Publications
This handbook provides practical information about tenants’ rights in private housing — housing that is owned by an individual or a privately-owned company.
An indispensable handbook for all who need to know about the SNAP program in Massachusetts.
This Guide answers questions about applications, eligibility, benefits, and appeals in the unemployment insurance (UI) process.
An Advocate’s Guide to the Massachusetts Welfare Rules for Families
This Guide helps advocates through the maze of Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) rules and regulations.
A Guide to Emergency Shelter and Rehousing Services for Homeless Families with Children in Massachusetts
This Guide leads advocates and homeless families through the rules governing eligibility for Emergency Assistance.
An Advocate’s Guide to the Massachusetts ConnectorCare Program
This Guide is designed for advocates helping low- and moderate-income clients who are not eligible for MassHealth, but may qualify for the ConnectorCare program.
This Guide is designed to assist low-income residents and their advocates in navigating government-funded housing programs in Massachusetts.
This policy brief describes advocacy strategies and state options to increase SNAP enrollment and retention. It shares approaches to reduce state administrative costs, and barriers to SNAP participation for older adults.
Evicted for Life highlights how publicly available eviction court record information is harming tenants and exacerbating the housing crisis, as well as policy recommendations to mitigate and reduce these harms.
A study by MLRI finds that the policies of many Massachusetts school districts towards families with unpaid school meal debt can be punitive towards children in low income households.
by Susan R. Elsen
This report addresses how Massachusetts can reform specific policies to advance its commitment to kinship foster care and achieve a higher number of good kinship placements, especially for children of color.
by Susan R. Elsen
If Not Now, When? lays out a blueprint and a set of recommendations that outline how Massachusetts can regain its position as an innovator in promoting child welfare, and how it can reconfigure its programs and services to best serve fragile families and children.
by Ruth Bourquin and Liza Hirsch
This report highlights the adverse impacts of restrictions on eligibility to emergency shelter for homeless families with children and makes recommendations to fix the most urgent problems.