This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.
Over 300 highly vulnerable households will lose eligibility for Vermont’s motel voucher program by the end of June.
That’s because an executive order that extended motel stays for families with children and people with acute medical needs is set to expire June 30. A spokesperson for Gov. Phil Scott confirmed this week that the Republican governor does not plan to extend the order.
By July 1, 348 households currently housed under the order will reach the end of their eligibility period if they don’t transition out of the motel program beforehand, according to Monika Madaras, director of communications and legislative affairs for the Department for Children and Families’ Economic Services Division.
“It’s probably going to be very similar to what we saw last September,” said Miranda Gray, the deputy commissioner of the division. Last fall, over 1,500 people were evicted from motels — including families with young children who resorted to camping — prompting widespread public outcry.
More: Vermont pushed hundreds of people out of motels this fall. Here’s where some ended up
The impending expiration was a surprise to some organizations and local officials who serve unhoused Vermonters, because of widespread confusion about how the program’s time limits would work.
Current law says people can receive 80 nights of emergency housing per year. But any motel stays during the winter months — December through March — do not count toward that time cap.
Scott signed the executive order in late March, just as that winter eligibility period was slated to end. Lawmakers had sought an extension for everyone sheltered through the program at that time to halt another mass eviction, but Scott fiercely opposed the effort, twice vetoing a midyear spending bill over the disagreement. Instead, he took executive action to extend stays for a narrow group of people, writing at the time that “we have an obligation to protect children and Vermonters who are most vulnerable.”
The order states that “the 80 day maximum shall be waived” between April and June for eligible households, “to allow time for DCF to ensure” they have access to services and supports needed to transition to a long-term housing, shelter, or healthcare placement.
DCF communication to providers after the order came down in March stated that the order “lifts the 80-day limit,” allowing eligible people to remain housed through June 30, 2025. It did not specify that days during this period would count toward the cap.
Many service providers understood the phrasing to mean that people sheltered under the executive order would not accrue days toward the 80-day limit. But DCF recently sent notices to clients stating the opposite.
“Your household is part of a special group covered by Executive Order No. 03-25, which may allow you to get more than 80 days of housing assistance through June 30, 2025,” states a draft notice, dated June 3, posted on the department’s website. “However, any days you use under this executive order still count toward your 80-day limit.”
The notice caught many off guard.
Sarah Russell, Burlington’s special assistant to end homelessness, believed households covered under the executive order group would have their 80-day clocks essentially frozen until June 30.
“My assumption originally was that this was an extension of the adverse weather conditions,” she said, referring to the winter exception period. “I think that was a pretty universal assumption among providers.”
Russell did not think there would be another mass eviction until the fall.
But department officials interpreted the executive order to mean that enforcement of the 80-day limit would be paused for these households between April and June, allowing people to stay put even if they had surpassed that cap.
Gray said officials sent out the notices earlier this month after they realized there was a misunderstanding.
“When it became clear that there was confusion, then we wanted to make sure that it was clear for people,” Gray said.
Madaras, the DCF spokesperson, said the Agency of Human Services has ramped up its efforts to support people in the executive order group who are willing to accept services.
Asked how many households the state has helped ensure alternative accommodations for past June 30, Madaras declined to provide a number.
“The Department does not systematically collect data on clients’ living arrangements after they exit the program,” she said.
If the past is any indication, however, at least some of those households will pitch tents come July 1.
To Brenda Siegel, an advocate with End Homelessness Vermont, the state’s effort to winnow down which unhoused people count as the most vulnerable was already unconscionable. But evicting this group that officials have deemed the most at risk of harm if unsheltered is worse.
“After identifying them, the first next move is going to be to send them to live outside,” Siegel said. “That is just horrifying for our state to do.”
