Several million dollars in state funds could be coming to Saco in order to extend a transitional housing pilot program for asylum seekers. Governor Janet Mills included funding for the program in her $71 million supplemental budget, which she unveiled in mid-February.
Over the past few years, Maine has seen an influx of asylum seekers — many from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola — with the majority arriving in Portland.
In July 2022, Catholic Charities Maine launched a transitional housing pilot program to house asylum seekers in a local Saco hotel in collaboration with the state and the City of Portland. The program has helped free up lodging for other vulnerable people in Portland.
Some Republicans have objected to this item in the governor’s proposal.
The supplemental budget makes investments in health care, housing and child welfare. Mills is also proposing that the state keep $107 million in reserve for the next biennial budget, to mixed reviews. Some progressives say it is needlessly spendthrift and some conservatives say it should be used to lower taxes.
On the housing front, the governor has included $16 million for the Emergency Housing Relief Fund, which supports a variety of emergency housing solutions, like warming centers and homeless shelters. This is where money to extend Saco’s transitional housing program would come from.
The transitional housing pilot program is a great model for what’s possible with the Emergency Housing Relief Fund, according to Greg Payne, senior advisor on housing policy in the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future.
Payne said in an email that he estimates that $3.5 million of the $16 million would go towards the Saco program and that the new funding would extend that program for another nine months past December 2024.
Julie Allaire, the chief program officer of Catholic Charities Maine, entered testimony about the program’s efficacy during a Feb. 23 committee hearing.
As of Feb. 13, the program has served 143 families, 553 individuals total. Fifty-three percent of those families have successfully exited the program, with most of them finding permanent housing, according to her testimony.
“One hundred and sixty-three people have obtained work permits. One hundred are employed in hospitality, manufacturing, sales, construction and other industries,” she added. According to Allaire, eight new families will enter into the program in the next week or so.
Catholic Charities Maine provides services to the families to help with integration, including cultural orientation, legal support, and helping with school enrolment and enrollment in other public benefits.
In his email to the Courier, Payne described the program as a win-win.
“The program is helping reduce expenses that would be otherwise incurred by local taxpayers through general assistance programs and other supports,” he said. “Plus, since this program is funded through the emergency housing fund, its existence does not divert resources away from other housing or homelessness initiatives. No group is being prioritized over another, and no group is being excluded from our care and support.”
But Emergency Housing Relief Fund has recently come under fire by Republican lawmakers, who object to the funds going towards asylum seekers.
During a press conference in February, House Minority leader Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor, a Republican, took issue with the fact that a majority of the money in the fund over its lifetime has been “used to house migrants, prioritizing them over Mainers,” according to Maine Public.
After a series of legislative committee hearings, scheduled to go through March 4, the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee will consider the governor’s draft and committee proposals and come up with a spending package that they hope the majority of lawmakers and the governor can agree on.
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