MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – A group of over 90 Vermont lawmakers is calling for the governor to set up emergency homeless shelters and to boost the number of hotel rooms just months after the Legislature slashed the program.
“One child living in unsheltered homelessness and being asked to sleep on the streets is too many,” said Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, P-Chittenden County, who spearheaded the letter.
A majority of Democrats — along with the governor– agreed on the stricter hotel rules, which ended hotel stays for hundreds of people in several waves since this spring, the latest last week included children and some with disabilities.
Vermont’s 2024 Point in Time survey counted 3,458 homeless Vermonters, including 737 children, 646 people over 55, and 1,413 with some sort of disability.
“Obviously, we want to help any family struggling with homelessness,” Gov. Scott said Wednesday. But administration officials maintain those numbers don’t tell the full story and they say the state has a “triage team” that works to connect people with resources. Vermont Human Services Secretary Jenney Samuelson says out of the hundreds of people who have seen their hotel eligibility run out, there are about a dozen families with kids in search of shelter.
But homeless advocates and service providers say that number is much higher, saying they have handed out 100 tents to families with kids.
Lawmakers earmarked some $10 million to expand shelter beds this winter in Burlington, Rutland, Montpelier, and elsewhere, but state leaders say making them a reality is easier said than done. “It’s a constant challenge of the people to run the shelters, the buildings to house these shelters, the communities to host them,” said DCF Commissioner Chris Winters.
The state this spring spent about $50,000 a night to stand-up emergency shelters in state-owned buildings after the first wave of hotel voucher restrictions. But those shelters soon closed for lack of use.
Governor Scott says the state needs to be more strategic in where dollars are spent. “I think it’s important that we don’t waste precious state resources and that we fill the need by watching what’s happening on the ground,” he said.
But Senator Vyhovsky, who was among only two senators who voted against the cuts to hotels last session, says the state has a responsibility to shelter its most vulnerable. “There aren’t options on the table if the governor doesn’t take action. There will be children and people with disabilities and chronic health conditions that may very well die in the streets,” she said.
Legislative leadership did not sign onto the letter and Senate President Phil Baruth, D-Chittenden County, has said a state of emergency wouldn’t be as effective as some think it would.
Winter rules on the hotel program begin in December which could ease some of the problems but the issue is sure to be back in front of lawmakers next session.