An act relating to establishing the Vermont Homelessness Response Continuum

Added an entirely new Chapter 22 to Title 33 (sections 2201 through 2218) establishing the Vermont Homelessness Response Continuum as a six-level system: prevention/diversion, highly structured shelter, low-barrier shelter, specialized shelter, permanent supportive housing, and hotels/motels, plus other emergency housing services.

Added the Vermont Rental Assistance Bridge Program within the Vermont State Housing Authority, providing up to 24 months of partial rental assistance (not full rent) paid directly to landlords, with priority for current HOME Program recipients. Intent expressed for funding through fiscal year 2030.

The findings section was expanded to include specific data from the 2024 Vermont Housing Needs Assessment: 36,000 primary homes needed between 2025 and 2029, of which 3,295 are needed specifically to address homelessness.

Added 25 defined terms including 'alternative housing options,' 'coordinated entry,' 'diversion,' 'eligible household,' 'highly structured shelter,' 'low-barrier shelter,' 'permanent supportive housing,' 'rapid rehousing,' and 'unsheltered homelessness.'

Added hotel and motel room caps: 700 rooms per night from April 1 to November 30, and 1,000 rooms per night from December 1 to March 31. Rooms used under the domestic violence shelter provision (33 V.S.A. section 602) are excluded from these caps.

Added time limits for program participation: prevention/diversion temporary housing capped at 30 days per rolling 12-month period; hotel and motel stays capped at 70 days per rolling 12-month period (April through November), with cold-weather hotel use in winter not counting toward that limit.

Added a fiscal year 2027 expenditure of $82,634,153 for services, shelter development and operation, rental assistance, and supportive services including case management.

Added a cap on hotel and motel room rates for fiscal year 2027: no more than the hotel's lowest advertised rate and no more than $80 per day per room.

Added a payment rate structure requirement for all shelter services with a base rate and potential supplemental payments, plus a report due to legislative committees by April 1, 2027 on implementation of that structure.

Added prioritization criteria giving preference to households with members who are 65 or older, have a disability, are minor children, are pregnant, are experiencing domestic violence or trafficking, or are under court-ordered eviction due to circumstances beyond their control.

Added specific implementation timeline: emergency rules effective July 1, 2026; partial implementation in fiscal year 2027; full implementation in fiscal year 2028; permanent rules due by October 1, 2027; single continuum of care to be established by October 1, 2028.

Added household responsibilities including requirements to participate in coordinated entry assessment, engage with case management, and abide by program rules. Added termination provisions for fraud (within 30 days of written notice), repeated refusal of suitable placements, and immediate termination for criminal activity or misconduct endangering safety.

Added fair hearing and appeal rights through the Human Services Board, with a 60-day filing deadline, continued services during appeals if filed within 14 days, and a requirement that after 20 substantially identical decisions the Department must adopt the Board's interpretation into program rules.

The program's service levels were reordered: hotels and motels moved from level 5 to level 4, and permanent supportive housing moved from level 4 to an unnumbered position after hotels and motels. This changes the implied priority order of services in the continuum.

The permanent supportive housing section now includes language stating services 'may be utilized by an eligible household for as long as the eligible household's plan indicates it is necessary,' establishing that there is no fixed time limit on this service level.

Section 2203(c) changed from requiring the Office or community partners to 'place' a household in the appropriate level of care to only 'offer to place' the household, and added the condition 'if capacity, staffing, and geographic accessibility are available.' This makes placement conditional rather than mandatory.

Multiple shelter provisions changed from 'shall provide programming' or 'shall provide services' to 'shall offer programming' or 'shall offer services,' softening the obligation from a mandate to an offer in highly structured shelters, low-barrier shelters, and specialized shelters.

Section 2209(a) on municipal supports now requires an eligible municipality to submit a grant application containing the estimated cost of its proposal and other identified funding sources, adding a procedural step that was not in the official version.

A new subsection (d) was added to Section 2202 stating that all funding opportunities under the Program shall be open to any entity or community partner, including those that did not previously receive funding. This promotes competition and broadens access to program funds.

The definition of 'diversion' was expanded from 'without the use of shelter or hotel placements' to 'without the use of shelter or hotel or motel placements,' explicitly including motels in the diversion exclusion.

Header changed from 'AS PASSED BY HOUSE' to 'BILL AS PASSED BY THE HOUSE' and the unofficial version's internal tracking number (VT LEG #388448 v.1) was removed from page footers.

A standard legislative cover page was added listing the introducing committee (Human Services), a date field, subject line (Human services; emergency housing), and a statement of purpose summarizing the bill's intent to establish a continuum of supports to prevent or divert households from homelessness.

Section 2205(a)(4): changed 'highly structured shelter services is the preferred initial placement' to 'highly structured shelter services are the preferred initial placement' - a grammatical correction.

The bill increased from 38 pages to 39 pages, indicating some content was added later in the bill. The diff is truncated at line 1265 of 2295, so the specific additions are not visible in the provided text.