Report: Vermont Has Made Little Progress on Homeless Crisis

Unhoused people in a tent in Burlington Credit: File: James Buck

The number of homeless Vermonters remains at historically high levels, according to new data released on Wednesday.

The Annual Point-in-Time Count, a nationwide exercise that tracks the number of homeless people on one night in January, revealed that nearly 3,400 people are homeless in Vermont. That figure — a 200 percent increase since 2020 — is roughly the same as last year’s count, showing that the state has made little progress in tackling the problem despite spending millions trying.

Of this year’s total, 270 people were listed as living unsheltered, a 62 percent increase over last year, though officials say the number is likely higher. The remainder were either in warming shelters, rooms through the state’s motel housing program or other places, officials said.

Homeless advocates say decades of failed housing policies are to blame for the deepening crisis, including continual wind-downs of the pandemic-era motel program.

“Our elected officials continue to advance policies that are dangerously out of step with on-the-ground realities — policies that do not alleviate suffering, but entrench and escalate it,” the report says. “It is long past time to abandon the failed status quo and commit to the bold, sustained investments needed to end homelessness once and for all.”

The count is spearheaded by the Housing & Homelessness Alliance of Vermont and Chittenden County Homeless Alliance. The numbers do not include those at risk of homelessness, couch surfing or privately paying for a motel room.

It’s also several months out of date. A census of the state’s coordinated entry program, which connects unhoused people with housing and other services, counted 4,588 homeless people in June.

This year’s Point-in-Time Count showed a total of 3,386 unhoused people statewide, a slight decrease from last year’s 3,458. But officials caution that the number could be misleading. With fewer people eligible for state motel rooms, they’ve been pushed further into the margins and become more difficult for counters to find.

“We know providers work diligently to make sure that this is as accurate as possible,” Sarah Russell, Burlington’s special assistant to end homelessness, said at a press conference on Wednesday. But “to take one count on one day, we know that’s not indicative of what we see year-round.”

The report includes some staggering findings, including that nearly 20 percent of the unhoused people counted were children under age 18. Six percent were older than 65.

The report draws a straight line between motel program cuts and the rise in unsheltered homelessness. In last year’s count, all unhoused people were eligible for motel rooms, but this year, the program was limited to only the most vulnerable Vermonters, the report says.

“Defunding shelter programs such as the motel program does not decrease rates of homelessness,” Russell said. “It only sets back the timeline for stability for these households and prevents them from being able to access those basic human needs.”

There are currently just over 1,000 people in motels, down from around 2,300 in March. The most recent cutbacks in June left more than 650 “highly vulnerable” adults and just over 300 children without shelter. In Burlington, officials proposed a program to allow families to sleep overnight in a city parking lot but then swiftly backtracked after business leaders and others complained. Meantime, the state’s shelters, which provide for 602 households, are full.

Officials say there are more unsheltered Vermonters than the report reflects. Frigid temperatures the night of the count, January 22, prompted Burlington to open a warming shelter for 82 people. But 72 of those were included in the “sheltered” count despite only being housed that one night, Russell said.

The report calls on Gov. Phil Scott and state legislators to invest in permanently affordable housing and to rehab existing structures into affordable homes. Meantime, the state needs more robust investment in emergency shelter, including low-barrier housing for people addicted to drugs, the report says.

It also calls for protecting tenants from no-cause evictions; providing subsidies to cover the cost of rent; and decriminalizing infractions associated with homelessness, including public urination and sleeping in public.

“We know exactly what works,” Frank Knaack, executive director of the Housing & Homelessness Alliance of Vermont, said in a statement. “All we lack is the political commitment to act.”