Healey administration to end use of Logan as de facto shelter

Sleeping overnight at Logan International Airport will be prohibited starting next month, and some eligible families on a waitlist for emergency assistance shelter will be directed to a new facility in Norfolk, the Healey administration announced Friday.

Starting July 9, the ban on sleeping at Logan takes effect, ending a practice that has become common amid a sharp increase in migrants coming to Massachusetts and a lack of available shelter space, despite the state's right-to-shelter law.

Earlier this week, Healey sent officials to the U.S.-Mexico border, to send a message that the state’s shelters are full.

At a news conference Friday she said, “So we've given, I think, enough lead time to work with case managers and service providers in finding new locations for people." And, she added, "We've also made clear to those who might think about coming to Massachusetts, that we're not going to be able to provide housing, nor are you going to be able to stay at Logan airport anymore.”

Healey acknowledged the humanitarian crisis leading people to Massachusetts, but said the state has done more than it’s fair share in response.

Families now sleeping at the airport who are on a waitlist to access the emergency assistance shelter program will be offered a chance to transfer to safety-net shelters intended to accommodate overflow, officials said. Those sites will include a site that opened in Norfolk this week, which the administration said will accommodate up to 140 families.

Healey last year imposed a cap of 7,500 families in the emergency shelter system at one time, and Massachusetts has consistently had a waitlist of shelter-seekers above that threshold since then. Lawmakers and Healey also agreed to limit families to nine months in the system with some extensions available.

As of June 13, Massachusetts had 272 families, or 919 people, in overflow shelter sites, according to a report filed with lawmakers.

"The administration has worked diligently in recent months to increase the number of families leaving shelter into more stable housing. With this progress, the recent opening of a new safety-net site in Norfolk and the new nine-month length of stay policy, we are now in a position to end the practice of families staying overnight in the airport," said Scott Rice, Healey's point person on the shelter crisis, in a statement. "This is in the best interest of families and travelers and staff at Logan, as the airport is not an appropriate place for people to seek shelter."

Rice was part of the delegation that went to Texas this week. His statement also said the state plans to continue to spread the word that Massachusetts is out of shelter space "and that, if families are travelling to Massachusetts, they need to be prepared with a plan for housing that does not include Logan Airport or our Emergency Assistance shelters."

WBUR's Simon Rios contributed to this report.