State watchdog is auditing the emergency shelter system

Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio is auditing the state's overburdened emergency shelter system as part of a broader review of the agency that oversees it.

In an interview Tuesday with WBUR, DiZoglio said her office started a review of the state Department of Housing and Livable Communities in November. Audits typically take a year to complete.

"There have been a lot of concerns raised by residents about the fact that so much of our state taxpayer dollars are funding a lot of this during this challenging time," DiZoglio said. "People just want to make sure that those dollars are being spent appropriately, efficiently and effectively."

In a statement, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities said officials there have been working with the auditor's office on its review since January. "We are committed to this continued engagement to ensure a thorough and transparent review process," the statement said.

The shelter system is operating at full capacity and has been turning people away following a years-long influx of migrant families facing homelessness. The state last week instituted a rule that families can stay in "temporary respite centers" for only five days.

Gov. Maura Healey this week defended the way her administration is handling the shelters, but she repeatedly has said the state cannot continue to spend $1 billion annually to shelter some 7,500 families, roughly half of those newcomers from other countries.

It was in November that shelters reached a cap of 7,500 families that Healey placed on the system, despite a "Right to Shelter" law on the books.

The audit includes an inquiry into the state's housing authorities, according to DiZoglio's office. The last audit of the Department of Housing and Livable Communities was released in 2019.