Providers urge Legislature to replace ERAP funding and expand HOP to keep case managers serving unhoused Vermonters

Linda Anderson, director of family and community support services for Capstone Community Action, told the House Human Services Committee that positions funded with Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) dollars will “likely disappear” if the Legislature does not replace that funding before it expires in June 2025.

Anderson said Capstone’s program served 247 households between July 1, 2024, and Feb. 11, 2025; 40 of those households obtained safe, affordable housing and 43 avoided eviction, outcomes she said represent 171 people who are not homeless today because of the program.

The Vermont Community Action Partnership (VCAP), represented by Paul Dragon, executive director of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO), is asking the Legislature to increase Housing Opportunity Program (HOP) grant funding to $15.8 million in 2026 — a $6 million increase — to replace ERAP flexibility and sustain case management. Dragon said that request would include $2.4 million for the Home Family Voucher program and roughly $1.2 million to sustain ERAP-funded case management positions.

Providers told committee members that ERAP’s flexibility allowed them to provide longer-term housing retention supports to households identified as literally homeless, beyond the three-month retention limit under current HOP rules. Anderson said the existing HOP structure allows up to two years of retention for households identified as at-risk on intake, but only three months for those who are literally homeless when they enter services. She warned that losing ERAP funds will cut full-time navigation and retention positions and make some housing counselor roles unsustainable.

Committee members asked whether other funding sources could replace ERAP. Dragon and Anderson said HOP funding can cover similar services but lacks the same flexibility for medium-term retention for those who enter literally homeless. Dragon told the committee that the HOP funding structure can fund landlord liaison roles and case management “if the money is there,” but that the specific ERAP-funded flexibilities are not visible in the existing HOP rules.

Speakers and providers urged the committee to prioritize replacement funding so providers can retain staff and maintain the flexibility to pay direct client assistance, landlord engagement, and medium-term case management when required to prevent returns to homelessness.

Votes at the hearing were not recorded on this matter; lawmakers took testimony and asked questions. The providers asked the committee to consider the VCAP request and related budget items as the session proceeds.

Ending

Providers asked the committee to preserve ERAP-era flexibility and increase HOP funding so shelters and community action agencies can retain navigation and retention staff and continue medium-term case management that providers say prevents recurring homelessness.