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Advocates warn budget cuts will deepen Vermont shelter gap as need rises
Summary
Advocates told the House Human Services Committee that recent budget changes and limited shelter capacity risk worsening homelessness statewide, citing new housing-need estimates, coordinated-entry counts and a sharp reduction in proposed production funding.
House Human Services members heard multiple providers and advocates say Vermont’s homelessness crisis is growing while state funding to produce affordable housing and support shelter exits is shrinking.
“About half of those homes need to be affordable,” Frank Knecht, executive director of the Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont, told the committee as he summarized the Vermont Housing Needs Assessment. Knecht said the assessment found the state needs between 24,000 and 36,000 new homes this decade and about 15,000 of them must be affordable.
Knecht said coordinated-entry data from March showed 4,971 people statewide — including more than 1,100 children — seeking help through that system, while the statewide shelter capacity is just 655 households. He told the committee those numbers show the coordinated-entry process cannot succeed without more housing and services to move people into.
Knecht also described a drop in proposed state production funding. “House Housing in general's recommendation on the budget was $25,000,000 for BHCB,” Knecht said. He said BHCB had about $60 million in project requests for FY26; advocates had sought roughly $50 million in addition to the property transfer tax revenue. “That number is now down to just $5,000,000 in the FY26 proposed budget that has passed both body,” he said, warning that reduced production funding would mean fewer affordable homes when need is rising.
Committee members and speakers repeatedly urged residents and providers to contact members of the conference committee considering the final budget. Chair Teresa Wood told the room she had heard “reputable” reports that conferees were moving to reduce certain amounts and said public outreach could influence the outcome.
Speakers and providers also flagged operations funding at risk: the committee recommended funding 33 case-management positions to work in motel programs, but advocates said that funding could be cut in final negotiations. Knecht said those case managers are critical because coordinated entry “only works if we have affordable housing and move them into it. It only works if we have services.”
The testimony reinforced provider accounts from the field: when rental assistance caps hit clients, some families have ended up with tents or in encampments, advocates said. Knecht described mass exits when people reach program caps in prior months and warned of future spikes if budget cuts persist.
The committee received data and testimony on multiple related programs: the General Assistance (GA) emergency housing program and the Housing Opportunity Program (HOP), which funds motel overflow and short-term help. Advocates asked the legislature to preserve or increase GA and HOP funds and to maintain funded case-manager positions so coordinated entry can produce durable exits from homelessness.
Advocates framed the problem as both supply and services: without additional production dollars and continued funding for case management and HOP supports, they said, the state will lack the capacity to convert identified need into stable housing.
The committee did not take formal votes during the testimony session. Speakers encouraged ongoing engagement with the budget process and said they will continue to update the legislature with monthly coordinated-entry figures by district.
