By Guy Page
The number of homeless Vermonters has tripled since 2020. An aggressive executive order issued by the Trump Administration intended to reduce homelessness has met with both approval and skepticism by members of the Vermont House of Representatives committee that oversees legislative efforts to reduce homelessness.
A sweeping executive order signed this week by former President Donald Trump, aiming to reduce homelessness through expanded institutionalization, forced treatment, and the defunding of harm reduction programs, is drawing both sharp criticism and cautious support from Vermont lawmakers.
The executive order, titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,” directs federal agencies to prioritize encampment clearances, expand civil commitment laws, and defund programs that do not require mandatory treatment—including Housing First and ‘harm reduction’ strategies like overdose prevention sites.
Read the FYIVT.com explanation of the Trump EO here.
VDC asked three Vermont lawmakers on the House Human Services Committee, which has oversight on homeless and substance abuse policy, to weigh in on the Trump order. Two Republican legislators back the President’s call for stricter control and increased accountability among unhoused populations. A former Republican and now independent warns that the order ignores decades of evidence-based mental health policy and could cause lasting harm to the state’s most vulnerable.
Nielsen: EO will help restore street safety and order
Rep. Todd Nielsen (R-Brandon) of the House Human Services Committee, expressed support for Trump’s executive order, saying it addresses visible issues of disorder and drug use in Vermont communities.
“Seeing this firsthand in Vermont, I believe the steps outlined by the President will make Vermont a better and safer place to live,” Nielsen said. “In lieu of spending money on outdated programs that hurt taxpayers, we should welcome this new direction.”
Nielsen framed the resistance to the order as partisan and said more Republican representation is needed in the Legislature to align Vermont’s policies with federal reforms. “Until that happens, Vermont will remain vulnerable to pushback against initiatives designed to make America great again,” he said.
Donahue: Voluntary treatment Is only proven path
Human Services Vice-Chair Rep. Anne Donahue (I-Northfield/Berlin, a former Republican), a longtime mental health advocate, suicide survivor, and member of the House Human Services Committee, said the order’s emphasis on involuntary treatment flies in the face of established research.
“The evidence base shows that voluntary treatment is the only successful route,” Donahue said. “Involuntary treatment may force compliance for a short time, but it leads to long-term disengagement. That’s not recovery.”
Housing First is the longtime homelessness policy, in Vermont and other ‘blue’ jurisdictions, that prioritizes housing over requirements to seek help for substance abuse, job training or mental illness. Donahue was particularly critical of the order’s claim that the Housing First model is not evidence-based. “That is simply false,” she said. “Housing First has an extremely strong evidence base for success in reducing homelessness and achieving long-term housing stability.”
Under Vermont’s Housing First policy, the number of ‘unhoused’ Vermonters has more than tripled since 2020, according to a Vermont Housing and Homelessness Alliance report released this week, shortly after the EO announcement.
“According to the 2025 Vermont Point in Time (PIT) count there were 3,386 unhoused Vermonters in a single night, including 633 children and 215 Vermonters 65 years old or older. This represents an over 200 percent increase in unhoused people since 2020, when the PIT count recorded 1,110 unhoused Vermonters. When compared with states across the United States, last year Vermont had the 4th highest rate of unhoused people per capita in the country,” the report states.
Costs and capacity concerns
Donahue also warned that increasing institutional capacity for civil commitment—especially for individuals who do not meet federal criteria for inpatient care—would saddle Vermont with a massive financial burden.
“Most people needing community-based care are not eligible under federal rules for residential or inpatient treatment,” she explained. “So unless those federal definitions change, any expansion would be 100% at the cost of the state.”
Even if federal matching funds were available, Donahue said, the scale of expansion required to meet the order’s goals would be “extraordinary” and would worsen existing bottlenecks in Vermont’s psychiatric system.
“We already have delays for people who want voluntary inpatient care,” she said. “Emergency departments are crowded. Increasing involuntary commitments would make it even harder for those voluntarily seeking treatment to get it.”
Donahue called instead for a robust expansion of outpatient services, which are both more effective and cost-efficient.
“Creating access to high-quality outpatient mental health care—something Vermont currently lacks—is what will make the biggest difference,” she said. “But if current federal Medicaid policies shift away from supporting outpatient care, we risk losing access to the very programs that work.”
Steady: Expand housing, but add requirements, structure
Rep. Brenda Steady (R-Milton), who also serves on the House Human Services Committee, said she supports exploring more congregate housing solutions but had not fully reviewed the details of Trump’s executive order.
“Leaving people to sleep on sidewalks is not humane,” she said, expressing concern over the current state of Vermont’s emergency housing program. “Putting someone in a motel room without resources isn’t the right answer either.”
Steady advocated for stronger accountability measures, such as requiring participants in state housing programs to engage in drug counseling, budgeting classes, and job-readiness programs.
“I feel for people with mental illness and their families, who often feel helpless under the current system,” she said. “Years ago, family members could help a loved one get treatment. Now their hands are tied.”
‘End Homelessness’ group condemns EO
Critics, including Vermont advocacy group End Homelessness Vermont and its director Brenda Siegel, say the order is dangerous, inhumane, and a direct threat to civil liberties.
“This policy treats homelessness like a crime or a moral failure, rather than a housing issue,” Siegel said. “It defunds the very programs that help people survive and recover.”
This sentiment is echoed by Donahue.
“We cannot afford to go backward,” Donahue said. “Evidence-based care works. Stripping away autonomy and civil rights in the name of public order does not.”
A State at a crossroads
As Vermont grapples with its own housing and mental health care challenges—including an already heavy tax burden, emergency shelter shortages, long wait times for psychiatric care, and strained outpatient services—Trump’s order has forced a public reckoning over the direction of policy and priorities.