Changes to controversial program that awards motel vouchers to the homeless moved a step closer to reality Thursday. The revised rule could make it easier for people to qualify for emergency housing.
Emergency housing is a program that provides up to 28 days of shelter for vulnerable populations who don’t qualify for temporary housing.
Last session, the Legislature reduced the amount of money available for the program in FY 2014 to $1.5 million, forcing the Agency of Human Services to tighten qualification standards. Advocates reacted to the cutback in a series of meetings last month and a more moderate proposal was advanced.
A new version of the rule, with modifications to the original six-point voucher criteria, was approved by the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) on Thursday, but it needs one more vote before implementation by Nov. 30.
The original plan called for a point system to assess eligibility for the vouchers, in which an applicant needed to attain six points from a list of 12 criteria. The new plan reduced the number of points needed to four and the categories to 8.
LCAR agreed to the new limits Thursday but, to advocates’ disappointment, did not oppose a portion of the rule that required the applicant’s contribution of 50 percent of their gross monthly income toward their emergency housing costs.
“I was disappointed that they didn’t object to it,” said Joe Patrissi of Northeast Kingdom Community Action. “They could have sent a stronger signal to the Department for Children and Families.”
Several of the advocates said the 50 percent rule makes it difficult for people to get out of the emergency housing situation and save money for rent deposits they need to find permanent housing.
Still, it’s a change from the guidelines that were in place, said Heidi Moreau, a policy analyst at the Department for Children and Families (DCF).
“This rule replaces the guidelines,” she said. “The guidelines required applicants to exhaust all applicable income; this requires them to exhaust not all-applicable income, but 50 percent.”
In FY 2013, which ended June 30, the state spent $4 million on motel vouchers for emergency housing, and in an attempt to find other ways to help the homeless the Legislature slashed the budget to $1.5 million for FY 2014.
But advocates are worried that the changes will hurt the people it is trying to help and risks leaving people outside during the winter months.
Sen. Diane Snelling R-Chittenden, who sits on LCAR and the Senate Appropriations Committee, says it’s a difficult situation because there are many factors that make people homeless.
“Why aren’t we looking to connect people who are homeless with mental health and abuse services, because that’s really what leads to a lot of homelessness,” she said.
The issue has been how to take care of people and also have some kind of control over how the money is spent, Snelling said.
One of the steps to reduce the amount spent on motel vouchers was to limit the eligibility of the people who can apply.
The original set of eligibility qualifications would consider people who earned six points from a list of 12 categories, For example, households with a child under 6 years would get three points, disabled veterans would get one point and a pregnant women in the third semester would get two points.
That plan was criticized for making it hard for people to collect six points.
Under the new rule, a person automatically qualifies to apply for emergency housing if a household member belongs to any of the following criteria: he or she is 65 years or older; is a receipt of SSI or SSDI; has a child 6-years-old or younger; or is in the third trimester of pregnancy.
If applicant households do not have a member belonging to one of the above categories, they can qualify by accumulating four points from eight categories as follows:
• Disabled veterans, one point;
• Individual with an open case receiving services from the Family Services Division, one point;
• SSI or SSDI applicant with medical documentation of disability, one point;
• Child(ren) between the agges of 7 and 17, two points;
• Individual discharged from a 48-hours or more inpatient hospital stay, within the past 30 days who has an ongoing medical need related to the hospitalization, two points;
• Individual over 18 years of age discharged from the custody of the Department of Children and Families within the past three years, one point;
• Reach Up recipient, one point;
• Individual on probation or parole with the Department of Corrections, who has been incarcerated for 12 consecutive months and released within the past six months, one point.
“I think we’re making progress,” Moreau said. ”But it would be nice to hear further feedback on this.”
DFC will take feedback in a public hearing Sept. 20, and will have a final proposed rule ready for LCAR by Oct. 1. if that rule is passed, the permanent rule will go into effect Nov. 30.
