Lawmakers hear DCF, OEO and DHCD on H.91; officials urge clearer timeline, funding and benchmarks to reduce hotel‑motel sheltering

Montpelier — Testimony to the Senate Committee on Health & Welfare on H.91 outlined a plan to move Vermont away from short‑term hotel and motel placements toward regionally run shelter and housing programs, but state officials warned the bill as written is largely a planning measure and urged clearer timelines, funding and benchmarks to avoid service disruptions.

"It's a bold idea. It's a big shift," said Chris Winters, commissioner of the Department for Children and Families, describing H.91 as a proposal to replace the General Assistance emergency housing program and the Housing Opportunity Grant (HOP) program with a DCF‑administered program operated by five community action agencies and a statewide set‑aside for domestic‑violence survivors. "That's a huge shift," Winters said, and he told senators the department supports bringing services closer to local communities while noting the "devil is in the details."

Why it matters: DCF and housing officials described years of program changes since 2020 and urged that any statutory redesign include concrete transition steps so hotels and motels — which DCF officials and providers say are often a last‑resort, high‑cost option — are reduced while permanent shelter capacity and case management expand.

Officials described the bill as creating an advisory task force and report due to the Legislature on Feb. 1, 2026. Winters said that, while planning can continue this year, the committee and the department should identify steps that can be taken sooner to begin moving resources from hotel rooms into shelter models and intensive case management.

Program history and funding pressure

Miranda Gray, deputy commissioner of the Economic Services Division at DCF, reviewed five years of program changes and emergency measures that followed the COVID‑19 pandemic. She recounted shifting eligibility rules, temporary cohorts created by Acts 81 and 113, and an executive order issued March 28 that permitted some households to remain in placements through June 30, 2025. Gray said the program has operated under repeated rule adjustments and various funding sources since 2020, and that those changes have created administrative strain and uncertainty for people seeking shelter.

Gray said the state currently pays about $80 per night for hotel rooms after negotiated reductions from earlier rates that in some cases exceeded $200 per night. She said the department has at times served roughly 1,450 households and later operated under a 1,100‑room cap that forced the use of a prioritization policy. The prioritization, she said, was invoked when occupancy neared the cap; during one adverse‑weather period more than 900 households were eligible for assistance but the state could not offer rooms to all of them.

"We pay $80 a night now for hotel rooms," Gray said. She described administrative steps taken rapidly after the March 28 executive order — including posting a medical‑vulnerability review form within days — and said a clinical team reviews medical attestation for people claiming medical vulnerability.

HOP and shelter capacity

Lily Sojourner, director of the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), summarized the Housing Opportunity Grant program (HOP), which she described as the state's primary funding stream for emergency shelters, transitional housing, rapid rehousing and homelessness prevention. Sojourner said the current HOP award round totals about $38.9 million distributed to 35 nonprofit providers this year, including funds for emergency shelter operations, flexible financial assistance (security deposits, short‑term rent arrears) and supports intended to keep households housed.

Sojourner also outlined shelter capacity statewide: she said Vermont currently lists capacity for roughly 656 households in year‑round shelters and noted a 34 percent increase in year‑round shelter capacity since 2020. At the same time, she cautioned, some counties — including Chittenden County — still have limited capacity relative to demand.

"We've increased year‑round capacity, but demand remains high," Sojourner said, noting projects in development and that operating dollars for new facilities require coordination among OEO, the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board and other funders.

Vermont Housing Improvement Program (VHIP)

Sean Gilpin, housing division director at the Department of Housing and Community Development, described VHIP, a program that provides grants to bring uninhabitable rental units back into service for households exiting homelessness or otherwise in need. Gilpin said the program's average award is about $38,000 per unit; to date the program has completed nearly 600 units and has roughly 470 more in the pipeline. He said roughly 80 percent of completed units house people who were experiencing homelessness.

"These are relatively small public investments, targeted where units can be brought back into safe, habitable condition," Gilpin said, adding that the program requires affordability commitments (five‑year or ten‑year options tied to homeless exit or voucher‑level rents).

Policy points, concerns and committee questions

Committee members pressed officials on prioritization, the definition of medically vulnerable, resources needed to provide case management and the cost of not housing people — including municipal spending on emergency responses. Senators raised concerns about how to prioritize populations when resources are insufficient and how to match people with intensive services such as mental health and substance use treatment that often cannot be delivered effectively in hotel rooms.

Winters said DCF consults with the Department of Health on a medical prioritization rubric and recommended creating a stronger "front door" that assesses needs and connects people with tailored case management. He argued for a swifter transition plan that would reduce reliance on hotels while increasing shelter‑type programs funded by HOP and run by local providers.

Next steps

Officials did not record any committee votes during the testimony. DCF asked the committee to clarify statutory language defining implementation steps, funding expectations and prioritization rules, and recommended setting benchmarks for moving from hotel‑motel placements to shelter programs. The advisory task force and the February 1, 2026 report are the statutory milestones referenced during testimony.

Ending note

Committee members said they would continue the discussion in subsequent hearings and requested the presenters' slides and data summaries for posting online. No statutory changes were adopted during the session.