马萨诸塞州如何花费近 10 亿美元为无家可归的家庭和移民提供庇护

【中美创新时报2024 年 4 月 19 日编译讯】《波士顿环球报》对合同的审查发现，在争夺容纳数千名移民家庭的过程中，马萨诸塞州希利政府批准了数十份仓促安排的合同，透明度极低，有时在没有竞争性投标的情况下发出数百万美元的交易。《波士顿环球报》记者Stephanie Ebbert 和 Deirdre Fernandes对此作了下述详细报道。

这些文件是应《波士顿环球报》公共记录要求而提供的，这提供了一个窗口，让人们了解马萨诸塞州为数千个无家可归家庭提供的快速而零碎的安置方式，其范围之广令人惊叹，其中大约一半是从美国边境南部地区来到马萨诸塞州的移民。 

马萨诸塞州目前正在为 7,499 个家庭（约 23,000 人）提供住房、食物和照顾。

马萨诸塞州本财年将花费约 9.32 亿美元（三倍于预算）为无家可归家庭提供紧急避难所。立法者们正在谈判明年的预算——预计成本将再次超过 9 亿美元——仍在努力寻找资金来偿还今年的账单。

《波士顿环球报》审查了近 80 份州合同，以及各个酒店和供应商最近的发票。该州政府机构尚未向《波士顿环球报》提供一些合同，其成本已反映在这些总额中。仍然缺少与国民警卫队的协议，国民警卫队为 75 家用作避难所的酒店中的 21 家提供工作人员，并为罗克斯伯里的 Melnea A. Cass 休闲中心和前剑桥法院等地的大型避难所提供工作人员。州政府将家庭庇护所系统的家庭数量限制在 7,500 个家庭之后。

事实上，州官员根本不愿意提供有关庇护所系统的太多透明度。他们限制媒体访问，并拒绝提供用作庇护所的酒店的地址甚至名称。他们指出了他们必须采取行动的速度以及对保护家庭隐私的担忧；去年夏天，新纳粹分子在一些避难所举行了示威活动。

但缺乏透明度也意味着监管机构无法让政府对资金的使用方式或目前在其照顾下的移民的生活条件负责。

州合同禁止酒店经营者向媒体谈论庇护计划、州住房机构或住在其建筑中的家庭。一些城市官员对当地酒店突然出现的避难所感到不安，几乎没有公开通知或透明度。

汤顿市市长肖娜·奥康奈尔 (Shaunna O’Connell) 表示，她反对将整个 Clarion 酒店变成避难所，并于去年春天致电酒店管理层告知了他们这一点。 “但我不知道的是，他们已经与政府签订了合同并制定了所有细节，”她说。“我们不喜欢……汤顿唯一一家酒店被关闭。”

合同显示，在急于迅速寻找庇护所的过程中，政府直接与大约十几家酒店公司进行了谈判，而不是像通常那样依赖社会服务团体寻找庇护所。酒店和非营利组织通常在与州政府充分谈判和签署供应商合同之前就开始为家庭提供住房，并帮助他们报名参加健康检查和公共福利。

应对移民危机住房和宜居社区执行办公室发言人凯文·康纳 (Kevin Connor) 表示：“由于联邦政府不作为，我们的政府不得不迅速采取行动，为数量空前的有需要的家庭提供食物、住所和其他服务。” 该办公室在没有竞争性投标的情况下签署了至少四份合同，引发了人们对州政府对这项每年近 10 亿美元的纳税人努力的严格管理程度的质疑。

“我认为这里根本没有太多监督，”斯宾塞共和党参议员彼得·J·杜兰特(Peter J. Durant)说，他在就移民危机进行竞选活动后于11月翻转了参议院席位。他质疑为什么有些合同是在没有竞争性招标的情况下发出的。

“我们可以了解这些成本的透明度在哪里？” 杜兰特说道。

最大的无投标合同是一份价值 1000 万美元、为期 8 个月的合同，签订的是东波士顿一家名为 Spinelli’s 的餐厅和餐饮设施，为 30 多个避难所提供餐食。Spinelli 的所有者 Rita Roberto 一直是一位积极的政治捐助者，自 2019 年以来，她和其他公司高管已向州长 Maura Healey 和副州长 Kim Driscoll 捐赠了 7,550 美元。Roberto 没有回复置评的电话和电子邮件。

一名州官员表示，不涉及政治考虑，他们的首要任务是养活无家可归的儿童。

康纳说：“这是一家长期的国家供应商，已与多个政府部门签订了服务合同，特别是在新冠疫情期间，他们被要求提供紧急服务。”

其他无投标合同签订的是位于特鲁罗的 Mercedes Cab 公司，该州截至 6 月份将支付 680 万美元的运输服务费用；United Way 向其他庇护所提供者提供 500 万美元的赠款；Ascentria Community Services 是一家位于伍斯特的机构，以 946,000 美元的价格提供为期六个月的全方位庇护所服务。

在征收当地酒店客房入住税的城镇中，州政府将承担 90 天以下住宿的费用，并对因客房租金损失而导致酒店客房消费税下降的社区进行补偿。一份合同修正案显示，州政府同意向沃本市支付 127,935 美元的税款。

一位发言人证实，州政府官员在签署合同或安置家庭入住之前并没有对每家酒店进行检查。城镇有权对酒店进行许可，合同要求酒店遵守所有地方、州和联邦法规。但地方政策并不总是得到遵守。布莱顿的记录显示，布莱顿的一家汽车旅馆——天主教慈善旅馆去年从未接受过检查。它的检查证书在去年夏天作为避难所开放几周后就过期了。州政府为每个家庭的汽车旅馆房间和社会服务支付每晚 345 美元的费用，直到最近，在众多客人投诉后，大楼因霉菌泛滥而被疏散。州卫生法规要求所有住宅建筑必须防水且无霉菌。

合同显示，与酒店住宿相关的额外费用也会增加开支。在埃弗里特，除了酒店房间和帮助注册社会服务外，纳税人还收取杂费：床单服务、会议室租赁、额外的垃圾收集和紧急警报修复，今年早些时候的总额达到 一个月的费用约为25,600美元。

在汤顿，市政府官员起诉该酒店未能达到最初的入住限制并支付相应的罚款，该州正在支付私人保安人员和汤顿警察局人员在酒店巡逻的费用。根据发票显示，每个无家可归家庭每月的住宿费、食物费和案件管理服务费为 214 美元，此外，每月还需要支付大约 10 万美元。

马萨诸塞州有一项独特的庇护权法，保证为有儿童和孕妇的家庭提供临时住房和服务，包括合法寻求庇护的新抵达该国的人。

这些数字从去年夏天开始飙升。到了 8 月，希利宣布进入紧急状态，并出动了多达 250 名国民警卫队成员，将酒店改造成避难所。

林恩非营利组织 Centerboard 提供庇护所、金融研讨会和青年指导，其首席执行官马克·德乔伊 (Mark DeJoie) 表示，州和社会服务机构必须迅速采取行动，确保家庭有地方住，并且孩子们不会挨饿。

“没有这方面的计划。每个人都尽可能快地前进，”德乔伊说。 “有一段时间，所有人都齐心协力。”

州政府聘请了 Centerboard 作为中间人，负责接收和支付各个餐馆和餐饮服务商的账单，这些餐厅和餐饮服务商将食物运送到其他避难所，但并未与州政府直接签订合同，这表明了这一努力是多么草率。他说，中心委员会随后向州政府开具账单，并“尽我们所能”核实其他地点交付的食品是否与支付的账单相符。

“肯定会犯一些错误，”德乔伊说。 “无论是国家还是其他提供商，任何地方都没有任何组织可以做到我们所做的事情。”

题图：一月份，在州政府为无家可归家庭开设更多避难所之前，移民们在洛根机场 E 航站楼过夜。DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF

附原英文报道：

How Massachusetts spent nearly $1 billion sheltering homeless families and migrants

By Stephanie Ebbert and Deirdre Fernandes Globe Staff,Updated April 19, 2024  

In the scramble to accommodate thousands of migrant families, the Healey administration has approved scores of hastily arranged contracts with little transparency, sometimes handing out multimillion-dollar deals without competitive bids, a Globe review of contracts found.

The documents, provided in response to Globe public records requests, offer a window into the breath-taking scope of the state’s rapid and often piecemeal approach to accommodating thousands of homeless families — about half of them migrants who made their way to Massachusetts from the southern US border.

The state is now housing, feeding, and caring for 7,499 families — around 23,000 people.

Massachusetts will spend about $932 million — three times what was budgeted — on emergency shelters for homeless families this fiscal year. Lawmakers negotiating next year’s budget — when the cost is again expected to surpass $900 million — are still trying to find the money to pay off this year’s tab.

The Globe reviewed nearly 80 state contracts, as well as recent invoices from individual hotels and providers. State agencies have not yet provided the Globe some contracts whose costs are reflected in those totals. Still missing are agreements with the National Guard, which provides staffing in 21 of the 75 hotels being used as shelters, and for the large overflow shelters in places like the Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex in Roxbury and a former Cambridge courthouse, which were established after the state capped the family shelter system at 7,500 families.

State officials have, in fact, been reluctant to provide much transparency at all about the shelter system. They have restricted visits by the media and declined to provide the addresses or even the names of the hotels being used as shelters. They point to the speed with which they had to act and also concerns about protecting families’ privacy; neo-Nazis staged demonstrations at some shelters last summer.

But the lack of transparency also means watchdogs cannot hold the administration accountable for how the money is spent or for the living conditions of the migrants now within their care.

Hotel operators are prohibited by state contracts from speaking to the media about the shelter program, the state’s housing agency, or the families staying in their buildings. And some city officials were upset by the sudden appearance of shelters in their local hotels, with little public notice or transparency.

Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell said she was opposed to turning the entire Clarion Hotel into a shelter and called the hotel management last spring to tell them so. ”But unknown to me they had already been contracting with the state and working out all the details,” she said. “We did not appreciate … the only hotel in Taunton being shut down.”

In the rush to find shelter quickly, the contracts indicate, the state negotiated deals directly with about a dozen hotel companies, instead of relying, as it usually does, on social services groups to find shelter accommodations. Hotels and nonprofits often began housing families and helping them sign up for health checkups and public benefits before their vendor contracts with the state were fully negotiated and inked.

“Due to federal inaction, our administration has had to move quickly to provide food, shelter, and other services to unprecedented numbers of families in need,” said Kevin Connor, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, which is leading the response to the migrant crisis. That office issued at least four contracts without competitive bids, raising questions about how rigorously the state has managed this nearly $1 billion a year taxpayer endeavor.

“I don’t think there’s been much oversight at all here,” said Senator Peter J. Durant, a Spencer Republican who flipped a Senate seat in November after campaigning on the migrant crisis. He questioned why some contracts were handed out without competitive bidding.

“Where’s that transparency so we can understand these costs?” said Durant.

The largest no-bid contract, a $10 million, eight-month deal, went to an East Boston restaurant and catering facility called Spinelli’s, to deliver meals to more than 30 shelter sites. Spinelli’s owner Rita Roberto has been an active political donor, and she and other company executives have given $7,550 to Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll since 2019. Roberto did not respond to calls and emails for comment.

A state official said political considerations were not involved and that their top priority was to feed homeless children.

“This is a long-time state vendor that has been contracted for services over multiple administrations, particularly during COVID when they were called upon to provide emergency services,” said Connor.

Other no-bid contracts went to Mercedes Cab, a Truro-based company that the state is paying $6.8 million through June for transportation services; United Way to provide $5 million in grants to other shelter providers; and Ascentria Community Services, a Worcester-based agency that provided wrap-around shelter services for just over six months for $946,000.

In cities and towns that charge local hotel room occupancy taxes, the state is picking up the tab for stays under 90 days and reimbursing communities whose hotel room excise taxes dropped as a result of lost room rentals. One contract amendment shows the state agreeing to pay the city of Woburn $127,935 in taxes.

State officials did not inspect each hotel before signing contracts or placing families in them, a spokesman confirmed. Cities and towns have authority over licensing the hotels, which are required by contract to comply with all local, state, and federal codes. But local policies were not always followed. One Brighton motel, the Catholic Charities Inn, was never inspected last year, city records show. Its inspection certificate expired just a few weeks after it opened as a shelter last summer. The state was paying $345 a night for each family’s motel room and social services, until recently, when — after complaints from numerous guests — the building was evacuated due to a mold infestation. The state sanitary code calls for all residential buildings to be watertight and free of the appearance of mold.

Additional costs associated with hotel living also drive up expenses, the contracts show. In Everett, in addition to the hotel room and help with signing up for social services, taxpayers are also picking up incidentals: linen service, a meeting room rental, extra trash pickup, and an emergency alarm fix, earlier this year came to a total cost of about $25,600 one month.

In Taunton, where city officials have sued the hotel for failing to initially meet occupancy limits and pay the corresponding fines, the state is footing the bill for private security guards and Taunton Police Department details to patrol the site. The tab? About $100,000 a month, according to invoices, on top of the $214 daily rate for shelter, food, and case management services for each homeless family.

Massachusetts has a unique right-to-shelter law that guarantees temporary housing and services to families with children and those who are pregnant, including new arrivals in the country who are lawfully seeking asylum.

Those numbers began to soar last summer. By August, Healey declared an emergency and activated up to 250 National Guard members to staff hotels being repurposed as shelters.

Mark DeJoie, the chief executive officer of Centerboard, a Lynn nonprofit that provides shelter, financial workshops, and youth mentoring, said state and social services agencies had to act quickly to ensure families had somewhere to stay and that children weren’t going hungry.

“There wasn’t a plan for this. Everybody was going as fast as they could,” DeJoie said. “For a while, it was every hand on deck.”

As a sign of how slapdash the effort was, the state pulled in Centerboard as a middleman to receive and pay bills from individual restaurants and caterers that delivered food to other shelter sites but weren’t directly contracted with the state. Centerboard then billed the state and verified “to the extent we could” that the food delivered at other sites matched the bills paid, he said.

“There were mistakes that were going to be made,” DeJoie said. “There is no organization anywhere, the state and other providers, that could have done what we did.”