Homeless advocate denies assertion
By Guy Page
A total of 135 clients of the state’s hotel motel program for the homeless have died since its inception, Vermont Human Services Agency Secretary Jenney Samuelson said today.
The rate of deaths among homeless people is higher among hotel/motel program clients than the general homeless population, she claimed.
Samuelson said some critics of the administration plan to downsize the General Assistance (GA) program may ask, “If it puts a roof over their heads, how can it be a failure?” Yet while living in state-paid hotel/motel housing, 45 have died due to poisoning, mostly drug overdoses. There have been two homicides. Many others have died with health conditions that may have been preventable elsewhere, she said.
“If we saw this many deaths in any other program, there would be a desire for change,” Samuelson said. She said the rate of death is far higher among homeless housed in the hotel/motel program than those not in it.
After the press conference, homeless hotel/motel advocate Brenda Siegel disputed Samuelson’s conclusions.
“Unfortunately science does not work like that,” Siegel said. “One has to have hard facts. The administration would have to know the exact number of deaths and why and then compare that to people who are housed or in alternative shelter. it is not correct to say ‘well I don’t have the facts, but this is true.’
“The facts are that on April 1 extremely vulnerable people, in wheelchairs, on oxygen, with significant mental illness, who just had or need surgery, people with dementia and aging Vermonters will be exited to the street. No messaging changes what this reality will do to our communities, homelessness service providers and most importantly people experiencing homelessness.
‘Some of the people exited will certainly die as a result. Keeping a roof over their head is more fiscally responsible, safer for households and better for our communities. Keeping people sheltered costs not a dime extra, un-sheltering them will be very expensive. “
The AHS chief noted that public safety issues often arise on the homeless hotel/motel premises. Clients report how difficult it is to maintain their sobriety. Some people opt to stay in prison because even prison is better – for them – than the less structured hotel-motel system, she said.
Samuelson reported this data at Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly press conference, at which administration officials argued that the Legislature’s insistence on extending the homeless hotel program through June – the sticking point in the unresolved Budget Adjustment Act – is misguided.
Vermont is the only state to continue to offer a homeless hotel program at this scale, Scott said. The governor’s counter-proposal to the Legislature would provide access to the hotel/motel rooms for the neediest current clients. “That offer is still on the table,” Scott said. Right now, the State of Vermont spends $40-50 million per year on the GA program “and doesn’t very well serve the people in it,” Scott said.
The GA program is “failing the people it is designed to protect,” Samuelson said. “It’s a temporary patch on a gaping wound.”
VDC asked Scott whether a temporary patch is better than no patch at all – what’s the alternative for the people now in the program?
“Weve been hearing the same dialogue for years,” Scott said. “The well is running dry. We’re seeing all the impacts [of federal funding cuts]. We don’t know what they are going to be. We have to prioritize.”
As an alternative, Scott said the state is expanding access to other shelters, including family shelters. “We need to have eyes on them,” to provide the services they need.
Providing more detail, Samuelson said the State of Vermont must “clear a path for affordable housing: recovery housing, transitional housing, family housing, more emergency shelters.
That work is ongoing, Samuelson said. More than 100 shelter beds have been added. Williston and Waterbury shelters have been extended. The state has also extended and expanded medical respite. These programs offer more than a roof over clients’ heads, they address other real needs, she said.
Longterm, Vermont needs to build more housing, officials said.