Susan Aronoff, senior interim policy analyst for the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council, told the House General & Housing Committee on Jan. 9 that the council's Road Home report highlights a pressing shortfall of service‑supported housing and recommends a set of steps to close it.

Aronoff said the council represents roughly 3,400 Vermonters who receive developmental disability services and that current housing arrangements are strained: about 39% live with shared‑living providers and another 39% live with family, roughly 1,300 people in each category. "We're looking to develop 600 units of housing," Aronoff said, framing that target as a way to relieve pressure on families and shared‑living systems.

The council credited recent successes to focused attention and targeted funding. Aronoff pointed to inclusion of people with disabilities in the Vermont Housing Investment Program (VHIP) and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board's (VHCB) priorities, which produced pilot projects and left at least three more projects in the pipeline. She described an anticipated dedicated fund within VHCB to support service‑supported housing development tied to legislative proposals this session.

A central proposal Aronoff elevated is a unified statewide pool of temporary, state‑funded rental assistance vouchers administered by the State Housing Authority and gate‑kept by the relevant state departments for their client populations. Under the proposal, state vouchers would be temporary and recycled: when a recipient obtains a federal voucher, the state voucher would return to the pool for the next eligible person. Aronoff described the idea as a way to reduce siloing across existing state programs and "build equity in the system."

Aronoff also urged the committee to approve at least 25 state‑supported vouchers this session to seed projects already in the VHCB pipeline, identifying three vouchers for Waterbury projects and 10 for a Burlington project on Saint Paul Street. "We're really hoping to come out of this session with at least 25 state supported vouchers to begin to build equity in the system," she said.

Committee members asked for detail on administration, definitions and equity. Aronoff said the State Housing Authority would continue to administer the vouchers while departments (for example, developmental disability services, mental health, corrections) would act as gatekeepers to certify eligibility for their respective client populations. The witnesses discussed the need to specify eligibility definitions and to include percentage targets to ensure equitable access by population group.

Witnesses also highlighted service‑delivery and workforce constraints. Kirsten Murphy, executive director of the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council and lead author of the Road Home study, confirmed that only a weighted average of about 55% of designated community support hours are being filled statewide, with agency rates ranging from roughly 38% to about 78%. Murphy said the workforce shortage limits the system's ability to deliver the supports that make housing models work.

Aronoff emphasized that service‑supported housing is about supports, not just buildings: it can be delivered in downtown apartments, intentional communities or smaller licensed group settings, provided the appropriate supports and licensure are in place. She flagged Vermont licensure rules that require a license when more than two unrelated people live together and recommended developing licensure better suited to modern supported‑living arrangements.

Aronoff closed by asking the committee to keep legislative oversight through an ongoing advisory body during what she described as a five‑year implementation horizon. She also agreed to send the Road Home report to committee staff for review.

The committee chair closed the session and announced a 1:00 p.m. joint hearing in Room 11 on the CHIPS program with the House Commerce & Economic Development and Ways & Means committees.

What happens next: Aronoff asked to have the Road Home report distributed to committee staff; the committee did not take formal votes during the session.