By Michael Bielawski

The Senate Committee on Health and Welfare listened to multiple testimonies regarding a proposal to reconfigure resources towards public housing for the homeless on Wednesday. They heard that many of these homeless people have various special needs, and the roughly 1-hour committee session can be seen here.

The bill in question is H. 91, as passed by the House, that would “establish the Emergency Temporary Shelter Program to replace the General Assistance Emergency Housing Program.” The bill prioitizes local operation of shelters and other housing initiatives, including as a fallback option of the controversial hotel/motel program for the homeless.

“Annually, the [Department of Public Safety] shall propose hotel and motel rates as part of its budget presentation for approval by the General Assembly,” the bill states. “A community action agency shall not pay or cause to be paid with State monies a per room, per night basis that exceeds the rate approved by the General Assembly.”

More homeless than homes

Frank Knaack, the executive director for the Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont, noted that there are several times more homeless persons currently in the state than there is capacity to house them.

“Right now, Vermont’s entire statewide shelter capacity is 655 households,” Knaack said. “And so you look at that number 5,000 [total homeless], and then you look at the actual numbers on the ground in terms of shelter capacity, 655, and you see the kind of gap and the problem that we need to address.”

Homeless with special needs

A large percentage of Vermont’s homeless population has special needs, Knaack noted.

“So we’re looking at nearly 50% with mental health [needs],” he said. “Large numbers, one in five with a developmental disability, nearly one in three with a physical disability. And so that is the type of people that this legislation would impact.”

Jonathan Farrell, the executive director for the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS), discussed the prevalence of those with special needs.

“And the biggest lesson in operating as a low barrier shelter is that just about every guest that we see could benefit greatly from a twenty-four-seven residential care setting,” Farrell said.

“We need some medical and basic care, not just more shelters,” he added. “There is rarely a night at the morning shelter that the ambulance does not come. It generally happens more than once for medical reasons or for medical and health reasons. Just the other night, four ambulance calls to the overnight shift.”

Farrell is critical of over-utilizing Housing First, a program originally intended to focus on those with special needs.

“I see Housing First as a specific program designed for mental health and substance use needs,” Farrell said. “It involves 24-7 availability in person of medical professionals, mental health professionals, substance use disorder professionals, and peer support workers for each person enrolled in the program.”

He added that such services are not realistically viable for programs intended for the broader population.

Restructuring not economical?

Farrell alleged that this bill is like a solution looking for a problem.

“This bill, from our opinions, upends a very functioning system that includes allocation of funding, statewide guidelines, superior support and technical support, and safety support from OYO, flexibility to changing needs in the community, and a very good, solid, robust rank reporting, billing, and payment system,” Farrell said.

Libby Bennett, the executive director for Groundworks Collaborative, which operates the Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center and Morningside Shelter, also suggested that decentralizing homeless mitigation efforts will not help.

“Shifting the responsibility of administering these programs to our regional community action partners does not solve the inadequacy of funding from the system overall,” Bennett said. “In this proposed restructure, there are additional organizations for funds to pass through, all of which will have needs for drawing down administrative funds to cover their important work and pay staff to run these vital programs.”

Some supporters

Sarah Russell, Special Assistant to End Homelessness, City of Burlington, is more open to the bill. She said there will be challenges.

“This will not be implemented without challenge,” Russell said. “But under H. 91, state funding can go to the communities to align with local needs and priorities. We have proved this method of regional funding can be very successful, as demonstrated by the COC [continuum of care] ranking process and collaborative application process I’ve outlined here.”

Josh Davis, executive director for the Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA), said, “While we appreciate concerns about the speed and in the process of H. 91, we’re more concerned about the alternative for the lack of money if we don’t act now.”

He added, “Over the past few years, the administration’s primary strategy for managing the emergency housing program has been to narrow eligibility, combined with limiting the number of people served. This approach has repeatedly led to harm to individuals and families, confusion, distress, and operational disruption.”

Chair takes jab at Trump

The committee chair, Sen. Virginia Lyons, D-Chittenden, spoke candidly about the new administration in Washington and its cuts in federal spending.

“The little cloud of authoritarianism hasn’t reached you yet,” Lyons said to Russell.

Russell responded, “It hasn’t. We’re hiding, we’re hiding under the [spending cuts].”Ongoing testimonyThere was more testimony on this bill on Thursday, including from the 

Department for Children and Families and the Department of Housing and Community Development.

Contact them to weigh in

See all bills assigned to this committee here. Constituents may contact committee members (click link on name for bio, party affiliation, etc.) with comments, questions, and information at the following email addresses: 

Senate HealthcareSen. Virginia “Ginny” Lyons, Williston, Chair, vlyons@leg.state.vt.usSen. Martine Larocque Gulick, Vice Chair, Burlington, mgulick@leg.state.vt.usSen. Ann Cummings, Montpelier, acummings@leg.state.vt.us
Sen. Larry Hart, Topsham, lhart@leg.state.vt.usSen. Samuel Douglass, Clerk, sdouglass@leg.state.vt.us

All committee transcripts are available at http://www.goldendomevt.com. The Committee meeting video is available at the committee’s YouTube channel. The committee meets in the morning in Room 17.

The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle