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DCF opposes legislative extension of emergency hotel program; agency urges sticking with current 80-day cap
Summary
The Department for Children and Families told the Senate Appropriations Committee that extending the emergency hotel-motel program through June would cost about $1.8 million and could reduce access for households already waiting; lawmakers argued over equity and the practical limits of shelter capacity.
Chris Winters, Commissioner of the Department for Children and Families, presented the department's analysis of a House proposal to extend the adverse-weather/hotel-motel program through June. Winters said the House amendment would add roughly $1,800,000 to continue hotel placements from April 1 through June 30, and the department's estimate assumes increased utilization of available rooms.
For the record, Winters explained, the program as passed last year includes an 80-day cap on hotel stays per household in a calendar year and a 1,100-room cap for the non-cold months. "Our position is that we stay with the bill as passed last year with current conditions, with the current 80 day limits ... and the current 1,100 hotel room limit in the non cold weather months," Winters said, arguing the cap preserves turnover and fairness for households who saved days earlier in the year.
Winters described the administration's modeling: the state currently has about 1,425 hotel rooms available, but under current law the department estimates usage of roughly 1,100 rooms from April through June because of turnover tied to the 80-day limit. Extending the program to allow full use of 1,425 rooms over that period would raise costs by about $1.8 million, he said; the per-room math cited in committee was about $80 per night for the incremental rooms.
The department reported roughly 700 households have been eligible for the hotel-motel program but were turned away for lack of a room. Winters urged investment in shelter capacity and other longer-term responses: DCF has added about 100 shelter beds in the past year and said another 100 are in development; overall the department estimated roughly 3,000 people experiencing homelessness statewide, about 1,400 hotel rooms currently used and about 620 shelter beds.
Senator Watson disagreed with the department's position, saying the priority should be "less disruption for people, particularly children in school" and urged the committee to consider a short bridge to reduce harm. Other senators pressed whether the governor would veto the Budget Adjustment Act over this funding; Winters said he would not speak for the governor.
Committee members asked whether the department could have discretion to exceed the 1,100-room cap in special cases, for example to prioritize people with major disabilities. Winters said he understood the concern but that giving broad discretionary exemptions could create fairness and administrative problems given limited capacity; he said DCF is working with the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living to identify pathways for particularly vulnerable individuals.
No formal vote was recorded on the hotel extension during the hearing; committee members asked Winters to provide the underlying data and remaining shelter funding balances to inform further consideration.
