Healey Hotel job seeker slush fund helped pay for cars, laptops, utility bills
"assisted with the purchase of vehicles"
A little known, modestly funded and admittedly unsuccessful Healey administration program operates like a flush fund for emergency shelter job seekers paying for laptops, overdue utility bills, moving costs and even assisting “with the purchase of vehicles for families who are employed and need reliable transportation.”
The “theory” behind the $5M Secure Jobs Program is that “a focus on employment can shorten the length of stay in shelter and expedite the attainment of permanent housing, contributing to upward economic mobility and family stability.”
64% of recipients resided in EA Shelter, more commonly known as Healey Hotels, at the time of their enrollment in the program.
Spending “flexibility” is considered a “hallmark innovation” of the Secure Jobs Program.
Providers are “responsible for determining the usage and issuance” of “Flex funds…to support families who have unexpected costs related to entry into employment.”
In FY24, 22% of the $5M program consisted of flex spending ($1.1M).
Education needs, like “professional certifications to increase earnings potential” and transportation were the top categories of flex fund spending. including the purchase of laptops and assistance “with the purchase of vehicles.”
“21.98% of the Secure Jobs budget was spent on flexible funds totaling $1,099,895.00. Providers purchased laptops and hotspots to facilitate job search and training efforts and paid for professional certifications to increase earnings potential. They have also assisted with the purchase of vehicles for families who are employed and need reliable transportation, assisted families with moving costs, and paid overdue utility bills.”
June 2025 Department of Transitional Assistance Secure Jobs report
According to the report:
Outcomes for Secure Jobs participants are expected to
be achieved across the following key domains:
1. Education and Career,
2. Housing and Economic Stability, and
3. Family Stability and Well-Being.
Yet, only 38% or 268 of the 689 Secure Jobs participants landed a job in FY24, resulting in an expenditure of $18,656 per successful job seeker. The program fell far short of the 60% success rate goal.
The average job landed paid $27,404 a year or $17/hour for 31 hours per week. Amazon and Walmart were the most frequent employers.
As the Healey Hotel crisis exploded, the program failed to keep recipients from returning to shelters as more recipients were in shelter after six months of placement than during the first six months of placement.
“FY2023 revealed an interesting housing trend that had not been seen in prior years: an increase in shelter placements in later retention phases. The path through each phase is not necessarily linear, the percentage of families residing in shelter decreases to 21% in phase 4 [Six-month Employment Retention] and then increases to 55% in Phase 5. [Employment Retention and Next Steps].”
The June 2025 Department of Transitional Assistance Secure Jobs report was posted to the legislature’s website on Monday.
The Healey administration considers the program a success.
“Many of the hallmark innovations, including flexibility for participants and alignment between housing and employment services, have been retained as the program continues to grow. Increased funding for the program has allowed for enhanced services to be made available to support increasing employment outcomes.”
According to Healey, yes. Remember the success here, is keeping the government employees employed.
So spending $18,000 in taxpayer money to get a person a job at Wal-Mart is a success?