Shelters

There are over 35 battered women’s shelters across Massachusetts. These shelters provide a safe place for many women and children to escape the violence in their homes. Most shelters will provide additional support services to the residents and community, including individual counseling, case management, support groups, children’s services, and legal advocacy. Most shelters are funded to allow a stay of 14-90 days. These services are typically free.

The goal of a shelter program is to provide a safe place for survivors and their chldren manage the crisis and begin to recover from the violence while they locate safe and more long-term housing.

Battered women’s shelters generally operate differently from homeless shelters because of the safety risks to the residents. Battered women’s shelters are usually located in undisclosed locations and have rules that residents must follow in an effort to maximize everyone’s safety. These rules may include not telling people where they are, taking a leave of absence from their jobs, and having no contact with their batterer. Additionally, most shelter programs will not take a family or individual from the communities that they serve, although they will assist them with locating space in another shelter. The reason for this is that it is easy for a batterer to track a survivor to the local program.

Unfortunately, shelter beds are not always available. Shelters may be full or, for various reasons, unable to meet the needs of the family. For example: many shelters will not allow a woman to bring a son over the age of 12; most will not accept adult male survivors of domestic violence; some are not equipped to accommodate certain physical, medical, or dietary needs. Increasingly, there are specialized programs to meet these unique needs.

If a battered woman’s shelter is unavailable for any reason, it is important for you to identify with the person another place where she or he may seek emergency shelter.

Shelter bed availability changes from day to day. Sometimes if an alternate safe place can be found for a night or two, space will open up in a shelter. In some circumstances the survivor may feel safe, temporarily staying with family, friends or others. Some local hospitals offer a safe-bed to women to stay during an emergency. Some survivors may be able to afford to stay in a hotel/motel for a night or two. Additionally, there are short-term residential programs called safe homes that are discussed in more detail below.

Lastly, it is possible for a family or individual to seek shelter outside of the state when the shelters within Massachusetts are full. The National Hotline can provide a referral to a program outside of Massachusetts. Some survivors may prefer to leave the state as a way to feel safer.