Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness

Governor Patrick issued Executive Order Number 492 on November 18, 2007 that reinstated the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness (ICHH). Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray chairs the Council, which is working to implement the recommendations from the Massachusetts Commission to End Homelessness. Co-chaired by Representative Byron Rushing and Department of Housing and Community Development Undersecretary Tina Brooks, the Commission's 2007 plan  called for a new statewide “housing-first” approach to ending homelessness. ICHH members include representatives from fourteen different departments who serve populations that may experience homelessness.

Under Lt. Governor Murray’s leadership, the Administration has reformed our shelter system.  The first step was successfully moving our shelter program out of the Executive Office Health and Human Services and into our Department of Housing and Community Development, which brought a new focus to actually housing people, as opposed to sheltering them.