Norfolk residents filled a middle school auditorium on Tuesday night to learn more about the Healey administration’s plan to repurpose the Bay State Correctional Center as an overflow shelter for migrant families and people experiencing homelessness.
Many expressed concern about how the small town, which has a population of less than 12,000, would be affected by the addition of 450 people expected at the shelter. Tempers flared as residents sought answers about financial impacts, schooling and public safety.
“You people are putting people that came to this country ahead of our own residents,” said Norfolk resident John Nolan, citing financial concerns.
Resident Mark Gentile asked for assurances from the panel about security, citing a Boston Globe article that reported the state placed migrant children in emergency assistance shelters with registered sex offenders.
“There have been reports of violence in the shelter system, despite assurances from the state that the individuals have been vetted,” Gentile said.
Longtime resident Ron Tibbetts tried to bring calm to the forum, saying the tension in the room was “unreasonable.”
“They [migrants] are not the enemy. Maybe policy is the enemy. Maybe there are other things at the end that are the enemy,” he said. “But if we don’t treat them with the same dignity we treat our neighbor with, then we’ve lost our identity.”
At one point in the 2-hour meeting, Norfolk Board of Selectmen Chair Jim Lehan had to tamp down shouting by residents and threatened to have one person escorted out of the building. State Sen. Rebecca Rausch, who was in attendance, said people’s concerns are understandable because of the uncertainties that remain. But she said the shelter is happening, “so we must just manage the logistics and the challenges as they arise.”
Allison Bovell-Ammon, director of policy for children and families in the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, attempted to offer assurances.
“We understand that this is a small town and there are a lot of unique aspects of the site compared to other overflow sites or other sites that we have opened,” she said, “but we are working together with the municipality to respond to those needs.”
Bovell-Ammon said the state contracted shelter provider Heading Home, which will have 24/7 staffing to oversee day-to-day operations and engagement with families. She said those on-site services will help reduce “adverse impacts on the town.”
State officials said they evaluated over 350 sites for overflow shelters since the emergency assistance family declaration in October 2023, and that the state chose the Bay State Correctional Center in Norfolk, which has been vacant since 2015, because it is a dorm-like facility and that it’s in good condition.
Deputy Director of Emergency Assistance Adit Basheer said there’s been a huge increase in demand for the state’s emergency shelter system, from 3,500 families in January 2023 to now closer to 7,500 families.
The Norfolk facility will be repurposed to provide a temporary emergency safety net site to 450 migrants, or about 150 families, for approximately six months to one year. The number of children entering the schools from the migrant overflow shelter was reported at 115. A separate forum on education will be held later in June.
