State officials envision that homeless care across Massachusetts will be modeled after Framingham's move away from temporary shelter toward more comprehensive services and long-term assistance.

Southern Middlesex Opportunity Council was met with skepticism when it pledged to help end homelessness by closing Framingham's downtown shelter and opening the Common Ground Resource Center in October 2006.

But yesterday, officials from the state's public health, housing, and transitional assistance departments thanked and congratulated SMOC for its vision.

"This is exactly what the state is looking to replicate across the commonwealth ... getting the right resources to the right people at the right time," said Julia Kehoe, commissioner of transitional assistance, at a presentation on the council's progress in Framingham.

According to the council, an individual's stay in a MetroWest shelter has dropped from an average of 90 to 30 days since the center began tracking the homeless and connecting them with disability services, substance abuse counseling, job programs and housing.

"Shame on us as a culture ... shelter is not the cultural end game, triage should be the end game," said Jim Cuddy, the council's executive director.

Police Chief Steven Carl attributes a recent drop in crime to the homeless having obligations and a place to go during the day instead of wandering the streets after shelters closed in the morning.

"I think the homeless population prefers the way things are being done now," Carl said after the presentation. "I think they want help, I think they need direction and we want to monitor them and get them back on track. They're giving guidance, not just shelter."

The center prides itself on assessing each individual's needs, whether it is a ride to a friend's house, disability benefits or a cleaning job with the council.

"The argument is that we're like a big magnet, but the truth is people if they're not from here they don't usually come here," Cuddy said, disputing concerns that the center will draw more homeless to MetroWest.

The council is engaged in a lawsuit charging that town officials made a coordinated effort to keep disabled people out of Framingham.

"Sometimes it does feel a little overwhelming, but it feels a lot better than when we had 50 or 60 people in that overflow shelter downtown," Cuddy said of the Irving Street shelter that closed last October.

The council estimated it costs $300,000 annually to run the center and $395 per month for each person placed in one of 300 housing units. But without the center, Cuddy said taxpayers would pay far more in prison, medical and shelter costs.

Margaret Davitt, manager of the council's remaining 20-bed Turning Point Shelter, said she initially resisted the change because she thought area shelters were already doing a good job.

"They're really getting at the nitty gritty now," said Davitt, a 42-year council employee, who changed her mind shortly after the resource center opened.

The council, which is funded by the Department of Public Health, Middlesex Savings Bank and United Way among others, will convert an 18-bed Marlborough shelter by spring and hopes to expand its services in Worcester county, Cuddy said.

(Lindsey Parietti can be reached at )