Massachusetts emergency shelters have maxed out at 7,500 families, leaving adults and children with few alternative options as they work their way through a state-run waiting list for temporary housing, according to data released Thursday.

Shelters in the state reached the Healey administration’s self-imposed limit just as House lawmakers passed legislation that requires the creation of an overflow site for waitlisted families. But the bill still needs Senate approval and sign-off from Gov. Maura Healey.

As advocates warn adults and children could find themselves stuck sleeping outside as they wait for shelter, the Healey administration moved this week to set up a $5 million grant program for nonprofits, community, and religious groups to offer overnight shelters.

But overnight shelters are still in the works and any potential opening of an overflow site is still weeks away at best leaving immediate options for people seeking shelter limited. Interim solutions by community-based and faith communities may not be enough, said Kelly Turley, associate director for the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.

“Our concern is that every family who otherwise would be put on this waiting list has severe health and safety risks if they are to be unsheltered,” Turley told the Herald. “We’re hearing that families likely will be in places like Logan Airport. Historically, families may have gone to the hospital emergency rooms, and they’re not necessarily prepared to become de facto shelters.”

Data from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities said there were 7,517 families living in emergency shelters. There were 3,806 families living in hotels and motels, 3,650 at traditional shelter sites, and 61 in temporary locations, according to the data.

State officials plan to use four different “priority categories” to determine how quickly a family can move up the waitlist for emergency shelter, with those who are at “imminent risk” of harm due to domestic violence at the top.

Families who have children up to three months old or members with an immunocompromised condition, a high-risk pregnancy, or a medical device are also placed in the highest priority, according to guidelines released by the state’s housing department.

Lt. Gen. Scott Rice, who heads up the administration’s shelter response, said the state does not have enough shelter units, service providers, or funding to continue to safely expand.

“Families will continue to be placed into shelter until the end of the day, and beginning (Friday), families will be placed into shelter as units become available,” Rice said in a statement. “If there are no available shelter units, families determined eligible for emergency assistance will be placed on a waitlist. Our administration continues to provide arriving families with resources, basic necessities and support, and we are working with community partners to connect them with safe, overnight options.”

Centers in Quincy and Allston designed as entry points into the emergency shelter system will offer services like hot meals, basic necessities, and hygiene kits, the Healey administration said.

“They will also work with families on a case-by-case basis to determine safe housing alternatives and connect them with community-based services and behavioral health supports,” officials said in a statement.

House lawmakers Wednesday evening approved $250 million for the Healey administration to “to support the commonwealth’s response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis and influx of families seeking shelter.”

The bill includes $50 million for an overflow site — or multiple locations — but ties it to a requirement that Healey find, acquire, and run a location within a month or the shelter cap will be “revoked.”

House Speaker Ronald Mariano said Wednesday lawmakers have discussed the Hynes Convention Center or a similar location as a potential overflow site the administration could use.

An area for waitlisted families is needed “because we’ve yet to hear what’s going to happen when we hit the quota,” the Quincy Democrat said.

“Where are these people gonna go? Where do they show up? Where do they spend the night when they come in here on a Friday night at seven o’clock? Are they gonna go just directly to the (Boston) Common and bed down for the night? Are they going to show up in the emergency room?” he told reporters at the State House Wednesday.

A spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka said the branch is “actively reviewing” what the House passed.

The Healey administration, and other state lawmakers, have pushed most of the blame for an overburdened shelter system and influx of migrants onto the federal government and Congress.

Massachusetts, Healey has said, is out of personnel, space, and funding to keep expanding state-run shelters indefinitely. Rice said this week that the state cannot “safely expand beyond 7,500 families.”

“A reminder of who these families are. They are families and expecting moms. More than half of them are children, and they are here lawfully with the knowledge and consent of the federal government,” he said.

This is a developing story…