Vermont legal aid warns funding cuts would force staff reductions and curb eviction, housing-discrimination work

Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont told a legislative committee on Feb. 21 that expiring grants and possible federal funding restrictions could force layoffs and sharply reduce legal services for low-income Vermonters, especially in eviction and housing-discrimination cases.

The presenters said federal sources account for more than one-third of their combined budgets and that the organizations are asking the legislature for $1.6 million in state support to sustain core services. “If we actually lost the one-third funding, for us, it would be catastrophic. I think the math would be approximately 20 FTEs,” said Yasmeen Zidar Sheher, executive director of Vermont Legal Aid.

Why it matters: The organizations described several housing-focused programs that are ending or at risk, including the Homeowner Legal Assistance Program (funding ended December 2024), the Housing for Everyone law project (HELP), whose funding is scheduled to terminate in July 2025, and the Housing Discrimination Law Project (HDLP), which presenters said faces likely termination or substantial delay. Those reductions, they warned, would coincide with rising eviction and poverty rates and would reduce legal help for tenants, homeowners and people subject to housing discrimination.

Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont outlined how they operate and the scale of need. Sameh Abel Palmer, executive director of Legal Services Vermont, said the organizations together served more than 15,000 Vermonters in 2024 and that Legal Services Vermont runs the statewide helpline and handles short-term assistance and consumer matters. Presenters said Vermont Legal Aid focuses more on impact and litigation work, including disability, elder law, long-term care ombudsman services, the Mental Health Law Project and poverty/property law work.

Funding picture and requests: Presenters said roughly one-third of the combined budget comes from federal sources (direct or pass-through), the Vermont Bar Foundation provides about 7% (approximately $750,000), and the remainder comes from a mix of state grants, other foundations and contracts. Legal Services Vermont described its reliance on the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) for just under half its budget; the LSC funds are structured separately from executive-branch grants.

Vermont Legal Aid reported roughly 87 staff across its programs and described multi-year staff declines in several projects: the Property Law Project was about 8.2 full-time equivalents (FTEs) at the time of the presentation, down from about 14.3 FTEs in 2018; the Victims' Rights Project was described as about 2.5 FTEs; presenters said the Mental Health Law Project had a line item near $1.2 million in the previous year’s budget and is mandated by statute to provide counsel in certain involuntary mental-health proceedings.

Service impacts and clinics: Presenters emphasized how staffing limits reduce in-person clinic coverage in many counties and increase reliance on short-term advice rather than full representation. They said some counties (Chittenden, Franklin, Addison, Washington) have established in-court clinics supported by earlier grants, while other areas such as Bennington, Brattleboro and parts of the Northeast Kingdom remain underserved because clinics require an onsite staff coordinator and other infrastructure. “We’ve gotten as bad as three weeks behind in even being able to return people’s calls” on nonemergency matters during spikes in demand, a presenter said.

Potential consequences: Presenters warned that losing housing-focused legal services would worsen housing instability and produce downstream costs for courts and communities, including more adjournments and prolonged litigation when people proceed without counsel. They also noted operational pressures such as hiring freezes, rising operating costs and increased demand: a cited figure showed a 45% increase in eviction-related requests for assistance in recent years and a sharp rise in family/individual-rights cases involving crime victims.

Requests and next steps: The organizations asked the committee to consider the $1.6 million request and to note that their budget materials are split across multiple parts of the governor’s proposal, which complicates tracking. Presenters said they would provide additional documentation and contacts for follow-up questions.

The presentation did not include formal committee votes or decisions; members asked clarifying questions about prior year funding levels and statutory obligations connected to the Mental Health Law Project.