Vermont Legal Aid urges changes to H91, cites eviction surge and access barriers to emergency shelter

Mary Ellen Griffin, a staff attorney at Vermont Legal Aid, told the House Human Services committee that Vermont is in an "eviction crisis" and urged lawmakers to preserve broad eligibility and add procedural safeguards to H91, the bill concerning emergency temporary shelter.

Griffin said Legal Aid's recent legal needs assessment shows eviction filings and requests for eviction advice have risen sharply. "Our legal needs assessment found that eviction filings are up significantly and that the number of people seeking advice from us about evictions is up 45%," she told the panel, adding that cuts to federal subsidies are likely to worsen demand.

Griffin recommended several changes to H91 focused on access and due process. She asked the committee to (1) keep the eligibility categories adopted last year rather than narrowing them; (2) avoid raising the standard for the disability‑variance form that individuals must use to document need for emergency housing; (3) require transparent reporting of room availability and the method used to determine that availability; (4) require issuance of written award notices to applicants (email/text acceptable when preferred or possible) and allow those notices to be shared with a community support person when authorized by the applicant; and (5) require the department to develop housing options for people who are eligible but excluded from commercial hotels (for example, because they are on private "do not rent" lists or have service animals).

She raised procedural problems Legal Aid is seeing in appeals and reasonable accommodation: supervisors are not consistently reviewing denials quickly, records are not being provided promptly to appellants or their counsel, and the department has required specific forms in ways that can unlawfully block reasonable accommodation requests. Griffin asked the committee to require same‑day or next‑day supervisor review for appeals, prompt record transmission to appellants and counsel, expedited hearings where appropriate, and a legally compliant reasonable accommodation process.

Griffin also urged expanded data collection in H91 so policymakers can track why people become homeless, which placements work, and how many people return to homelessness after placement. She cited the committee's interest in system‑level metrics and recommended the advisory committee created by H91 also study people who are excluded from emergency housing and the public costs of exclusion.

Committee members and other witnesses asked follow‑up questions about electronic award notices, inclusion of priority populations in housing programs and how to involve unsheltered people in advisory work; Griffin suggested using existing drop‑in centers and peer hubs to reach and support participation by people with lived experience.