Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration released new survey data collected earlier this month detailing who the squatters at Mass and Cass are. Here’s a sampling:
- About 77 tents (sometimes 90), shelter 143 occupants in the quarter-mile around Mass & Cass.
- Two main areas of concentration: 39 tents near Atkinson Street, 35 tents near Newmarket Square.
- 68% are male, 32% are female.
- 1% are 18-24 years old; 21% are 25-34; 49% are 35-44; 28% are 45+; average age: 40.
- 39% are Hispanic/Latino, 36% are white, 19% are Black, 6% are multiracial; 14% speak Spanish as their primary language.
- Around 24% come from outside of Boston.
- 49% lack a health care provider.
- 18% have been released from a house of correction in the last 2 years.
- 59% have been living in a tent for under 2 years, 17% have for over 6 years.
- 23% currently use medication to treat opioid use disorder. Of those, 57% use methadone, 38% use Suboxone, 5% use long-acting Suboxone.
- Currently, 87% use cocaine or crack cocaine, 76% use opiates, 20% methamphetamines.
- 78% don’t have access to a mental health care provider, but a majority want access to one.
- 95% want access to low-threshold housing, 34% want an emergency shelter, 20% want a treatment bed.
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