After a year of change, a safety net under strain
SPRINGFIELD — This past summer and fall, Springfield's Office of Housing heard reports of families who were sleeping in area parks, said Housing Director Gerry McCafferty.
As the year gave way to winter, she has heard of young children and their parents living in cars, or taking shelter in lobbies of local emergency rooms.
"For the first time ever, we are seeing unsheltered families in Massachusetts," McCafferty said. "That has been something that Massachusetts has never allowed."
The reports come at the end of a year of change for the social safety net in Massachusetts. As the Trump administration took power in Washington, it froze or canceled a slew of funds going to nonprofit agencies, which fill the human services gap across the nation.
But, even before President Trump's targeting of social services, the Healey administration made sweeping changes to the state's shelter system, including declaring a state of emergency, eliminating hotels and motels as overflow sites, and capping the system at 7,500 families.
Over the summer, the president's Big Beautiful Bill instituted changes to SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or the former food stamps. The legislation also mandated that Medicaid recipients either work, go to school or volunteer starting in 2027.
Agencies that work with vulnerable populations describe a social safety net that has long been underfunded and is now facing increased demand, as economic headwinds such as inflation, income inequality and a lack of housing have pushed more people to the edge.
At the same time, the federal government, which has been a dominant contributor to the state's social safety net, is pushing new thinking when it comes to addressing poverty.
"The current administration has a philosophical shift ... away from there being a safety net," McCafferty said. "I think we see much more of a 'People just need to get a job and take care of themselves.'"
At the same time, it's not a sentiment she sees shared by the government of Massachusetts and many of the agencies working in the state, which are trying to maintain their services, she said.
"The message at the state level is, 'We can't afford this,'" McCafferty said.
Philosophies over the social safety net have ebbed and flowed during that time. For instance, the Clinton administration imposed a form of work requirements in the mid-'90s.
Regarding the changes made in the last few months, McCafferty said, "I've never seen this level of pullback from the safety net."
McCafferty has worked in social services since the late 1980s.
Luz Mercado, a lead volunteer with The Gray House, works with other volunteers to give food to area residents Thursday. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Changes to the shelter system
It's been almost a year ago since Gov. Maura Healey sent a letter to the Legislature proposing a slew of changes to the state's shelter system.
For years, the state has made certain promises to residents living on the edge: Fall on hard times and the social safety net will catch you. It was part of the social safety net, society's insurance policy for those living on the edge, something that was codified into law in Massachusetts in the 1980s as a right to shelter.
That was before a 2023 immigration crisis hit the Bay State.
Costs to run the shelter ballooned as the state accepted an influx of migrants , filling up hotels and costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars .
In May, a report by the Office of the State Auditor found widespread use of no-bid contracts ran up high bills and unnecessary costs.
Healey proposed at the beginning of the year a slew of changes, requiring people seeking shelter to provide documents proving they were residents of the state and capping their stays, for instance. The number of people in the shelter system fell below 5,000 families in April. As of Aug. 1, Healey's administration declared the state of emergency in the shelter system over.
This week, 1,671 families were enrolled in the system, according to state data.
The TCM Food Pantry in Springfield saw an increase of roughly 100 recipients at the end of October and early November. A volunteer at the pantry said that they're worried that if the numbers keep rising, they won't be able to meet demand. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Changes to food assistance
During the federal government shutdown, the Trump administration made moves to suspend payments for SNAP. An official figure on how many Americans were affected by the delay in benefits is still unknown, as the numbers are still coming in, said Andrew Morehouse, director of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, weeks ago, as lines formed around local food pantries, their managers described running out of staples like peanut butter.
"At the end of the day, though, no state can rebalance the loss of these federal funds," Healey said last month when she toured the food bank's facility in Chicopee, "whether you're talking about Head Start child care centers or assistance for people trying to heat their homes, and low-income folks and seniors, or whether you're talking about food benefits."
Morehouse said in an interview this week that the federal government has been a primary contributor to the social safety net, and should it stop, neither the states nor food pantries and meal sites can fill the need.
A loss of funding, Morehouse said, is a "recipe for disaster."
"That's what we're on the brink of right now, I fear," he said. "And the government shutdown was just a harbinger of what's to come."
The federal changes to the SNAP program will slash the number of people receiving the benefits in Massachusetts, advocates say. While about a million people rely on the program for food — including half of Springfield residents — the changes that Congress made to the program over the summer will mean 110,000 Massachusetts residents will be excluded from the program, according to Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, in part by imposing a work requirement on recipients.
As part of the Big Beautiful Bill, the state needs to pick up more of its costs managing SNAP. At the same time, the state's system has a 14.1% error rate, according to the federal government. Under the new law, the state will have to have to pay a percentage of the benefits if it does not lower its rate of error.
Five-year-old Christian went to the TCM Food Pantry with his mother on Nov. 4. (Douglas Hook / The Republican, File)Douglas Hook
A legal fight for funding
Under the Trump administration, Massachusetts was set to lose $3.25 billion in funding going toward the social safety net, according to the Attorney General's Office. Through its litigation, the courts have kept all but $250 million flowing to the state so far, with the Trump administration bound by a preliminary injunction in many cases, according to the office.
Among the lawsuits pursued by the AG's Office, the state has challenged the U.S. Department of Agriculture's requirement that it hand over data regarding SNAP recipients to the federal government, part of the Trump administration's effort to limit access to some services based on immigration status.
On Dec. 19, a hearing is set in Rhode Island over the Trump administration's efforts to cancel funding for the Continuum of Care, which goes toward addressing homelessness. Campbell's office is part of the effort challenging the changes in court.
Campbell's lawsuits appear to be a key part to the Healey administration's efforts to push back against the changes coming out of Washington.
"While President Trump is taking away the assistance people rely on to feed their families, forcing millions of Americans to lose health care, and increasing the cost of everything, Massachusetts is stepping up to protect our residents," Healey said in a statement. "We will continue to work with Attorney General Campbell to oppose President Trump's actions that hurt our residents."
Her office pointed to a slew of actions her administration took over the last few months to bolster the social safety net, such as increasing the budget at the Department of Transitional Assistance to better handle the administrative changes that the Trump administration imposed on the states. When it came to health care, the governor capped deductibles and co-pays , and made both birth control and prenatal vitamins free for members of MassHealth and patients of the state's Health Safety Net.
The state is one of the few in the nation to also chip in money for Head Start programs, according to her office, and the Healey administration increased that amount, as well.
When it came to taxes, she instituted a high child tax credit — the highest in the nation, her office said.
The Gray House Executive Director Isabella Brady-Prankus sorts through the donations of toys on Thursday to be given out to shelters and other organizations supporting children during the winter holidays. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
On the ground
For Isabella Brady-Prankus, executive director at The Gray House, even something as small as bus fare could help people access aid. For the last several months, the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority has made bus fares free, something that "helped tremendously" for the 550 people who show up weekly at the transitional home for food. The Gray House, Brady-Prankus said, helps bridge the gap for people whose food assistance doesn't fully cover their needs. Some will take two buses to reach the house.
"I started a couple years before they did that, and I noticed that there was a big difference in who's coming, especially in the winter or on rough days," Brady-Prankus said.
Kevin Ramsdell, executive director and CEO of Springfield Rescue Mission, said the need has increased at his organization about 55% since last year. The mission has served some people who fled the war in Ukraine and people from Puerto Rico whose homes were destroyed by a hurricane. Some Holyoke residents whose homes were destroyed by recent apartment fires there turned to the mission for clothes, he said.
People's personal safety nets have eroded, he said, and what savings they have are used up.
"I think most people now don't have that safety net anymore," Ramsdell said. "At least that's what we're hearing because, again, the economy and the price increases in just about everything from food for groceries ... your utility bills and everything associated with that insurance costs have skyrocketed."
Ramsdell said the Springfield Rescue Mission, a faith-based organization that takes no federal funding, has seen local churches interested in helping. Volunteers have stepped up. And some churches have taken an interest in opening pantries, too.
Another Gilded Age?
Joya Misra, a sociology and public policy professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst, said other wealthy countries don't have a system like SNAP for food assistance.
Rather, many offer sustained anti-poverty programs that provide benefits to those unable to work, according to Misra, who focuses on comparing the U.S. welfare system with other countries.
"I do think that we're in another Gilded Age," Mirsa said, comparing the current day to the Industrial Age. "I do see us in a moment now where tech companies are basically creating the economy that will ensure that they earn as much as possible. And unfortunately, that is not necessarily ever, ever gonna trickle down to everyday workers."
For McCafferty, Springfield's housing and homelessness director, the question what happens next will be answered at the end of a national conversation.
"I think that we have to decide if this is really what we want, you know, and I think it will depend on future elections," she said.
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