Amid growing criticism of an expensive state practice that houses homeless Vermonters in motels, the Department of Children and Families is floating a new proposal to slash funding to the controversial program. The idea? Cut funding entirely for single individuals, rather than families, who currently receive nearly half of the hotel vouchers dispensed by the state.
A proposal from Sen. Tim Ashe (Chittenden) would go even further; in legislation he plans to introduce later this week, Ashe is recommending dialing back motel spending entirely by July 1, 2015, and instead allocating the roughly $2 million Vermont spent on motel vouchers in fiscal year 2012 to a suite of other measures, including transitional housing, better case management for homeless individuals, and homeless prevention programs.
VTDigger’s Alicia Freese has the story about DCF’s budget plan in more detail here. We’ve reported on the motel spending spikes several times in recent months at Seven Days — from what the program looks like on the inside for homeless families holed up in motels, to the motels that profit the most from the state vouchers. Long story short: Vermont is spending more than ever to house homeless individuals and families in motels when homeless shelters are full.
DCF’s proposal, as Freese reports, could save the department $500,000 by tightening eligibility requirements. Families in need could still tap into the program, as could individuals classified as “vulnerable” or facing “catastrophes” — both terms that would need to be more clearly defined, but that could include people with disabilities or those facing domestic abuse.
It’s a plan that so far worries Rita Markley, the director of the Committee on Temporary Shelter in Burlington (pictured). While she says she would be the last person to say that the overflow motels are an answer to homelessness, she worries about cutting funding to that program in the short term when it may be the only refuge for some people. She told Seven Days that she’d rather see the state focus on ways to improve accountability in the system.
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