Committee approves Chipman bill to define homelessness and provide emergency assistance
A bill introduced by Sen. Ben Chipman, D-Portland, to improve the General Assistance program by defining homelessness as an emergency condition received a 6-5 vote in favor of its passage in the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday.
As amended, Sen. Chipman’s bill LD 1109, “An Act To Clarify Homelessness as an Emergency for General Assistance” would define homelessness and clarify that the state of homelessness is an emergency, making the person experiencing homelessness immediately eligible for General Assistance in their hometown.
“Homeless residents are being forced to leave their communities, families, and support networks in search of emergency assistance because of different interpretation of the General Assistance guidelines,” said Sen. Chipman. “This bill will provide clarity for GA administrators and prevent those who experience homelessness from being denied help from the town they reside in.”
Sen. Chipman worked together with a group of officials from the Maine Municipal Association, welfare directors, and municipal General Assistance administrators to develop the language for the amended bill.
General Assistance is a last-resort emergency form of assistance used to cover the cost of housing and other essential services for Maine families at immediate risk of destitution or homelessness. Homelessness, however, isn’t clearly defined in statute today. Currently, a General Assistance administrator in a municipality can turn down an applicant for General Assistance because of this lack of clarity.
Under current law, some municipalities homeless residents to municipalities with homeless shelters, such as Portland or Waterville, instead of providing General Assistance. This takes people away from their hometown, their families and other support systems, and their employment. It also shifts the financial burden of providing assistance to the municipality with the shelter.
Portland operates both the state’s largest adult shelter and largest family shelter. Both are currently at maximum capacity. In March 2017, 34 percent of new intakes at the Oxford Street Shelter — people checking in for the first time — identified themselves as having resided somewhere other than Portland. For the year prior (March 2016 to March 2017) 33 percent of all individuals using the Oxford Street Shelter identified this way.
LD 1109 now heads to the Senate for initial votes.