Latest HHAV & VT BoS CoC News - Housing & Homelessness Alliance of Vermont

Hearing on Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP)

Dear Colleagues, The Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) governs how the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) allocates the largest program that funds affordable rental housing in the state (the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program). The committee responsible for that plan is having its second hearing on recommended changes to the QAP next week on August 19, 2015. …

Summer 2015 Edition of Counterpoint – News, Commentary and Arts by Psychiatric Survivors, Mental Health Peers and Their Families

The Summer 2015 issue of Counterpoint, a publication featuring news, commentary and arts by psychiatric survivors, mental health peers and their families is now available to view online here: http://www.vermontpsychiatricsurvivors.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Counterpoint_Summer_2015.pdf. Counterpoint is published three to four times a year by Vermont Psychiatric Survivorsand available for free at sites throughout the state. Counterpoint was started in …

Report: Emergency Housing Costs Unsustainable

The Vermont Agency of Human Services recently released a biannual report on the General Assistance Emergency Housing Program. Below is an article from the Burlington Free Press on how the report shows that the current cost of the program is unsustainable and what improvements may be made in the future: The cost of Vermont’s emergency …

Low-Income Vermonters with Disabilities Sue State Over Benefit Cuts

Low-income Vermonters with disabilities are fighting back against state mandated reductions to their household Reach Up benefits. Vermont Legal Aid filed a class action lawsuit in federal court today on behalf of affected Vermonters alleging that a new law is unconstitutional and discriminates against households with family members with a disabling condition. The new law …

State Moves to End Family Homelessness By 2020

VT Digger discusses the progress being made on the plan to end family and child homelessness in Vermont by 2020. The plan, which was announced earlier in the year by Governor Shumlin, is also part of a national goal established by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness: Vermont is rolling out an initiative to …

SAMHSA Guilde on Homeless Resources

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration issued a new guide detailing strategies that can help providers connect the homeless to Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Benefits. There’s a emphasis on collaboration between community providers and federal agencies. The strategies focus on assisting individuals experiencing homelessness with the initial disability application and …