Commission Membership
| Name | Organization |
|---|---|
| Ed Augustus (Chair) | Secretary, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities |
| Emily Cooper* | MassHealth/Executive Office of Aging and Independence |
| James Fuccione** | Mass. Healthy Aging Collaborative |
| Julian Cyr | Senate Chair, Joint Committee on Housing |
| Thomas Stanley | House Chair of the Joint Committee on Aging and Independence |
| Pat Jehlen | Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Aging and Independence |
| Richard Haggerty | House Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing |
| Gretchen Van Ness*** | LGBTQ Senior Housing, Inc. |
| Brad Jones | House Minority Leader Designee |
| Peter Durant | Senate Minority Leader Designee |
| Jeffrey Sacks**** | Nixon Peabody |
| Jennifer Maynard | MassPACE |
| Betsy Connell | Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging |
| Elissa Sherman | LeadingAge Massachusetts |
| Carolyn Villers | Massachusetts Senior Action Council |
| Ryan Berard | AARP Massachusetts |
| Amy Schectman | 2Life Communities |
| Kim Brooks | Hebrew SeniorLife |
| Betsey Crimmins | Mass Aging Access (f/k/a Mass Home Care Association) |
| Alma Balonon-Rosen | Massachusetts Housing Partnership |
| Aaron Gornstein | Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) |
| Andrew DeFranza | Harborlight Homes |
*Appointed by Secretary of Health and Human Services
** Appointed by Secretary of Aging and Independence
*** Appointed by Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing
**** Appointed by Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA)
Commission Charge
The commission was charged with studying and making recommendations on creating affordable and healthy senior housing. Recommendations shall include, but not be limited to, strategies to better align housing, homecare and healthcare policy and programs to increase access and opportunity for residents to age in their community, including incentivizing multigenerational housing, home-sharing, development of ADUs to limit loneliness in adult populations, assist young families and limit the overall cost to the commonwealth.
The Affordable Homes Act directs the Commission to accomplish this charge through the following directives:
(i) mapping out the economic profile of older adults
(ii) determining gaps in services to older adults;
(iii) identifying best practices for creating supportive senior housing with sustainable funding;
(iv) determining strategies for connecting and streamlining services supporting older adults in their community, including identifying federal waivers or other actions to support integration of such services;
(v) identifying partners to create opportunities for supportive housing development that incorporates health care infrastructure and service;
(vi) estimating the costs and potential impact of programs and recommending comprehensive strategies;
(vii) recommendations for creating academic partnerships to document and evaluate program innovations;
(viii) an analysis of the projected demand for senior housing in the 5 years following the first meeting of the commission;
(ix) recommendations to ensure senior housing is physically accessible and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act;
(x) review of barriers to necessary housing modifications and potential funding sources;
(xi) recommendations to encourage development of senior housing in areas within reasonable walking distance of amenities and public transportation;
(xii) an evaluation of age-restricted housing and intergenerational housing with respect to costs, tenant preferences, accessibility and safety;
(xiii) analysis of models of community-based housing that provide medical support, including residential care homes, rest homes and small house nursing homes; and
(xiv) recommendations for design and infrastructure features including, but not limited to, increased ventilation and functional outdoor space for the purpose of preventing the spread of contagious diseases.
Timeline and Methods
The Commission first convened on March 20, 2025, and met as a full body each month through December 2025. To address all the charges outlined in the legislation, the Commission developed informal working groups that met on an as-needed basis to examine pressing challenges in expanding the supply of housing affordable to older adults and develop proposals for administrative, regulatory and legislative actions which could help to mitigate or overcome these challenges. These working groups also included subject-matter experts on relevant issues at times. The recommended proposals outlined in this report are structured by sections reflecting the specific working groups.
The recommendations contained in this report represent the consensus reached by the members of the Special Commission on Senior Housing. They do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the Healey-Driscoll Administration, its constituent agencies, nor those of each individual Commission members. Rather, they are recommendations submitted to the Administration and the Legislature by the Special Commission as an independent advisory body for consideration and potential future action.