DANVERS — The number of homeless families living in motel rooms here has steadily declined since last October, when the number peaked at 130.
The number dropped to 79 families by the beginning of January, and 67 at present, according to Beth Hogan, executive director of North Shore Community Action Programs. The number can fluctuate on a daily basis.
Danvers is one of 28 communities statewide where homeless families have been placed temporarily in motels. That has had a big impact on the town, which saw an unexpected influx of homeless children in the schools and a variety of unanticipated expenses related to the families.
At the start of the school year, Danvers had 12.8 percent of all homeless families living in hotel and motel rooms in the state, according to a letter that state Rep. Ted Speliotis sent to selectmen this week.
That's when 129 homeless families lived in three motels: the Days Inn on Endicott Street and the Motel 6 and the Knights Inn, both on Route 1.
"As of last week, 60 less families, or nearly half the number (46.5 percent), are being housed in Danvers, representing 7.3 percent of the total statewide," Speliotis said in his letter, dated Feb. 18.
Stimulus money and a stabilized employment picture are helping keep families out of Danvers motels, he said.
"The message is we are responding and we are aggressive," Speliotis said.
Federal stimulus money for housing vouchers from the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program is starting to flow, Hogan said.
"That's the money that is going to help us create short-term subsidized opportunities," she said.
North Shore Community Action Programs and the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership will be administering a one-year, $1,000-a-month voucher program for families living in Danvers motels. Under the program, families receiving the vouchers will pay 30 percent of their income as rent, and they can seek an apartment within a 20-mile radius, not just in one community.
NSCAP has hired a full-time person to work with the motel families.
In Massachusetts, state law guarantees eligible families a right to shelter if they are homeless. When shelters are filled, families are placed in motel rooms, at a cost of $75 a night. Many stay there for months.
The arrival of homeless families this fall had an impact on town services, with more than 80 students putting a strain on Danvers school transportation and regular education budgets. School transportation costs have been estimated at $140,000 to $175,000, since the town is required to help pay to send students to their home districts if they choose to stay there.
"We are still concerned about the costs," Selectman Gardner Trask said. "Not only the go-forward costs but the costs we have incurred so far."
Danvers has not received direct state aid to accommodate the homeless, so in December, selectmen reached out to Speliotis to get financial help from the state.
Speliotis said there has been progress.
"We have been able to access federal stimulus dollars and are attempting to relax state regulations to accelerate the search for more appropriate housing for these families," he said.
Speliotis and local officials met with House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Murphy to talk about the state covering the schools' transportation costs.
Speliotis said he attended a meeting in his office with representatives of the state Department of Housing and Community Development to talk about the impact on Danvers
"The administration expressed optimism that if the legislation allows them to further relax their regulations, and the jobless rate does not spike higher, the number of families living in hotels and motels in Danvers will continue to decline in the weeks ahead," Speliotis said in his letter.
Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or by e-mail at eforman@salemnews.com.
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