Public Housing waitlist huge; so is the list of long-vacant available units

Massachusetts Has a Huge Waitlist for State-Funded Housing. So Why Are 2,300 Units Vacant? (Propublica)

Families are stuck in shelters or sleeping in their cars while a flawed state selection process and meager funding for renovations leave apartments empty for years.

a WBUR and ProPublica investigation found that nobody is living in nearly 2,300 state-funded apartments, with most sitting empty for months or years. The state pays local housing authorities to maintain and operate the units whether they’re occupied or not. So the vacant apartments translate into millions of Massachusetts taxpayer dollars wasted due to delays and disorder fostered by state and local mismanagement.
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The vacancies are aggravating a statewide housing crisis. Massachusetts is spending $45 million a month to house people temporarily at hotels, shelters, college dorms and a military base. Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency in August to deal with the wave of homelessness. Massachusetts reports that the number of families with children staying in emergency shelters has almost doubled in the past year to 6,386.