Vermont community action agencies ask House committee to fund housing prevention, case management

Representatives of Vermont's community action agencies told the House General & Housing Committee on Jan. 24 that they are asking legislators to increase funding for housing prevention programs and to sustain case-management positions that help keep people housed.

The request centers on a planned increase to the Housing Opportunity Grant (HOP) for fiscal 2026 and on moving Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP)-funded case-management positions into the base budget. "We're coming here today to, talk specifically about, $14,550,000 housing opportunities, grant to the BCAP members for the fiscal year 2026," said Casey Winterson, director of economic and community-based services at Northeast Kingdom Community Action.

Winterson said the requested increase is intended to expand rapid rehousing, direct financial assistance to landlords and tenants, and vouchers. She described the work as prevention-focused: "the goal of our housing prevention is to stop the homelessness report even happens," and emphasized wraparound supports including financial coaching and landlord navigation.

Vermont Community Action Partnership representative Jenna Orfeo outlined the network's role and funding structure, saying community action agencies rely on multiple funding sources. "We received something called the community service block grant," Orfeo said, describing it as a federally funded block grant that forms core funding for the five statewide community action agencies. Winterson added that block grant funding is small relative to total agency budgets: "At NECA we have a $13,000,000 budget. Our block grant is $600,000," she said.

Committee members asked for details about how the money is used and whether programs can absorb unused funds. Winterson described three components of the HOP request: rental arrears (up to three months), first/last/security deposits to rehouse people, and rapid rehousing supports tied to coordinated entry assessments. She also said part of the requested increase would support home vouchers but did not state units or dollar units explicitly when describing a "2.4 that goes to the home voucher," and noted voucher administration can be adjusted between regions when households cannot lease up locally.

Winterson told the committee that ERAP-funded case managers face an immediate funding cliff unless those positions are moved into the base budget: "If this money is unable to be put into the base budget, will require agencies to think about laying off those individuals." She said roughly a dozen case managers statewide could be affected if the funding is not sustained.

Speakers described rising demand and tight budgets at local agencies. Winterson said one community'level rental-assistance budget at Northeast Kingdom Community Action was $100,000 this past fiscal year and was spent in under six months; she said that figure had increased to about $168,000 but was expected to be overspent by year end. Winterson also cited homelessness counts and trends: "we are 4th in the nation for the highest rate per capita of homelessness," and cited a 2024 point-in-time count of about 3,450 people statewide.

Committee members asked for follow-up information, including statewide voucher lease-up rates and more precision on revenue lines. Winterson and Orfeo offered to provide more detailed budget and program data to the committee staff.

The witnesses asked the committee to forward the funding request to House Appropriations for consideration in the fiscal 2026 budget process. No formal vote or committee action was recorded during the panel session.

Supporters said housing prevention and retention services are a cost-effective way to reduce homelessness, while committee members pressed for more data on program capacity, voucher lease-up, and the consequences if ERAP case-management funding lapses.

Winterson closed by urging continued legislative support: "Housing prevention and retention services really is the most affordable way to move that process forward. It is the most person centered way."