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Community action agencies detail budgets for H.91, propose shared statewide coordinator
Summary
At a Vermont legislative H.91 review, five regional community action agencies presented a detailed budget spreadsheet showing agency-level variation, proposed a statewide coordinator position funded across agencies, and confirmed current use of volunteers and donations in operations.
A Vermont legislative committee reviewing H.91 heard detailed budget breakdowns from five community action agencies and discussed a proposed statewide coordinator position that the agencies would fund and supervise.
The agencies — presented by Jenna Farrell, executive director of Northeast Kingdom Community Action, and Linda Lotte, director of finance at NEKCA — showed the same overall totals as their earlier submission but with more line-item detail. The spreadsheet, the committee was told, breaks costs out by agency to reflect differing regional demographics and service needs.
The detail matters because funding in the draft totals $4,500,000 for the regional agencies and earmarks $400,000 for a statewide network, according to questions raised during the meeting. “It just breaks it out in more detail…you can see that there’s differences between the five CAPs based on demographic, based on the number of individuals, what our needs are,” Jenna Farrell said.
Committee members asked how a “statewide” position would be handled. The agencies described the role as a statewide coordinator or director whose functions would sit between regional directors and the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). “We’re not looking for this position to be hired by the state. It would be by the CAPs and supervised by the five executive directors,” Farrell said, adding that the position’s duties would differ from those of regional directors.
Committee members also asked whether the statewide network (the $400,000 line item) would play a role in hiring the coordinator. Farrell said the coordinator would be coordinated with statewide partners, including the network, but that hiring would be done by the CAPs: they would pool funds and employ the person.
Senator Douglas asked about volunteer support and donated goods. Jenna Farrell said the five agencies currently fundraise, run donation drives and recruit volunteers, and that they record volunteer hours as part of their Community Services Block Grant monitoring. “We actually record volunteer hours, and we do report out on them,” she said, adding that volunteer roles include food shelves, shelter meal service and thrift stores.
No formal committee vote or adoption occurred during this portion of the meeting. Committee members said the budget detail provided clarity and flagged possible follow-up questions as they resumed work on the bill.
The committee will return to H.91 and to this budget discussion in a subsequent meeting, with staff and agency partners expected to supply any requested clarifications.
