Witnesses tell Senate committee Vermont’s homelessness response is ‘clogged’; leaders urge sustained funding and more housing

Senate members convening the Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs committee on Jan. 24 heard testimony that Vermont’s homelessness response system is functioning but overwhelmed and in need of sustained funding and more housing units.

Frank Kinak, executive director of the Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont, told the committee the state’s coordinated system for responding to homelessness — including coordinated entry and local continua of care — can triage people in need but lacks the “outputs” required to move people into stable homes. “The system works, but it’s clogged,” Kinak said, adding that the state lacks both sufficient case-management capacity and enough permanent affordable housing units to receive people out of shelter.

Kinak framed the capacity gap with programs and data already in front of lawmakers. He said the annual point-in-time count earlier in January will be reported this spring, and that the count reported in the most recent assessment showed roughly 3,500 people experiencing homelessness statewide (testimony transcript contains a numeric transcription that may be imprecise). He told senators Vermont’s statewide emergency shelter capacity is about 585 beds while the General Assistance (GA) emergency housing program is using more than 1,400 motel or hotel rooms to shelter vulnerable Vermonters; Kinak said those programs are currently sheltering “just over 1,900 people.”

Why it matters: Kinak and committee members emphasized that without more housing production and predictable funding, emergency programs will continue to be necessary and municipalities and first…