorino says living there isn't that bad.
“It’s a little crowded, but it’s enough space to be comfortable,” he said.
But his wife, Davita, is less positive.
"It’s a small room," she said. "And it sucks."
Neighbors in other rooms here complain of mice and bedbugs. Davita opens the door to show off where the four of them live.
“It’s a mess right now, because, like I said, twins that are two," she said. "And they’re terrors."
Inside, the twin boys bounce up and down on the beds.
“Basically, it’s a small, itty-bitty, tiny room, where you got two beds, and a small bathroom that’s the size of a cubby," she said.
Philip has a job and Davita would like to work, but they can’t afford child care. As much as she hates being here, she says she’s grateful to have something.
"It’s not a great option, but it’s the best option we got," she said. "It’s either that or living on the street."
Everyone seems to agree motels aren’t appropriate for families to live in, and for years, the state’s been relying too heavily on them in a way that wasn’t intended.
Last week, Baker said his administration is moving to rectify that.
"We’re working our way through a plan that we have and we’ve managed to reduce the number of families in hotels and motels," he said.
But advocates are worried about how he plans to keep that number going down. In a supplemental budget the Massachusetts House of Representatives is expected to vote on this week, Baker is trying to make it more difficult for the state to place families in motels.
"Essentially it would mean that families that are bouncing from house to house and couch to couch that don’t have a fixed, regular place to stay would no longer be eligible for shelter," said Libby Hayes, the executive director of the advocacy group Homes for Families. The bill would also affect families she’s seen living in places like storage units, basements and cars, Hayes says.
State Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry, chair of the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Housing, said such families represent some of the most vulnerable in the state.
“Altering their eligibility standards will leave children unsafe and really in uninhabitable living situations," she said.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, the former chair of the committee on housing, is also against the proposed change.
"I don’t think, respectfully, the governor really has a solid plan for how he would even house the homeless families that would be rejected for shelter if this language were to pass,” he said.
But Robyn Kennedy, deputy assistant secretary for children, youth and families at the state Office of Health and Human Services, says they do have a larger strategy: to shift support to two other programs for homeless families.
One, called Residential Assistance to Families in Transition, or RAFT, provides financial help before families lose their homes. Another, called Home Base, gives $8,000 to homeless families to help them secure new housing.
"Those are the types of services and response that families need, and what families want, and which is a better, more compassionate response to a family that’s in need, versus having to go in a motel room," Kennedy said.
The catch, advocates say, is that RAFT doesn’t help people who have already lost their homes. And the $8,000 of Home Base funding is available only to people who qualify for emergency shelter like motels.
"So if these regulation changes go through, that the governor’s proposed, those families that would no longer be eligible for shelter, would also no longer be eligible for Home Base,” Hayes said.
Kennedy acknowledges that needs to be changed by the legislature.
But advocates, like Chris Norris executive director of Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, say if we’re really going to solve the problem of family homelessness in Massachusetts, it’s going to require a much broader effort than just these programs.
"We’re addressing the symptoms of homelessness, we’re not addressing the causes of homelessness," Norris said. "So we’re not looking at income inequality, we’re not looking at poverty, we’re not looking at building assets or increasing opportunities to earn, and we’re not producing an adequate supply of housing that’s affordable for those families who are making the lowest incomes among us."
Philip Mangano, CEO of the Roundtable to Abolish Homelessness, has worked with Baker for years, and says the governor is committed to a broader approach.
“What he inherited was just an embarrassment, I would say," Mangano said. "And that’s going to require some time to dig out of. And I think that’s the approach they’re taking. They’re trying to take their time, to make sure that when they do it, they do it right.”
One hint the governor is looking at a broader approach comes from Kennedy, who says the Baker administration may revive a long-dormant council of agency leaders from across state government to focus on homelessness.
Also, Baker asked for $20 million in his initial budget to tackle the issue. The legislature gave him just $1 million. He’s back asking for $5 million in the budget that’s being considered this week.
Back at the Town Line Motel, Philip and Davita Lorino say they’re trying to get the Home Base money to move out. But $8,000 only goes so far when you have to put up the first and last month’s rent, on top of a security deposit.
"Every apartment you look at for a two-bedroom is like from $1,200 and up," Davita said. "Nothing’s cheap any more."
She says they want a good school system for the boys. And Philip says they’d love for the kids to have their own room.
"Maybe a yard for them to play in, because as you can see, it’s just a big parking lot," he said.
Update, 4:49 p.m.: The Baker administration provided the following statement in response to this story.
The administration’s proposal to increase homelessness service funding by $5 million to deliver wrap around services for family’s specific needs makes no changes to the current 30-day presumptive provision allowing a family that meets the minimum eligibility requirements to access emergency shelter. The administration remains committed to serving all homeless families by ending the use of costly motels which aren't the best solution for those in need, instead meeting families at the front door to divert them to more permanent services provided by local providers and working with the legislature for additional solutions to best serve this vulnerable population.
