Legislation advances key reforms to state’s emergency housing program, reflecting months of collaboration between lawmakers, advocates, legal experts, and executive branch officials.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 30, 2025
Contact:
Emily Hagan-Howe, Communications Director, ACLU of Vermont
[email protected], 802-223-6304 x121
Montpelier, VT – After repeated calls from elected leaders, including the Governor, to reform Vermont's statewide emergency shelter system, the Vermont legislature has put forward the most comprehensive plan to address homelessness in recent years. Yesterday, H.91: An act relating to the Vermont Homeless Emergency Assistance and Responsive Transition to Housing Program passed out of the House and Senate. It now heads to Governor Scott’s desk for his signature in order to become law.
H.91 proposes to shift the state’s primary emergency shelter system into a new program with essential support services, standards, and a focus on homelessness prevention. This bill would give oversight responsibility of state-run emergency shelters and community-based shelters to Vermont’s Community Action Agencies, a network of regional anti-poverty organizations.
These and other reforms included in the bill represent a thoughtful response to Vermont’s growing homelessness crisis; according to most recent data, more than 4,971 individuals, including more than 1,105 children, experience homelessness nightly in Vermont, which now holds the 4th highest rate of homelessness in the country.
The following statement can be attributed to Alex Karambelas, Policy Advocate, ACLU of Vermont:
“The people of Vermont broadly agree that we need humane, long-term solutions to the state’s housing crisis. H.91 moves us closer to that vision. When an emergency shelter program is facilitated by professionals with experience providing services that address the root causes of homelessness and poverty, we know that impacted people and families will be treated with dignity and supported more effectively through evidence-based supports.
“After years of witnessing the suffering of our most vulnerable neighbors as a result of our state’s homelessness crisis, the importance of this bill cannot be overstated. Following months of collaboration and compromise among lawmakers, advocates, legal experts, and the Scott administration, this bill represents the only viable path forward for transitioning away from the state’s current hotel/motel system without abandoning those most impacted by the homelessness crisis in our state.
“With its thoughtful new framework for Vermont’s shelter system, H. 91 provides a long-awaited answer to widespread calls for change. We appreciate the administration’s presence for the entirety of H. 91’s deliberations throughout the legislative session and the opportunity to find areas of common ground and compromise. We urge the governor to sign it when it reaches his desk.”
