RAFT Response to Hurricane Evacuees

RAFT continues to be a homelessness prevention response for families who are residents of Massachusetts and who are experiencing a housing crisis. DHCD anticipates that some families who fled from Hurricane Maria and who currently live in Massachusetts will apply and be found eligible for RAFT to prevent homelessness.

Eligible families need to demonstrate an eligible housing crisis in Massachusetts, such as being doubled-up and asked to leave.

DHCD anticipates that some families who are found eligible may not be able to retrieve necessary documentation such as IDs, birth certificates, or Social Security cards if that documentation was left behind or destroyed as a result of the hurricane. In these cases, the RAFT Administering Agencies may administer RAFT without collecting this documentation. The RAFT Administering Agencies should make all reasonable efforts to collect the documentation. If documentation cannot be collected, the RAFT Administering Agencies must collect some verification that the family is a Hurricane Maria evacuee, such as verification of the family’s FEMA registration number or a copy of an airline ticket showing that the family came to Massachusetts from a hurricane-affected area. This verification should be kept in the family’s RAFT file.

RAFT Administering Agencies should maintain a record of those evacuee families who receive RAFT. DHCD may request a list of these families at a later date.

This guidance is subject to change. Please direct any questions to Amy.Mullen2@state.ma.us or Ita.Mullarkey@state.ma.us.