To see the timeline of events that got us here, please go to the timeline.

While the original request for proposal, RFP, was for 75-100 housing first supportive housing units, DCAMM announced the provisional designation to BMC for the development of a compus for more than 851 people either actively using or recovering from substance use disorder here which includes in their proposal:

• 405 housing first supportive housing units
• 120 low-threshold emergency beds
• 326 treatment beds
• 450 daily out-patient treatment capacity
• 5,200 yearly in-patient treatment capacity

One main talking point from the proposers is that there have always been services on the Shattuck Campus. While partially true, what is being proposed is a dramatic shift and increase in beds which have led to recent opioid use in the park. See below. Before the Shattuck Redevelopment vision plan, which called for 75-100, there were none. Since the vision plan, 54 were added on the campus and another 141 were approved nearby on Washington St. With BMC's new proposal, this will be bumped to 698. We are told there will be no issues because there were no issues when we had no beds of this type, meanwhile we are seeing issues with the current 54 and this will be increased to 698.

Type	Now	Proposed	Notes
Tightly overseen beds
SOAP	54	54
ATS	32	32
TSS(CSS)	32	48
RRS	40	112
In-patient Psych	260	48
Total	418	294
Mix of active and inactive opioid use beds without sobriety nor treatment requirements while having unsupervised access to the park
Behavioral Health Respite	0	32	Unclear what these are. Beds for those not ready for treatment.
Low-threshold	54	120
PSH	0	405
Nearby PSH	0	141	Pine St Inn on Washington St
Total	54	698

• SOAP: Structured Outpatient Addiction Program
• ATS: Acute Treatment Services
• TSS(CSS): Transitional Support Services
• RRS: Residential Rehabiliation Services
• PSH: Permanent Supportive Housing

BMC's FOIAed proposal can be seen here.

Definitions

• Housing first: Housing without any barriers, such as treatment and sobriety. Accepting of those with active substance use disorder.
• Low-threshold housing: Same as housing first, though there may be some nuanced difference.
• Supportive housing: Housing with supportive services. This is coming to mean housing first but not necessarily universal. In Boston, this is becoming housing first for the chronically homeless. The Shattuck Plan and Pine St Inn plan on Washington St. is following the housing first model. Other comparative places elsewhere may not, so be careful of comparisons as it may be apples to oranges if the other facility triages out active substance use disorder. There is supportive housing for the elderly, handicapped etc., BMC's proposal is not this but with a focus on substance use disorder and the mentally ill. This is not part of an affordable housing initiative as is often misunderstood.
• Chronically homeless: Unhoused for a year and suffering from a major disability. This could be severe mental illness and/or active substance use disorder.

Phrases

• Substance use disorder: Use this instead of addicted, addicts etc. For instance, someone suffering from substance use disorder.
• Using opioids: Use this instead of shooting up heroin.
• Unhoused: Use this instead of homeless.

Although the proposal is noble in intentions, there may be unintended consequences. Similar noble intentions led to the area of Mass and Cass. Below are the main issues heard from the community.

1. Too big and too concentrated to work. Our park cannot effectively handle 54, let alone 850+.

• We currently have 54 low threshold beds, this plan is doubling this to 120, adding 405 housing first units and 326 treatment beds. This is creating services for at least 850 people.
• Drug dealers, rampant opioid use, and discarded needles is an issue with 54, recovery cannot happen when drastically increasing the density. Impact of 54 documented here.
• This plan also has an out-patient daily capacity of 450 and an in-patient yearly capacity of 5,200, further increasing the density and making it unmanageable.
• It is unethical to colocate such a dense population of active users with those that may want to recover.
• The issues in the park are now starting to bleed out on neighborhood streets. Seeing more needles, dealers, and people using opioids.
• We are not advocating to get rid of the low-threshold and supportive housing we already have, just to not increase this and make it an unmanageable size. Smaller sites need to be spread throughout Massachusetts.

2. Long island is a better site for this with limited to no access by drug dealers.

• A park surrounded by communities and lacking in access to food is the wrong place for concentrating substance use services.

3. Decentralization works; this plan is more centralized than anything in North America with easy access to drug dealers.

• We already have the highest concentration of low-threshold and supportive housing in all of Massachusetts. We are doing more than our share. It is time for this to be decentralized into other communities.
• The largest supportive housing facility focusing on substance use is almost finished being built nearby on Washinton St. at 141 units. This is too close and too soon to create the next new largest facility in North America.
• As shown in the Mass and Cass region, concentration of services does not work for those trying to recover and those who live nearby.
• Mental hospitals have been sold to developers throughout the state which could have been used for this purpose, yet DCAMM and BMC are looking to place all services within Boston. This will not work for anyone.

4. The community did not ask for this.

• Marylou Sudders, living in Cambridge and working for the executive office of health and human services, got approval from DCAMM for 75-100 supportive housing units in early 2018. Link. This was long before engaging with the community to find out what we want. Now the State is pushing forward a campus for 850+.
• This is in a location needed by children for school. Students need to walk through this area to get to the Brooke Charter School K-7, Match Charter School 6-8, or English High School, all of which abut this area and have very high diversity. Elementary school children are picked up at the Williams St entrance, where there has been regular opioid activity and needles with the current density.
• There has been no outreach by BMC to see what works for the community, while they have had continual outreach to those suffering from substance use disorder and those serving this population.
• A large portion of those coming through the services are not from the city of Boston while most municipalities don't have a contingency plan for their residents suffering from substance use disorder.
• This is large enough to service BMC's full eastern Massachusetts footprint, and likely further. Well beyond the need of our local communities.
• There have been no plans nor assessments of managing the area outside of the Shattuck Campus for the impacts of increased opioid use within our community.
• • There are no contingency plans if this destroys the health of our nearby communities.
  • With the 54 in the park, we see a large impact of needles, opioid use, dealers, and encampments without effective management strategies. This is documented within the "Franklin Park: Current" tab above.
• We just want a safe place for our children to play.
• We just want a safe place for our dogs to play.
• For decades within Jamaica Plain, Parkside has been trying to mitigate the effects of Pondside and Moss Hill pushing for human services within Parkside while fighting against zoning variances in their own neighborhoods. A ring of poverty has been established around the park because of these efforts. This proposal will only make it worse.

5. No one has experience handling a campus this large focused on substance use disorder and mitigating the impact it may have on the community.

• The forefront experts in this field from Vancouver stop at a density of 100 housing first units for those with substance use disorder. This is magnitudes larger. This proposal is at 405, while co-locating another 130 low threshold beds, and a rotating 326 additional people struggling with substance use disorder. No one here has experience with something this large.
• Pine St Inn's largest management so far is 55, this is drastically larger without gaining the experience to effectively manage and create recovery for something this dense.
• Housing first is effective for housing but not treatment for those with substance use disorder. It is unethical to warehouse this type of housing. It needs to be spread through the state at low densities. (research below)
• Pine St Inn has a building with 141 going in nearby. They need to gain experience with this density first along with managing the impact on the community.

6. This proposal is further concentrating services in communities of color.

• Franklin Park is mostly used by people of color and this proposal is going where Juneteenth is celebrated.
• There are four schools very close to the campus with student bodies which are greater than 95% POC; Brooke Mattapan Middle School, Brooke High School, Match Charter Middle School, English High School.
• The household median income in surrounding communities is very low; the south-east side is at $20,000, north-east is at $25,000, and the east side at $40,000. Source link.
• While DPH controls the land at the Shttuck Campus, they have also controlled land abutting Arnold Arboretum for decades, which is being used for a community garden.

Write to elected officials.

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• Focus on housing first leads to higher housing retention but worse outcomes for treatment. A survey of a lot of literature. (2020, cited 33 times, link)
• Housing first leads to poorer outcomes with drug use and treatment when compared to treatment first. (2004, cited 1732 times, link1; 2017, cited 49 times, link2)
• Although uptake of services were higher with wraparound housing first, outcomes were not better. (2011, cited 84 times, link)
• Harm reduction efforts leads to more receipt of referrals but not more engagement of referred services. Harm reduction leads to less disease, but not more treatment engagement. (2022, cited 3 times, link)
• While housing first increased social integration, this did not have positive effects on drug use and mental health. Previous research is mixed on there being increased social integration according to this author. (2020, cited 12 times, link)
• "There is no substantial published evidence as yet to demonstrate that PSH [permanent supportive housing] improves health outcomes or reduces healthcare costs." (2018, cited 165 times, link)
• An overview of public policy and housing first initiatives. Reviews and comes to similar conclusions, of which there is a lack of evidence for positive outcomes other than more retention of housing with housing first initiatives. (2020, cited 21 times, link)
• The major North American study. Same conclusions. Increased housing with housing first, but no change in drug use nor health outcomes. (2019, cited 243 times, link)
• The major Canadian study, Chez soi. Similar conclusions but this paper focuses on mental health and not substance use. It does include scattered site information. (2015, cited 296 times, link)
• A Medicaid-funded scattered-site PSH program for chronically unsheltered individuals in Boston found high mortality, low housing stability, and poor long-term housing outcomes. (2021, cited 8 times, link)
• When looking at crime and property value "The findings suggest that developers paying close attention to facility scale and siting can avoid negative neighborhood impacts and render their supportive housing invisible to neighbors" and "set of 7 large facilities, each housing 53 or more residents...total crime reports...increased by 30%...violent crime report was 40%". (2002, cited 72 times, link)
  • This PDF is being circulated which claims no impact on crime but cites the above article as its basis, which actually says the opposite. PDF. Beware of circulated PDFs, this is not uncommon if you follow the citations.
  • The above citation is not added because it is a good source. It is not. It is added to show the contradiction between the circulated PDF and the source it cites. To add, this research is focusing on supportive housing between 1992-1995. Before housing first and the opioid epidemic, making it a poor source to cite.
• With more recent and relevant research, on an indivual basis, crime reduces by 30% by entering supportive housing. (2021, unknown citation amount not peer reviewed, link)
  • If placed in the community the individual is from, this may reduce crime.
  • If placed in another community, this increases crime in the destination community as this population is associated with a higher crime rate. This includes larceny and stolen property.
  • BMC's proposal is looking to possibly move those needing supportive housing from eastern Massachusetts and beyond to Franklin Park.
  • This study also focuses on scattered site supportive housing, wheras the BMC proposal is the most concentrated in North America.

• Franklin Park condemns Shattuck plan. The 2nd community driven meeting. Boston Bulletin November 2023 link.
• Shattuck plan asks beleaguered Franklin Park neighborhoods to take a leap of faith. WGBH October 2023 link.
• At the Shattuck, good intentions collide. MA State Representative Christopher Worrell, whose district oversees Franklin Park, comes out against BMC's Shattuck Plan. Boston Globe October 2023 link.
• Backers, critics debate merits of Shattuck plan at first in-person event. Dorchester Reporter September 2023 link.
• Shattuck open house: the "vision" not shared by many. Boston Bulletin September 2023 link.
• Proposed redevelopment of Shattuck Hospital prompts concerns from residents. Boston Herald Spetember 2023 link.
• Proposal for drug rehab and homeless shelter in Franklin Park prompts clash of progressive values. Boston Globe September 2023 link.
• 'This is insane': Neighbors worried about proposal to redevelop Shattuck Hospital's campus. WCVB 5 ABC August 2023 link.
• BMC's redevelopment of the Shattuck detailed. Dave Henderson from BMC, "There's nothing like this anywhere. It is the largest centralized plan anywhere." Only one person speaks in support. Boston Bulletin August 2023 link.
• Stonybrook Neighborhood Association Dishes on Shattuck Redevelopment. Jamaica Plain Gazette July 2023 link.
• Jim Greene: "We know that people migrate into Boston," he said. "There's a lack of an adequate safety net in many other communities across the commonwealth, and, in fact, throughout the Northeast." WBUR July 2023 link.
• Commentary: State leaders have a chance to speak for the trees at Shattuck site in Franklin Park. Dorchester Reporter July 2023 link.
• Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts. Washington Post July 2023 link.
• Earthshaking: Supportive housing plan at Shattuck raises concerns. Boston Globe July 2023 link.
• Shattuck proposal sparks community backlash. Will Franklin Park be the next Mass and Cass? Bay State Banner June 2023 link.
• Development plan at Shattuck hospital leaves residents concerned. WGBH October 2022 link.
• Mayor Wu calls on state to create 1,000 new units of low-threshold housing outside city to address crisis at Mass. and Cass. "We need the state as a partner." Boston.com October 2022 link.
  • The mayor said "hundreds more" have arrived from other communities and states. "We simply cannot sustain a model that we know works of providing housing to be that stepping off point and stabilization point for services, to house the entire New England region" she said. "And so we are looking for that partnership from the state."
  • The only way for the crisis to be truly addressed in the long term is through a partnership with the state where other communities also step up and expand services locally.
• Wu makes plea for state help on Mass and Cass. Bay State Banner October 2022 link.
• Nonprofits plan for 400 units, addiction services at Shattuck. Neighborhood residents report increased drug use in Franklin Park. Bay State Banner September 2022 link.
• Neighbors take Franklin Park action. Illegal activity purported by some making the area unsafe. Boston Bulletin September 2022 link.
• Temporary low-threshold cottages placed within the Shattuck Campus for 6 months. Boston Globe December 2021 link.
• Final Shattuck planning meeting frustrating for many. Public meetings purposefully avoided any question and answer sessions. Boston Bulletin July 2019 link.
• Shattuck Hospital to relocate raising neighborhood concerns. Marylou Sudders gets approval for 75-100 supportive housing on the Shattuck site in 2017 from DCAMM, long before any public input or process. Boston Bulletin April 2018 link.

Possibilities include:

1. The original plan of 75-100 supportive housing.
2. Affordable housing.
3. Return to the park.
4. Community center.
5. Housing for those in recovery to separate people in recovery from those actively using.
6. A campus for 850+ opioid users from across New England, both in recovery and actively using.

Below is a partial list of possible sites, which mostly includes abandoned state hospitals. This is still a work in progress. For reference, BMC's extremely large and dense proposal is projected to use 7 acres in Franklin Park.

• Gaebler Children's Center - demolished; 55 acres of land. Map link.
• Grafton State Hospital - demolished, 700 acres of land. Map link.
• Medfield State Hospital - standing, 87.3 acres of land. Map link.
• Northampton State Hospital - demolished, 4.9 acres of land. Map link.
• Rutland Heights State Hospital - demolished, 44.3 acres of land. Map link.
• Taunton State Hospital - hospital demolished, 157.2 acres of land. Map link.
• Lovering Colony State Hospital - demolished, 1.3 acres. Map link.
• Simeon E. Borden (Raynham Farm) Colony State Hospital - demolished, 42 acres of land owned by the town now. Map link.
• Belchertown State School - partially demolished, 845 acres of land. Map link.
• JT Berry State School - demolished, 5 acres still owned by the town of North Reading. Map link.
• Monson Developmental Center - defunct, 679 acres still owned by the State. Map link.
• Templeton Developmental Center - mostly defunct and unused, 2600 acres of land owned by the State. Map link.
• Wrentham State School - partially disused, 700 acres of land. Map link.
• Lakeville State Hospital - unused, 36.67 acres of land. Map link.
• Worcester County Sanitarium - demolished, 120 acres of land. Map link.
• Cranberry Specialty Hospital - demolished in 2017, 23 acres of land. Map link.
• Westwood Lodge Hospital - closed, 15 acres. May have been sold for condo development in 2020. Map link.
• In 2022, Boston did a land audit. 106 parcels throughout the city are underutilized with no planned project, coming to 38 acres. Link.



Map of site locations below

Sites recently sold for other purposes

• Boston State Hospital - Sold by DCAMM for housing.
• Gardner State Hospital - Sold by DCAMM for a prison.
• Pondville State Hospital - Sold to Norwood Hospital.
• Worcester State Hospital - 30+ acres sold by DCAMM for biomedical research campus.
• Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center - 186 acres sold by DCAMM to the city of Waltham in 2014 for a park.
• Middlesex County Sanitarium - Sold by DCAMM for a condo development

Still needs to be checked

• Paul A. Dever State School - demolished
• Attleboro Sanitarium - demolished
• Berkshire Hills Sanitarium
• Middleton Sanitarium

• Healey-Driscoll Administration Announces Funding for 450 New Affordable Housing Units Across Massachusetts. Link.
  • Of these 450 new affordable housing units, a large portion is for the elderly and handicapped and not those suffering from opioid use disorder.
  • The full Massachusetts plan seems to only include 129 supportive housing units for those with opioid use disorder across the full State. The highest density is 36. This total is less than 1/4th of the plan within a few acres of Franklin Park. This is not including the low-threshold units added to Franklin Park.
    • 60 Wells Street with 36 studios.
    • First Street Apartments with 9 studios.
    • West Housatonic Apartments with 28 studios, not all for the chronically homeless.
    • 775 Worthington Street with 36 studios.
    • 237 Chandler Street with 20 studios.
  • $62 million set aside for this initiative, of which only a fraction goes to supportive housing for those with opioid use disorder. The State is planning on giving BMC $200+ million for concentrating services in Franklin Park.

Work in progress

• Vancouver Canada seems to be the leader in PSH for substance use disorder. The largest PSH building by the leader in the city, Portland Housing Society, is at 100. Link.
• San Francisco just opened their largest PSH at 256 beds at 1064 Mission St. 103 units are for the elderly and it is not mentioned anywhere that they are accepting those with substance use disorder, so this may not be similar housing to BMC's proposal. Link.
• New York claims the largest PSH at the Breaking Ground Times Square residence, link, but there is a lot of news on how New York is not following the housing first approach link1 and link2. Breaking ground also does not indicate any acceptance of active opioid use.
• Denver Colorado has a lot of PSH following the housing first model. The scale seems smaller than Boston though. I cannot find their largest. Link.
• Portland Oregon with Blackburn seems to have the highest density at 80 housing first PSH according to the Shattuck Vision plan. There seems to be serious issues with crime and opioid use nearby, link.