Vermont Legal Aid and the state Agency of Human Services have settled a lawsuit over emergency housing assistance eligibility requirements, leading to new rules that should make it easier for homeless, disabled Vermonters to obtain state-funded vouchers to temporarily stay in motels.
Federal district court judge for the District of Vermont Christina Reiss signed off on the agreement on Friday and dismissed the case.
The new rules outlined in the settlement are slated to take effect by Sept. 3 and expire at the end of June 2022.
The settlement ends a legal battle that began in June, when Vermont Legal Aid sued the state, alleging it did not follow proper channels when changing eligibility requirements or give adequate notice to program participants.
Legal Aid said at the time that the Agency of Human Service definition of disabled was too narrow and would result in hundreds of disabled Vermonters being kicked to the curb.
State officials argued that everything they did was above board and noted that eligibility had been expanded from pre-pandemic levels and they were providing stipends to people on their way out of the program.
“Vulnerable Vermonters that might otherwise have been left unsheltered will be able to access general assistance motel programs,” said Jessica Radbord, the lead Vermont Legal Aid attorney on the case. “We are providing the critical resource of shelter for people that, if left unsheltered, may have experienced significant harm to their health and welfare due to their disability.”
The settlement outlines a few notable changes in qualification requirements for the motel program.
Under the new rules, applicants are eligible if they can provide documentation from a health care professional showing that a disability limited their ability to work more than 20 hours in the previous three months or would do so in the coming three months.
Under the previous guidelines, participants had to prove that they couldn’t work at all for three months after their application date.
Radbord said that in many cases, disable Vermonters want to work and that this new policy “doesn’t force them to choose between getting out of the labor force or keeping a roof over their head.”
Under the previous requirements, getting a job would make someone ineligible for the program.
The guidelines in the settlement also offer increased flexibility. A new process allows qualifications to be stretched if being unsheltered would put a disabled applicant’s health or welfare at risk.
Vermonters who receive certain state and federal benefits will continue to qualify. Those include Social Security, VA Disability Benefits and Medicaid for the aged, blind and disabled.
In addition to those changes, Vermont Legal Aid is creating a new form for applicants and their health care providers to document disabilities and eligibility. Radbord said it will be shorter and easier to use than its predecessor.
“People who are really vulnerable, within the next 10 days, are going to be able to benefit from this new rule and new process and that is a great thing,” she said. “We were able to reach a result that will be able to better meet the needs of vulnerable Vermonters experiencing homelessness.”
Representatives of the state and Vermont Legal Aid said that, although they are pleased with the settlement deal, many questions remain.
“We’ll continue to try to figure out what a sustainable housing program looks like going forward,” said Geoffrey Pippenger, senior adviser to Department for Children and Families Commissioner Sean Brown. “Specifics on how to make sure disabled participants have assistance after [fiscal year 2022] are to be determined.”
Radbord echoed Pippenger, saying she is pleased with the outcome of the settlement but “there is a lot of work to do.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect title for Christina Reiss.
