May 15, Report to the Board of Selectman Social Service PILOT and Comparative Impact Study Committee

May 15, Agenda Recommendations Findings Conclusions

May 15, Human Service Coordinator Create Professional position as advocate for Framingham in the social service delivery system Reports directly to Town Manager and Selectman Role may also include: –Assist Board of Selectmen in developing and implementing social policy –Assist Board in revamping bylaws and enforcement –Oversight of all programs and sites in Framingham –Liaison between Framingham, agencies and state –Tabulate information and statistics, including growth of property values and income distribution –Source of knowledge of laws and system Framingham has never had a town employee charged with addressing impact and growth of social services

May 15, Create a PILOT Board of Selectman authorize Assessor to design and implement PILOT PILOT is voluntary, but … –Agencies benefit from town services –Agencies have investment in Framingham Town may negotiate services from the agencies in exchange for payment –A tool for compromise, not starting point

May 15, Join Coalition of Communities Local Officials Human Service Council (LOHSC) Work for pre-notification of site proposals Lobby State for Cherry Sheet funding for host communities –Direct compensation for hosting State contracts –Full school cost reimbursement for qualifying McKinney-Vento Students based on State Charter School calculations: 2004 =$1.63M Engage others –State, Community and Agency leaders

May 15, Address Funding Disparity

May 15, Other Recommendations Regulate or close the wet shelter –Waltham closed their wet shelter –Barnstable refused sex offenders Strict regulations that apply to any new wet shelter – single or group Ensure de-tox facilities serve town residents and have Police oversight Count all units towards 40B

May 15, Findings

May 15, Findings on Social Service Sites A site is a social service facility - single family home, lodging house, condominium, office, or several buildings assessed as a single parcel Framingham had 34 sites in 1990 and 244 sites in 2006 –Growth of over 600% SMOC has 387 program based Section 8 units in Framingham Framingham has strong and extensive ‘Continuum of Care’ network Significant number of clients come from outside Framingham, according to agencies

May 15, Comparative Communities Group 1 – Contiguous Ashland, Marlborough, Natick, Sherborn, Southborough, Sudbury, Wayland Group 2 – HUD PMSA and Population ,000 Arlington, Beverly, Brookline, Cambridge, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Newton, Peabody, Plymouth, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, Taunton, Waltham, Weymouth

May 15, Inventory of Sites – Group 1 CommunitySites* Sherborn1 Southborough2 Wayland3 Sudbury4 Ashland10 Natick21 Marlborough34 Framingham244 * The social service sites counted and listed are dependent upon the definition that has been used consistently throughout the study.

May 15, Inventory of Sites – Group 2 Community Sites* Brookline22 Weymouth30 Peabody32 Salem38 Taunton41 Malden43 Waltham46 Beverly53 Quincy101 Lynn132 Framingham244 * The social service sites counted and listed are dependent upon the definition that has been used consistently throughout the study.

May 15, Framingham has not Participated State provides funds and clients but has little accountability to towns Framingham has not been engaged –Representation in the system lacking –“Unofficial Levers” - licensing and permits, awarding of grant funds, relationships with agencies and state - not used effectively Care system not transparent Limited enforcement of existing bylaws Current bylaws do not address all concerns

May 15, Real Data, Real Questions Framingham pays $500,000+ for LIFT Lower property growth than other towns Property Study shows long-term growth impacted by proximity to sites –Agency claims of ‘no impact’ refuted Lower income growth than other towns Demographic shifts –Overall population grew by 3% –Low-moderate income population grew 12% –No change in over 60 population Does Continuum of Care system contribute to these observed effects?

May 15, Property Tax Impact Human Service Coordinator$100,000 Professional Grant Writer$50,000 3 Police Officers$195,000 Resiliency for Life$90,000 1 Fire Officer$65,000 Total$500,000 Framingham waives $515,751 tax FY2006 Estimated FY2007 waiver over $600,000 due to anticipated conversions to exempt status Impact on taxes small - $15/year for $300K But, what could $500,000 do for Framingham?

May 15, Direct Impact on Schools Benchmark expenditure is $1.63M for 155 students qualifying under McKinney-Vento (2004 numbers) –Discussed on March 22 with Dr. Martes and Anna Cross –87 students from committee’s list of site addresses –20 students live in shelters outside but attend FPS. We do pay school costs –Remaining addresses confidential Additional 22 students live in Framingham shelters –Do not attend FPS – we do not pay school costs Transportation costs not provided, may be significant Use of school information in Final Report discussed, voted and passed 8-2 on April 18, 2006 –Dr. Martes, Anna Cross and Pam Kaufman re-confirmed this information was correct on May 8, 2006 Use of Benchmarking number for expenditure follows protocol established by the state for Charter Schools Need to update impact estimate with 2005 M-V student count when available from School Department

May 15, Other Direct Impacts 6% of fire calls from 144 social service sites Demand for Framingham Housing Authority services impacts both our needs assessment and daily operations of the FHA Library is becoming day site for homeless Arrests throughout town linked to wet shelter –70%-90% clients have criminal records –70% clients not from Framingham area At least 6 active criminal justice programs –Re-entry transitional and permanent housing –Violent Offender Incarceration/Truth In Sentencing –Other services for released offenders

May 15, Prisoner Re-Entry - Cause for Concern From a recent agency contract application: Housing Specialists have developed creative housing search techniques to address high risk, difficult to place offender subgroups, for example arsonists and sex offenders In specific cases, Housing Specialists turn to non-traditional housing venues as a viable alternative for offenders. Private SRO’s (single room occupancy) and rooming houses where C.O.R.I. checks are not required are an enormous resource for placing their specific populations. “People are being released from prison by the department of correction and being brought into our community because there are social services agencies here that serve them in the community.” --Police Chief Carl

May 15, In Summary Hire professional Administrator to advocate for Framingham Authorize the assessor to create and implement a PILOT Join coalition of communities - lobby State Address grant and aid funding disparity Regulate or close the wet shelter Strict regulations for any future wet shelter Ensure any de-tox serves Framingham residents and has police oversight Count all units towards 40B

May 15, Conclusions Framingham is not represented in system Framingham needs clear Social Policy Framingham needs transparency Framingham needs a professional administrator Framingham must act now Our recommendations will ensure that you, our leaders, can effectively direct Framingham’s future

May 15, Questions?

May 15, Back Up Slides

May 15, Median Family and Household Income

May 15, Framingham Population Shifts Age DiffChange < 1914,65915,9321,2739% ,14927, % ,00912,2972,28823% ,17711,187100% Overall64,94466,9101,9163% “The proportion of low-moderate income people has grown from 28% in 1990 to 39% in 2000.” --Framingham Community Development Plan This is an increase of about 8,000 people in the low-moderate income category Population changes

May 15, Wet Shelter is a Problem “It was opened to help people. But there is a dark side to everything that happens. The dark side to the shelter is its negative impact on crime, disorder and fear of crime in the town.” --Chief of Police Carl An analysis of the home addresses of those arrested in Framingham between 7/2005-3/2006 shows that 15% had the wet shelter listed as their home address --Final Report

May 15, Arrests in Framingham From Chief Carl’s Presentation to Board of Selectmen, 11/15/05

May 15, The Wet Shelter is a Factor *From Chief Carl’s Presentation to Board of Selectmen, November 15, % of wet shelter clients are from outside of the Framingham area*

May 15, Financial Findings - Non-Profits Financial Stability –Financial consideration is intended to ensure that the state is investing in a viable organization Deficits –By definition, Non-Profits have no profit –State contracts require full spending –Local agencies said they avoid deficits Social Service Non-Profits are big business –$1.2B from EOHHS statewide –Additional funds spent from other State agencies –Framingham has many agencies, large and small

May 15, Motions on School Information Motions to exclude all school data were rejected by the committee On April 18, a motion to accept all school information received to date passed 8-2 –Included 155 M-V students and benchmarking costs –SPED data noted as not available on that date On April 24, a motion to state in Final Report that “information is not available” to determine SPED impact. This passed –Discussion shows scope limited to SPED Use of school information was confirmed on 5/8 with Dr Martes and Anna Cross