The Department of Housing and Community Development Does Not Ensure That Pregnant Women and Families in the Emergency Housing Assistance Program Are Aware of Sex Offenders Living and/or Working at the Same Address Where They Live.

Audit revealed that although DHCD does require EA program applicants to self-identify if they are registered sex offenders, it does not communicate this information to shelter site operators so they can inform families and women living in the same buildings.

Overview

Although the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) requires applicants to its Emergency Housing Assistance (EA) program to self-identify if they are registered sex offenders, it does not provide its EA shelter contractors with this information so they can inform pregnant women and families that they are living in the same buildings as registered sex offenders. As a result, pregnant women and families living in EA program shelters may not know to take appropriate steps to protect all family members. Further, although DHCD confirms with the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB) that pregnant women and family members aged 10 and older who have applied for participation in the EA program are registered sex offenders, it does not routinely compare the addresses of all registered sex offenders with its EA shelter contractor addresses to identify any registered sex offenders living and/or working at those addresses who are not EA program applicants/participants. As a result, DHCD may be exposing shelter residents to unnecessary risks by not making sure that all registered sex offenders living and/or working at shelter addresses are identified and communicating this information to shelter contractors and residents.

Records of sex offenses against adults and children are maintained by SORB and include people who are under supervision after conviction or termination of probation or parole, either for a set number of years or for the rest of their lives. The period for which a person remains a registered sex offender depends on the nature of the offense. There are currently four classification levels of sex offenders in Massachusetts:

• level 0: unofficial classification for sex offenders known to SORB who have registered but have not yet been classified
• level 1: official classification for offenders with low risk of reoffense and danger to the public
• level 2: official classification for offenders with moderate risk of reoffense and danger to the public
• level 3: official classification for offenders with high risk of reoffense and danger to the public

Registered sex offenders are required by Section 178F of Chapter 6 of the Massachusetts General Laws to annually notify SORB of their current home addresses and places of employment. SORB then contacts registered sex offenders to verify this information.

During our audit, we asked DHCD to provide us with electronic data for all 929 shelter addresses in the EA program. We selected a judgmental sample of 8 shelter addresses and requested that the Boston Police Department’s Sex Offender Registry Unit match the list against its own Sex Offender Registry Information database of registered level 2 and 3 sex offenders. The unit confirmed that all 8 addresses matched the addresses of level 2 or level 3 sex offenders.

Specific examples of sex offenders living at EA program shelters included the following:

• a level 3 sex offender convicted of rape of a child with force, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years of age, indecent assault on a person aged 14 or older, and rape and abuse of a child
• a level 3 sex offender convicted of open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior as well as attempt to commit a crime (indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years of age)
• a level 3 sex offender convicted of rape of a child

Authoritative Guidance

DHCD’s Field Operations Memo 2006-9B, dated August 1, 2006, states,

[DHCD] notifies the shelter provider that an [EA] member is a registered sex offender. The shelter will be instructed to notify other shelter residents of the offender’s presence.

To effectively implement this policy and ensure that all EA program applicants who are registered sex offenders are identified, DHCD needs to consult SORB information.

Reasons for Issues

DHCD officials told us that they believe they adequately protect pregnant women and families in the EA program by placing any EA program applicants who have self-identified as registered sex offenders in either a hotel or a scattered site.³ However, when we compared the addresses of registered sex offenders to EA program shelters, we identified one address that was a congregate shelter, not a scattered site or hotel. Further, pregnant women and families in the EA program, including those with children, can live at all these types of sites. Moreover, if DHCD does not attempt to identify sex offenders who have not self-identified, as we found to be the case, it cannot take measures to adequately protect the safety of pregnant women and families in program facilities. Finally, DHCD does not have a policy that requires it to periodically check the addresses of its shelter sites against those of registered sex offenders.

Recommendations

1. DHCD should notify shelters when an individual in the EA program is a registered sex offender so that the shelters can notify pregnant women and families in the EA program at the same address.
2. DHCD should adopt a policy that requires it to annually, at a minimum, compare the addresses of the shelters to those of registered sex offenders listed with SORB. If any address matches are found, DHCD should investigate and take the measures it deems appropriate to ensure the safety of the children in the EA program.

Auditee’s Response

DHCD respectfully disagrees with the blanket conclusion that the EA program is not properly administered.

As noted in the draft audit, the Emergency Assistance (EA) program provides emergency shelter of varying types to serve the diverse needs of thousands of families and pregnant women across the Commonwealth. On any given night over the past several years, the EA system has sheltered more than three thousand families and pregnant women through a variety of shelter types, including congregate sites, scattered site apartments, co-shelter sites (shared apartments), and, when no other shelter is available, in hotels or motels. . . . DHCD has moved toward a shelter model in which scattered site units have largely replaced hotels and motels because scattered site apartments provide amenities for families that may be absent in many hotel or motel rooms, such as: proper cooking and dishwashing facilities, the ability to safely and securely store medicines that need refrigeration, and safe places within the unit for children to play. . . . We are proud of our work to expand shelter capacity and reduce the reliance on hotels and motels. We have reduced the use of hotels and motels by over 98% over the past four years, placing the vast majority of our clients in higher quality shelter. And, through prevention, diversion, rapid rehousing strategies and increased resources, including HomeBASE, RAFT and MRVP, we have seen an overall reduction in caseload by more than 22% over the last four years. . . . HomeBASE is the Commonwealth's rehousing benefit created to provide families who are in the emergency assistance system an opportunity to overcome some of the financial barriers to ending their homelessness. Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) is a homelessness prevention program funded by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). RAFT provides short-term financial assistance to low-income families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) is the state rental assistance program for eligible low-income residents. . . .

DHCD is appreciative of the positive acknowledgement of our work, including:

• After reviewing a random sample of 450 applications at nine field offices, the audit contained no negative findings regarding DHCD's policy and practices regarding EA eligibility determinations.
• Following visits to 60 shelters to observe their upkeep, the auditors found that 56 (93%) were in good condition and only 4 were dirty, cluttered or in need of repair.
• After reviewing shelter contracts with all 44 provider agencies with which DHCD contracted during fiscal years 2017 and 2018, the audit contained no negative findings regarding the scope of services detailed therein, including contractor goals, intake and case management services to be performed, rehousing and stabilization services, facility upkeep requirements, program requirements for staffing and hours of operation, and operational guidelines.

In view of these positive acknowledgements and the responses to the specific findings set out in this letter, DHCD does not agree with the Auditor's conclusion that the Department does not properly administer its Emergency Housing Assistance program. Even if the specific audit findings were supported by the facts, they do not justify this blanket conclusion about the program as a whole. . . .

• The audit incorrectly states that DHCD does not provide its EA shelter contractors with information as to whether applicants to the EA program have self-identified as registered sex offenders. DHCD routinely provides its shelter contractors with this information. It is the responsibility of these providers, who provide 24/7 staffing for congregate and co-shelter settings, to provide adequate monitoring and security to protect the safety and security of shelter residents. Providers take this responsibility seriously. . . .
• The audit makes a finding regarding registered sex offenders whose "addresses matched addresses of EA program shelters." However, this finding does not match the "authoritative guidance" identified by the audit team which requires notification of EA members who are registered sex offenders, not notification of other registered sex offenders who report the same street address. This distinction is important, because the finding does not attempt to distinguish between congregate shelters and scattered site units (where a shelter unit is located in a private apartment building). DHCD shelter placements are often single units in multi-unit buildings where the rest of the units are occupied by non-EA families. The fact that an address on the SORB registry matches the address of the building does not always mean the offender is an EA participant. Since the audit team has not provided DHCD with the addresses of the units they identified, we have no way to verify whether the offenders are EA participants or instead sex offenders reported to SORB the same address as a building in which a shelter is located. Moreover, if the offender is an EA participant, when that person is in a scattered site unit with no other families present, there is no other family to notify. . . .
• DHCD is obligated to place all eligible EA families into shelter. DHCD's line item language, regulations, and policies do not permit DHCD to exclude a pregnant woman or an entire family from shelter because a household member has sex offender status. . . . Emergency Assistance shelter is provided for the benefit of children, who may themselves be on the sex offender registry.
• When DHCD is aware that a household includes a sex offender, DHCD's general practice is to: a) determine if the sex offender can be separated from the household, or if not, b) place the family in a non-congregate setting. Additionally, prior to a shelter placement, DHCD actively works with the household to divert them from shelter and rapidly rehouse them with HomeBASE funds. . . .
• DHCD already notifies shelter providers when someone in the EA program is a registered sex offender. . . .
• As the audit report implicitly acknowledges, DHCD policy does not require notification of shelters or EA participants about sex offenders who report the same address as an EA shelter or sex offenders. The policy focuses on sex offenders who are also EA participants, and in the rare instances when a sex offender must be placed in a congregate shelter, DHCD notifies the shelter provider in accordance with this policy. While this practice has been effective in ensuring the safety of EA participants, DHCD appreciates the auditor's suggestion to expand the policy to include address matching. DHCD is in the process of reviewing its policies in order to ensure that it is applying best practices to ensure EA participant safety, and will include the auditor's suggestion as part of that review.

DHCD provided the following amendment to its response on May 21, 2019:

Unfortunately, DHCD recently learned of allegations by a parent in the EA system that one of his children was molested by a registered sex offender while the family was in placement at an apartment complex with scattered site shelter units. The alleged offender is not a participant in the EA program, and to the best of our knowledge was not living in the same building as the victims at the time of the assault. Based on searches by both DHCD and the provider leasing the scattered site shelter units, the alleged offender was not listed on the on-line sex offender registry. The parent has pressed charges against the alleged offender, who was arraigned late last week.

This incident reaffirms that DHCD and the families it serves must be vigilant about the safety of children in the EA program, including the risk of sexual assault by persons classified as sex offenders. As recommended by the State Auditor in the draft report, DHCD is in the process of reviewing its policies and practices regarding matters such as when and how the agency should obtain information from the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB); the limitations on what information is available; and what should be done with that information to appropriately manage risk to the safety of EA participants. DHCD intends to meet with relevant public safety stakeholders, including representatives of SORB, to help inform its policy development.

Again, DHCD recognizes the time and commitment taken by your staff to complete this audit, and will take your recommendations into account in developing future protocols. Our top priority is the safety and security of EA participants, and we believe deeply that every family deserves access to safe, quality shelter. We are committed to continually improving the system where necessary to improve the outcomes for our families and pregnant women in shelter.

Auditor’s Reply

Our audit identified several significant deficiencies in DHCD’s administration of its EA program. Consequently, we cannot conclude that the program is properly administered.

Contrary to what DHCD asserts in its response, during our audit DHCD did not provide us with any documentation to substantiate that it provides its EA shelter contractors with the names of family members in the EA program who are registered sex offenders when they are placed in an EA shelter. Neither did DHCD officials dispute this fact during our audit fieldwork. In fact, several members of DHCD management, including DHCD’s director of field operations, assistant director of placement, and assistant undersecretary, actually confirmed that this was not done. Further, DHCD did not request the information we obtained regarding the eight instances in which we found addresses of level 2 or level 3 sex offenders that matched the addresses of EA program shelters.

We do not dispute the fact that if a registered sex offender lives in a scattered site with no other families present, there is no other family to notify. However, our audit testing indicated that this is not always the case; when we compared the addresses of registered sex offenders to those of EA program shelters, we identified one that was a congregate shelter, not a scattered site or hotel.

Although DHCD’s policies do not specifically require DHCD to match shelter addresses to the SORB registry, we believe that such a requirement would better protect families living in DHCD shelters. We therefore urge DHCD to implement our recommendation to adopt a policy that requires it to annually, at a minimum, compare the addresses of the shelters to those of registered sex offenders listed with SORB. If any address matches are found, DHCD should investigate and take the measures it deems appropriate to ensure the safety of EA program participants.

3.    If a person qualifies for EA shelter, DHCD can place them in a shelter with other families (congregate site), an apartment (scattered site), an apartment with another family (co-shelter site), or a hotel.

Date published:	August 28, 2019