Mid-Session Legislative Roundup

As we pause to reflect on the outcomes of the legislative session so far, it is worth taking time to acknowledge the effort on all sides that has gone into lifting up key issues for child well-being in our state. The spirited nature of this session reflects the complexity of the problems before us, as well as the potential for real progress on critical issues for children, youth, and families. As we look to the rest of the session, it is with gratitude for the issues that have been taken on so far, and commitment to press on with those that have not.

In addition to the issues below, there are so many bills with important implications for the well-being of children and youth–from universal school meals, housing, and childcare, to suicide prevention, juvenile justice, and maternal health–that we are monitoring, supporting, and engaging with. We encourage all of our members to take the time to review our bill tracker and let us know if you are interested in being involved further. It takes all of us together to achieve systems change, and your engagement and support matters! Even the smallest steps make a difference.

Office of Child, Youth and Family Advocate, Act 129: Established!

House Human Services welcomed Matthew Bernstein to the Office on 3/23. After a decade of advocacy, Voices is excited to have this Office fully established and is pleased to report that House Human Services and House Appropriations shared their support by investing in this office within the FY24 budget.

Our collective voices have brought us to this moment, but in many ways, the work is just beginning. The promise of the OCYFA is not in its existence, but rather in listening deeply and offering a path to better outcomes for children, youth, and families. We encourage interested community members to take the time to listen to Matthew’s testimony and join us for our lunchtime learning session to dig more deeply into the Office and how it will function.

Take Action: Voices is eager to see this Office fully functional. You can help by spreading the word:

• The advisory council application process is open, please share this application widely.

• The Deputy position has been posted. Please forward this to your networks!

Paid Family and Medical Leave, H.66: Passed the House

Voices applauds the House’s passage of H.66, landmark legislation to support working Vermonters and their families through a strong paid family and medical leave plan. The bill passed with a vote of 99-32.

H.66 centers equity by ensuring that benefits are meaningful and available to all when they need it. The bill provides 12 weeks of paid, job-protected leave for people who’ve worked in two of the past four calendar quarters. Benefits are set at 90% of average wages, capped at the state average weekly wage. Leave can be taken for bonding with a new child, or for a serious health issue experienced by the employee or their family member, or for needs related to military exigencies or domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

This plan is informed by decades of experience drawn from existing state programs and aligns Vermont with recently adopted programs and those under active consideration in several other states. Our coalition is grateful for the commitment and support of the House on this issue and we call upon the Senate to give H.66 a full and fair hearing.

Take Action: Please thank your Representative if they voted yes and contact your Senator and let them know that you support a full hearing for H.66!

Reach Up, H.94: Passed the House, H.93: In the Committee on House Human Services

Persistent poverty is harmful to kids and families. Without significant progress on our social safety net, we can predict that about half of the children who are on Reach Up today will receive benefits as adult participants. Economic barriers can impede access to safe housing, adequate food, transportation, and access to healthcare, which in turn can become grounds for intervention by protective services. Furthermore, parents experiencing domestic violence are less likely to leave without a financial safety net. Emergency housing options frequently involve dangers of their own, and parents fear (with cause) that if they leave and are unable to meet a child’s basic needs, the court may grant custody to the abusive parent. Having a safety net gives people space to make decisions that are in their children's best interest, and we are grateful to the legislature for taking up a number of bills to address critical gaps in our safety net this year.

H.94 is a meaningful first step towards eliminating a harmful, outdated equation that perpetuates poverty by limiting the state’s capacity to ensure children’s minimum basic needs are met–the ratable reduction. The ratable reduction is defined by the Department of Children and Families’ basic needs budget, which is similar to the federal poverty threshold that is used to determine eligibility for many programs in that it is unrealistically low. The additional step of cutting this bare minimum budget in half by applying a further ratable reduction is unacceptable and puts the lives of children and families at risk. H.94 tasks the administration with submitting a report to the House Committees on Appropriations and Human Services and to the Senate Committees on Appropriations and Health and Welfare that would contain an actionable, phased plan estimating the amount needed to remove the ratable reduction in the Reach Up program over a period not greater than five fiscal years.

Poverty is a policy choice. When it comes to the state budget, our system is sophisticated and intentional. Today, we choose to invest many of our TANF (the federal program that Reach Up pulls from) dollars in child care, EITC, and child welfare. This decision maximizes federal dollars, but frequently comes at the expense of families, who get short shrift when general funds are lacking. With H.94, we have an opportunity to update this approach to finally center the economic interests of the families most in need of cash assistance.

H.93 proposes to require the Commissioner for the Department of Children and Families to annually set by rule the maximum financial assistance for a family participating in Reach Up based on the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s annual Fair Market Rents data. Although this bill did not make significant progress this session, ​​ it is important to have realistic basic needs and housing estimates and Vermont's process is currently complicated and confusing. Voices is interested in simplifying the process and ensuring that the maximum benefit is adequate to meet a family's needs.

FY2024 Budget: The House Appropriations Committee did not accept the House Human Services’ recommendation to increase the base grant in the 2024 budget, but they did create a structural change going forward, which is worth celebrating. The new language will require the Administration to use the current basic needs estimates when budgeting (as opposed to relying on basic needs estimates from 2019). Voices will look to the Senate to increase the base grant.

Take Action: reach out to the Senate and share your support for Reach Up! Ask them to prioritize H.94 and increase the base grant in the 2024 budget.

Restraint and Seclusion, H.409: Taken up by the House Committee on Education

The use of restraint and seclusion is schools is an issue with broad intersectional implications for BIPOC students, students with disabilities, and those whose parents have the least access to economic resources. Research demonstrates that restraint and seclusion are ineffective in decreasing the problem behaviors they are intended to address, and yet the physical and emotional trauma for children who experience it is very real. H. 409, an act relating to keeping Vermont students safe by restricting the use of restraints and seclusion is actively receiving testimony in the House Committee on Education. The testimony on 3/21was very informative and is a good starting point for anyone looking to learn more about this topic. Additional testimony was also provided on 3/30.

Voices fully support eliminating seclusion and minimizing restraints in all settings.

Prone and supine restraints and seclusion are harmful and unnecessary interventions — they should be prohibited. Deescalation reduces the intensity of a situation, whereas restraints and seclusion often have the opposite effect. Experience has taught us that when adults and children coexist in fight, flight, and/or freeze mode, children can be injured. These traumatic moments impact trust, relationships, and future behavior.

We know that proactive efforts, targeted interventions, deescalation, collaborative problem-solving, and ongoing trauma-informed training and support are all a part of the solution. Whenever physical interventions are used, communication, reporting, and planning should follow. We appreciate the Senate Committee on Educations’ careful consideration of this bill so far and look forward to continuing to support it’s progress.

Take Action: Ask the House to prioritize H.409!

UBI for Foster Youth, S.92: Referred to the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, H.427: Referred to the House Committee on Human Services

These companion bills would create a pilot program to provide direct cash transfers to youth exiting foster care. We look forward to these bills being considered.

As currently drafted, these bills propose a two-year voluntary pilot that would provide monthly stipends of $1,000 to youth for the first two years while they attempt to secure housing and meet their basic needs. The bill was drafted in a way that would not impact other benefits and services.

Unconditional DCTs are an important policy tool for improving the well-being of youths and young adults and offer a promising source of support and a safety net for youth transitioning out of state care. DCTs are supported by vast international evidence and provide an effective and flexible intervention for individuals made vulnerable by structural inequalities and disadvantages.

DCF interventions are a response to trauma. Even when our systems are at their best, youth consistently share that their experiences within the foster care system take time to recover from. When youth exit care without achieving permanency, they are not afforded the safety net that many of their peers have. We know that children who have experienced care have higher rates of homelessness, incarceration, and untimely deaths than their peers. This intervention is intended to offer stability and to soften the transition to independence. Youth who have participated in DCT pilots have commented on the importance of the networks they’ve formed when living in adequate housing. Youth transitioning out of care are building their communities, it is important to give them the tools (cash) to make choices that support their well-being.

This legislation intends to increase the likelihood of participants obtaining safe and stable housing, living with security, health, and well-being; having all of their basic life needs met; and having the opportunity and resources needed to pursue the goals that they value. This pilot will be evaluated.

Take Action: reach out to Senate Health and Welfare and ask them to take up S.92 this year!

Youth Voice in Court, H.224: Introduced and in the House Committee on Judiciary

Youth voice is frequently essential to protecting the best interests of children involved in court litigation. When a Judge makes a decision without all of the necessary information, children remain at risk. The protective parent is often required to deliver a child experiencing trauma to an abusive caregiver. Many of the stories shared with Voices relating to this issue include extreme violence, sexual violence, coercive control, and more. These stories additionally reflect mistakes in court paperwork, a lack of capacity on DCF’s behalf to intervene, and the inability to ensure that the experience of the child is heard by a Judge.

H. 224, a bill that was informed by constituent experience and introduced by Rep. Garofano of Essex, aims to address this issue by supporting Youth Voice in court. As drafted, H. 224 will allow youth aged 14 and older to share their experiences with a Judge, either through the typical court process or through an alternative means if desired. It will also allow children and youth under the age of 14 to share their experiences if doing so is deemed by the court to be in their best interest.

Vermont is the only state in the country that does not have a specific carve out for youth voice when custody decisions are made on their behalf. Our current court structure is not providing the appropriate safeguards for child safety when decisions of custody are made. H.224 is our chance to finally remedy this egregious oversight.

Take Action: Reach out to the House and ask them to prioritize H.224 this year!