Vermont DCF says task force recommendations need fiscal, operational analysis; abstained on most votes

The Department for Children and Families told the House Human Services Committee during testimony that state members of a homelessness task force abstained from most votes on the panel's recommendations because the department lacked time and detailed fiscal analysis to assess operational impacts.

"I really appreciate the work of the task force," Commissioner Chris Winters, Department for Children and Families, told the committee. "This is an incredibly complicated issue. There are no easy answers. There are very few quick fixes." Winters said state members often abstained where the implications for shelter bed supply, hotel rooms and staff positions were not fully analyzed.

Deputy Commissioner Miranda Gray, Economic Services Division, outlined the department's specific concerns and sections where DCF abstained. Gray said DCF was not able in the task force timeframe to estimate the budgetary and logistical consequences of suggested changes including expanding household eligibility, removing resource limits, changing maximum days of hotel or motel eligibility and eliminating income contributions. "We abstained," Gray said, adding the department was willing to provide fuller analyses to…