By Keith Griffith and Sophie Mann for Dailymail.com
Hotels have been used as a stop-gap measure to provide shelter to hundreds
Last August, governor declared a state of emergency over migrant arrivals
New documents show the rising public cost of sheltering migrants in Massachusetts, as the state grapples with a strain on its emergency shelter system.
The state has 17 contracts totaling $116 million to house migrant families through June, including a no-bid $10 million contract for a company providing meals, CBS News Boston reported, citing documents obtained by the outlet.
In some cases, the state is paying hotels $64 per person each day for meals, including $16 for breakfast, $17 for lunch and $31 for dinner.
Last August, Massachusetts Governor Maura T. Healey declared a state of emergency, saying the state had more than 20,000 migrants in its shelter system.
Capacity overruns have necessitated the use of hotels for emergency shelter, but earlier this month the state opened a new temporary facility with 400 beds in Boston's Melnea Cass Recreational Center.
It followed reports that migrants were being forced to sleep on cots at Logan Airport, underscoring the humanitarian crisis and strain on the state's resources.
Similar to New York, Massachusetts has a longstanding Right to Shelter law mandating that the state provide emergency shelter to families in desperate need.
The law requires emergency shelter to include basic cooking facilities, and if it does not, as in the case of some hotels, the state has to step in and contract for food to be delivered.
CBS affiliate WBZ found that one catering vendor, Spinelli Ravioli Manufacturing Company in East Boston, was awarded a $10 million six-month no-bid contract to provide and deliver meals.
'As an approved state vendor, Spinelli's was contacted at the onset of the crisis,' the company told WBZ.
'We are not the exclusive meal vendor and do not have a guaranteed contract, or financial agreement, beyond this initial emergency period,' the statement added.
'We are currently in the bid process for an enduring contract and are looking forward to continue to aid the State and the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities to reach their goals.'
A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Monday morning.
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