A new pilot program in the works could help hundreds of newly arrived migrants currently in shelter find long-term housing, rental assistance and employment opportunities in Massachusetts.
The program would be for one year and help around 400 migrant families. It would take $8 million from the supplemental budget meant to help migrant families in emergency shelters.
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"We are providing legal services and case management to people in shelters, and we're about to begin work exiting families from the shelters and into apartments," said Jeff Thielman, the CEO for the International Institute of New England.
This resettlement agency has been at the forefront helping refugees and migrants in Massachusetts. Now a new pilot program in the works from Gov. Maura Healey's administration hopes to work hand in hand with agencies like this one.
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"We have teams on the ground right now looking for apartments in eastern Massachusetts," Thielman said.
Eight resettlement agencies would be part of this initiative, and they would help migrants find jobs, navigate a new community, and help them apply to a decade-old state-run program called HomeBASE.
"What the governor wants is to find a permanent solution," said Liliana Patino the director of community engagement with Eliot Community Human Service.
More on the migrant crisis in Massachusetts
HomeBASE provides move-in costs, like the first and last months' rent and security deposits for families who qualify for emergency assistance shelter.
"We know how expensive and exhausting this is for the state to have these families in shelters," Patino said.
Healey's office says it has helped around 3,000 newly-arrived migrants get work authorizations, which will help when this pilot program begins.
"Almost all of the new arrivals here in the state, they all want to work," Healey said. "We've been able to process them for work authorizations and now we’re in the process of getting them plugged in with employers throughout the state."
Each resettlement agency would help around 50 families within this pilot program, which could be finalized in the next few weeks.
