It’s no secret that, since the end of the pandemic, Governor Scott has been trying to reduce Vermont’s dependence on the hotel/motel voucher system, also referred to as the General Assistance (GA) Emergency Housing Program. With that in mind, last session, the Legislature worked with the executive branch to craft a bipartisan bill aimed at transitioning unhoused Vermonters away from motel vouchers. Instead of vouchers, unhoused Vermonters would move into a tiered housing “continuum” centered around services and benchmarks, with the goal of independent living whenever possible.
However, there have been troubling issues with the rollout of Act 143. On October 9, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and the House Human Services Committee heard from government agency employees and care providers from across the state. The main concerns centered on the fact that the rollout was not consistent with the intent of the law. Care providers pointed to a 22-page intake form, even though the law calls for a concise, simple form, as well as hours-long phone wait times. We also heard that the 211 hotline could no longer take calls after hours or on weekends and that people with disabilities were particularly endangered by the rollout.
Both Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak and Rebecca Reese, Burlington’s homelessness and community health manager, spoke at the meeting and gave poignant testimony. “We are experiencing what happens when the state reduces a core part of the homelessness response continuum faster than building the pieces to replace it,” Reese said. The mayor expressed concern that the voucher program was being reduced faster than available alternatives could accommodate those in need. “This is having a disproportionate impact on Burlington, given that our area has the highest rates of unsheltered homelessness in the entire state of Vermont,” she said.
I will do my best to keep you up to date on this issue, but unfortunately, there is a possibility that the homelessness crisis in and around Burlington could get worse before it gets better. We could see even more unhoused people suffering on the streets in the coming months, if shelter beds and short-term housing are not found.