At Building Bright Futures (BBF), we are committed to ensuring that children and their families have what they need to support their basic needs. BBF and Vermont’s Early Childhood State Advisory Council (SAC) also hold a key role and responsibility of holding partners accountable for their decisions that impact the early childhood system, including the Governor, Administration, and lawmakers. Our shared vision articulated in Vermont’s strategic plan for the early childhood system prioritizes access to basic needs as its first goal. We know from decades of research that without access to safe, stable housing, children and families are subject to toxic stress and trauma, and that they are more likely to have lifelong health and learning challenges.
Currently, many households in our communities, including families with children and people with complex needs, are in a shelter crisis. As of Monday, it was estimated by the state that 220 households with 355 children and 17 households with a pregnant person qualified for the GA Emergency Housing Program. Many of these families are likely to hit the 80-day cap on the program in the coming days and weeks and will experience a gap in shelter until winter weather protections are effective December 1. 95 households with 183 children who were previously eligible for the program have already lost access to shelter and are reportedly camping, living in cars, and navigating other dangerous housing situations.
As an organization dedicated to identifying and addressing inequities, BBF and the SAC feel it is important to point out that Black Vermonters are 5.6 times more likely than white Vermonters to be unhoused this year. As there is no publicly available GA Emergency Housing Program data broken down by race, ethnicity, age group of children, or number of children with disabilities, we must rely on related data to inform outreach and mitigation efforts.
This crisis is the result of a lack of strategic planning and a series of avoidable and uncoordinated policy decisions. The moment we are now in was predicted months, if not years ago by many service providers, advocacy partners, and policy experts.
We urge those with decision-making and fiscal authority to immediately address this crisis and ensure families and vulnerable populations have the housing they need this fall. While we agree that the GA Emergency Housing Program is not the high-quality, stable housing required to meet families’ basic needs, denying shelter without another immediate solution is immoral. We are failing our youngest and most vulnerable Vermonters and must act quickly to mitigate the impact of the current policy.
—The Building Bright Futures Team
