By Keith Whitcomb Jr. [email protected]
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont 2-1-1 will once again be authorizing emergency housing vouchers on a 24/7 basis.
According to the Agency of Human Services, Vermont 2-1-1 24-hour referral services will resume on Dec. 6 with funding available until April 30. Since Oct. 1, Vermont 2-1-1 had not been able to staff its support line between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., and not at all on weekends and holidays.
Ethan Latour, assistant director of policy and communications for the Office of Gov. Phil Scott, said Friday that the state has a contract with United Way of Vermont to run Vermont 2-1-1. United Way subcontracted with Indiana 2-1-1 to provide after-hours, holiday and weekend coverage. Latour said Indiana has been doing this for a relatively low cost, about $40,000, but said it could no longer do this. The state put the service out to bid and the lowest bidders all wanted something in the neighborhood of $300,000.
Latour said Scott plans to speak with legislative leaders about funding for 2-1-1 beyond April 30, but in the meantime, the Agency of Human Services has negotiated a deal for the short-term.
“While we wish we could have had a solution sooner, we are content with this outcome because it’s important to provide this service for Vermonters,” said Sean Brown, deputy commissioner of the Economic Services Division in the Department for Children and Families, in a release. “This is especially true during the winter months. We recognize VT 211’s partnership and dedication to providing this ongoing service to Vermonters.”
According to a release from AHS, the main worry was 2-1-1 not being available to authorize emergency housing vouchers.
“It’s been an absolute essential service for the last several years to help make sure people who are homeless don’t wind up caught out in deadly cold,” said Erhard Mahnke, coordinator for the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, in an interview at a forum on Thursday, held by the Advisory Council on Child Poverty and Strengthening Families.
He said people who are homeless can sometimes misjudge how cold the night will be, and thus the 24-hour coverage is needed. Domestic violence victims, likewise, find themselves in need after-hours.
Since October, the state has been looking to a patchwork of emergency service groups to provide some help, but the 2-1-1 line is essential, said Mahnke.
“We’re extremely relieved that emergency housing services are going to be available 24/7 again as of Dec. 6,” said Mahnke. “We were deeply worried that without housing, Vermonters fleeing domestic violence might not know where to go, might not have a safe place, a warm place to go, so we were considered about possible death or physical violence.”
A long-term plan will need to be made, and to that end, people need to keep the issue in mind, said Nancy Gordon, outreach specialist for Rutland and Bennington counties for Vermont 2-1-1, speaking at the council forum.
“… and as your heard at the beginning of the meeting, we had a reprieve, but I just want to make it very clear this is a short-term commitment,” Gordon said. “The work is not done in keeping top-of-the-mind awareness of the importance of 2-1-1 related to all the topics we’ve discussed tonight.”
The forum was held to discuss how to address poverty in Vermont.
Mahnke said people in favor of keeping the service 24/7 should contact their legislative representatives, especially those on the House Appropriations Committee.
“June 30 is really the deadline and then the state goes into another fiscal year so for folks who follow appropriations, the governor will propose a budget this winter, (Rep. Peter Fagan, R-Rutland City) is on the Appropriations Committee … and they will receive the budget the administration proposes.”
The House committee will look at Scott’s budget first, then it will go to the corresponding Senate committee.
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