LCAR discusses DCF general assistance rules; committee delays final action for further review

The Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules on Jan. 16 took up the Department for Children and Families’ emergency and permanent general assistance emergency housing rules and postponed final action to its next meeting on Jan. 30, 2025, after extensive testimony and written input from legislative policy chairs.

The committee first considered emergency rule 24 EO8, which agency staff described as identical to previously filed emergency rules. Heidi Moreau, identified as “a policy adviser with the Department for Children and Families,” told the committee the earlier emergency rule had expired Dec. 28 and the department adopted a second emergency rule that was unchanged. “We adopted the second emergency rule, which is identical to the first,” she said.

Committee members and several advocacy witnesses raised objections to two central provisions in the permanent rule: a resource-exhaustion (spenddown) requirement and a prioritization scheme for motel room access. The chair read a memo from the chair of the House Human Services Committee saying, in part, that the requirement to “fully exhaust all resources in order to receive assistance is contrary to the legislators' intent to enable participants to save resources to secure permanent housing.” The memo warned the policy “has potential impact of displacing one homeless household in a motel in favor of another” and called the prioritization inconsistent with legislative intent for cold-weather months.

Advocates and legal aid echoed those concerns. Brenda Siegel, executive director of End Homelessness Vermont, said the resource test and prioritization are blocking access and harming clients. She described multiple client examples, including a person discharged to the street after a mental health crisis because prior institutional stays left them with resources that the rule treated as disqualifying. She said her organization works “with well over a thousand people since June” and has “400 ongoing clients” and that the rules are increasing providers’ administrative burdens.

Leah Burdick, staff attorney at the Elder Law Project at Vermont Legal Aid, said the resource exhaustion requirement is not in statute and “traps people in a horrible vicious cycle of poverty.” Katie McGlenn of the Office of Legislative Council reviewed LCAR’s prior concerns and reminded the committee that in the absence of explicit statutory language courts and review processes look to committee and floor records and statements by policy chairs when assessing legislative intent.

DCF officials said the department views the provisions differently. Heidi Moreau said DCF wants “to ensure access to motel rooms for the most vulnerable populations” and, given the limited supply of motel rooms, maintained the prioritization and resource provisions to target scarce placements. Nicole Tuzia, DCF’s economic benefits director, said the resource test includes some flexibilities and staff guidance allowing deduction of certain upcoming expenses (for example car repair or insurance) when determining available resources; Tuzia offered to provide the department’s housing resource guide to the committee.

On the emergency rule, the committee considered a substitute motion (from Senator Lyons) to neither approve nor object; members voted by voice. With substantial unresolved concerns and limited time during the Jan. 16 session, the committee’s chair moved, without objection, to postpone further action and make the GA rule the first item on the Jan. 30 agenda. The chair also noted disappointment that the permanent rule had not been changed to address committee concerns raised at earlier meetings.

Why it matters: The rules govern access to state-funded motel placements and other emergency housing supports for people experiencing homelessness. Stakeholders told the committee the rules’ resource-exhaustion and prioritization provisions reduce access and impose administrative hurdles on disabled and otherwise vulnerable clients; DCF says the provisions are needed to prioritize scarce rooms for the most vulnerable.

Next steps: LCAR will resume consideration of emergency rule 24 EO8 and permanent rule 24 P 42 at its Jan. 30 meeting. DCF agreed to provide its housing resource guide and other requested materials to the committee ahead of that session.