- Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
BOSTON — The Biden-Harris administration has selected Massachusetts as one of eight states to participate in a new federal initiative, the Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator. The initiative, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will improve participating state’s ability to access and deploy resources to help people find and maintain stable housing.
Massachusetts plans to use the Accelerator to create a map of housing-related services for people experiencing homelessness, to explore the ways that Medicaid and other federal funding can be leveraged in the implementation of a permanent supportive housing pool and to study the costs of building a permanent supportive housing program in the state
The Accelerator will be a collaborative effort across state agencies, with partnership between the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, MassHealth, substance addiction services, elder services and others.
“The high cost of housing in Massachusetts most directly affects our residents experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness,” said Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Edward Augustus. “We are grateful for the opportunity to be selected to participate in HHS and HUD’s Housing Services and Partnership Accelerator which will help to guide EOHLC and MassHealth by advancing innovative solutions to ensure older adults and peoples with disabilities have access to both safe housing and supportive services.”
“Housing stability, quality, safety, and affordability all affect health outcomes and that is why MassHealth is committed to supporting housing-related services for our members,” said Assistant Secretary for MassHealth Mike Levine. “By participating in the Housing Services and Partnership Accelerator, we hope to better serve our members experiencing homelessness and housing instability.”
“The Housing Services and Partnership Accelerator reflects Massachusetts’ whole-of-government approach to leverage federal dollars that address our state’s most pressing needs.” said Director of Federal Funds and Infrastructure Quentin Palfrey. “We are grateful to President Biden, Secretary Becerra, Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman, and former Secretary Fudge for this selection, and will continue to work diligently to secure federal resources that invest in Massachusetts.”
The Accelerator initiative will be a 12-month program, where Massachusetts will receive in-depth technical assistance from HUD and HHS to support the implementation of services.