Calls grow for Gov. Healey to end 5-day cap on overflow shelter stays

Medical providers, homelessness prevention workers and immigrant advocates rallied at the State House Thursday to call on state leaders to reverse a controversial cap on stays in overflow shelters. After five days, the policy forces families out of the shelters that were set up as a safety net because the state's family shelter system is full.

The state announced its policy a couple of weeks ago and gave 57 families notice that they must leave the overflow shelters by Friday. More than 270 families, including many migrants, are currently staying in the facilities — which the state now calls temporary respite centers.

Dr. Lara Jirmanus, a family physician in Cambridge and co-founder of the Massachusetts Coalition for Health Equity, joined WBUR's All Things Considered to discuss her group's opposition to the policy. During the Thursday rally, the coalition delivered a letter, signed by more than 300 providers and advocates, to Gov. Maura Healy to urge her to end the rule and allow the families to stay in the shelters.