Opposing the 5 Redlands Rd Shelter Project

Meetings:
**St. Stephen Church, 5160 Washington Street
Tuesday, October 14 @ 7:00 PM

**West Roxbury Neighborhood Council (WRNC) Area E Police Station, West Roxbury
Tuesday, October 21 at 7:00 PM

**Boston Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) Virtual Meeting (Zoom link not yet posted)
Tuesday, October 28 at 9:30 AM

Dear Neighbors,

For months, residents have been asking simple questions about this shelter. Who will live there? How many people? What staff? What safety rules apply? No one has provided answers. Now, the state’s own documents do and they raise serious concerns.

Through a public records request, we obtained the operating contract and state shelter rules governing the proposed facility at 5 Redlands Road. What we found directly contradicts what the shelter operator, Making Opportunity Count (MOC), previously told the community and we’d like to share the details

Key Findings

1) Homeless Shelter, Not “Congregate Living Facility”

In order to avoid the need for a zoning exemption, the property owner is falsely claiming this will be a “congregate living facility.” The state’s own documents make it clear, this project is a homeless shelter.

The shelter will be operated as part of EOHLC’s Emergency Assistance Family Shelter program, described in MOC’s official Scope of Services contract with the state. This is clearly defined as a temporary emergency shelter for families experiencing homelessness.

page 6: “Emergency shelters are contracted to provide safe, temporary, emergency shelter to families referred by EOHLC under the Emergency Assistance (EA) Family Shelter program”

page 3: “Bridge Shelter Track | One of two pathways within the (EA) Family Shelter program focused on providing shelter to families with higher relative risk and need.

page 13: “The goal of the EA Family Shelter program is that shelter stays are rare, brief, and non-recurring”

2) Not Just “Women and Children”

MOC told residents the site would serve only women and children and the permit application states “the building will be used to provide congregate accommodations for women and children”.

The shelter contract with the State contradicts this and says the shelter must accept “families of all compositions including adult and teenage men.” Children are defined as under the age of 21. The permit application shows it will contain anywhere between 120 - 192 people.

3) No Proof-of-Family

No one has to prove membership in a family before being placed. The state can’t require any third-party proof up front. That means adults who are unrelated or people who simply present themselves as a family, can be admitted together. The system relies entirely on self-reporting at the door, and operators have no way to confirm whether the group meets the definition of a family.

4) Background Checks Are Not Required

Criminal background checks (CORI) are not required before someone enters the shelter. The shelter can only ask applicants to self-report their criminal history and consent to allow the state to possibly run a CORI check later. Individuals are admitted immediately, and the background check cannot delay placement in any way.

The state then has up to one year to run the CORI, but there’s no rule saying they ever have to. Given that stays are limited to a maximum of six months and many are much shorter, many people likely enter and leave before a check is ever done.

5) No Exclusion for Most Serious Crimes

Even with a violent felony, people are not automatically barred. The rules only require “enhanced oversight,” which can mean prohibiting the person from babysitting other residents’ children or conducting more frequent room checks. CORI results are confidential and only a small list of “need-to-know” administrators can view them. Regular shelter staff and other families are kept in the dark, and neighbors are never notified when someone with a violent record is placed nearby.

Only a few crimes result in automatic exclusion. Many other violent offenses are left to the discretion of the state including: “Involuntary manslaughter; Felony spousal abuse; Felony assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; Felonies involving violence against children; Armed robbery; Felony burglary or breaking and entering” - page 3, Criminal Offender Record Information Policy

If the conviction is over 3 years old, it isn’t considered at all. For recent convictions, a person can be admitted by submitting a letter from almost anyone, a doctor, employer, case worker, or even a shelter employee, stating they don’t pose an “unacceptable risk.” The term isn’t defined, and EOHLC makes the final call, often within just a few days.

6) Level II & III Sex Offenders Allowed

Rules require that Level II and Level III sex offenders be allowed at shelters. A Level III offender means they have been deemed to have a “high risk of reoffending” and pose a “high degree of danger to the public”. Level II means they have a moderate risk.

The operator cannot exclude them from admission. The rules detail that the shelter must notify other residents only in general terms, stating:

“The possibility that a sex offender(s) may now, or in the future, be present at the shelter site and/or in the building where the shelter is located.” - page 29 Bridge Shelter Scope of Service

The shelter operator has three business days to make safety changes, like room reassignment or added monitoring, but the offender stays on-site. Only a few administrators can know their identity, staff and residents cannot be told. The rules prioritize offender privacy over community awareness. Sharing their photo or name, even to warn others, is considered “illegal harassment and intimidation” (page 30) and can lead to criminal charges against the person who speaks out.

In short, individuals legally recognized as posing a high risk of sexual re-offense must still be admitted to these shelters, and no one in the community is allowed to be told who they are.

7) Population Can Change Anytime

The state can increase/decrease capacity or change the shelter type later, without new review. That could mean a shift to other models (e.g., low-threshold, men’s shelter, respite, or treatment-adjacent uses like those proposed for Mass & Cass).

8) Minimal Staffing

Shelters have minimal staffing requirements, possibly only one staff member on site 24 hours a day. There is no trained or licensed security staff. The state’s own investigation this year reported violent conditions at the State’s (EA) Family Shelters and urged professional security be added, but no such mandate was adopted.

Why It Matters

What little MOC told the community doesn’t match what their contract and the state’s own laws actually say. Under those rules, 5 Redlands would operate as a high-capacity family shelter that would pose a significant risk to families in need and to the existing community.

That’s why the ZBA appeal later this month is critical. The hearing will decide whether this moves forward under a misleading label, or gets the full scrutiny a project of this scale deserves.

Newsletters
https://us2.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=84438b235e94af7bb5ec47af7&b
Sign the petition
https://www.redlandsmanthorne.com/petition
Contact Information
redlandsmanthorne@gmail.com

Supporting Documents

📄 MOC Contract and FY26 Shelter Operating Rules - July 2025
📄 Criminal Offender Record Information Policy - Apr 2025
📑 Developers Zoning Application - July 2025
📄 Appeal by Property Abutter to ZBA - Sept 2025
🔗 Mass.gov - (EA) Family Shelter
🔗 Docs and Links Page