policy
Gov. Maura Healey said Friday the state will conduct comprehensive criminal background checks on all shelter residents, saying she requested a more thorough check months ago however the checks never took place.
Briefing from reportersHealey said she issued an order last spring to require Massachusetts criminal record checks (CORI checks) on all residents within the state's shelter system. However, she said her team recently informed her “that this has not happened at all locations, and that is completely unacceptable.”
Healey added: “We will get to the bottom of why that didn’t happen.”
Her government's handling of the protection system is under scrutiny, particularly after two high-profile incidents last yr. In March, a person was accused of raping a 15-year-old girl at a Rockland migrant shelter. And last month, an undocumented immigrant was allegedly found with an assault rifle and fentanyl at a shelter in Revere.
reported Thursday that despite assurances from the Healey administration of a radical vetting process, the state has not conducted full criminal background checks on all shelter residents. Noah Bombard, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, told Boston.com that the state has at all times conducted background checks on applicants for its emergency housing program and conducted monthly warrant checks.
Healey clarified Friday that the state is conducting CORI checks on residents of so-called overflow sites, where many newcomers to Massachusetts have been sent. She also noted that as well as to go looking warrants, all residents of the house were also subject to a Sex Offender Registry Information (SORI) check.
Earlier this week, Healey called for a full inspection of all shelters after Leonardo Andujar Sanchez was arrested on drug and weapons violations on the shelter in Revere. She said Friday that the state has accomplished inspections of hotels used as lodging facilities and expects to finish work on the remaining sites “very soon.”
Healey said she has asked former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis to steer an independent, external review of the protective system and report on any additional security measures needed.
“I also plan to work with the Legislature to review any changes and make changes to better ensure that the Right to Housing Act is actually consistent with its original intent,” Healey said, referring to the law that requires the state to supply shelter to homeless families and pregnant women.
She argued the Right to Housing Act was not designed to cover the “waves and waves of people” who’ve arrived in Massachusetts in recent times.
“We will continue to work on it and get it right,” Healey promised. “It’s important to me as governor and it’s important to the safety and well-being of communities across Massachusetts.”
image credit : www.boston.com