Disability advocates, Pathways tell House Human Services that housing changes harm people with disabilities; urge plain language, ombudsman, Housing First

Sarah Landerbilt, executive director of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, told the Vermont House Committee on Human Services on Feb. 20 that recent programmatic changes after the end of the public-health emergency have left many people with disabilities at higher risk of losing shelter.

Landerbilt said VCIL uses lived experience to help people with disabilities and that the organization has seen people “caught within a system that no longer was helping them as a priority.” She told the committee the organization supports the task force recommendations the panel received and urged lawmakers to adopt clearer, plain-language determination notices, multiple options for proving disability, and a required consideration of reasonable accommodations.

The testimony focused on three practical fixes Landerbilt said would reduce harm: improved communications and plain-language notices, stronger ombudsman support for people navigating shelter rules and appeals, and preserving access to permanent housing rather than steering people into more restrictive settings. She cited the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Olmstead integration mandate when warning against…