Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless v. Secretary of the Executive Office of Health & Human Services

This is a complicated case with a protracted history of litigation which has been ongoing since 1985. The plaintiffs, certified as representatives of the class described in note 1, supra, challenge the manner in which the defendants administer housing benefits for homeless families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). In a prior phase of the litigation, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless v. Secretary of Human Servs., 400 Mass. 806 (1987) (MCH I), this court considered contentions by a different group of plaintiffs that the Department of Public Welfare (department),…