Agency of Human Services Programmatic Performance Measure Budget (2022)

What We Do

The Family Supportive Housing (FSH) Program provides intensive case management and service coordination to homeless families with children and helps house families through partnership with housing providers. The program's goal is to reduce the incidence and duration of homelessness through supports for families as they transition to and sustain permanent housing over time. Service coordination and case management focus on the root causes of a family's homelessness; promote resiliency for parents and their children; and help households build financial capability. FSH staff take a holistic, two-generation approach using non-judgmental, positive, and trauma-informed communication and engagement in their support of families.

Who We Serve

Families with children under the age of six who have had multiple episodes of homelessness or engagement with Family Services are prioritized for the program. OEO administers funding which supports Family Supportive Housing at seven community-based providers: Barre, Bennington, Brattleboro, Rutland, St. Johnsbury and White River Junction.

How We Impact

Service Coordinators provide customized home-based case management; financial empowerment coaching; life skills support and referrals; tenant education; parent and child resiliency support; and support of addiction recovery. FSH Service Coordinators align and coordinate these services with existing Agency of Human Services programs and initiatives.

Budget Information

What We Do

The BARJ program is an arm of the youth justice system that provides support to youth who are at-risk for involvement in the justice system, or have been adjudicated and may or may not be on probation with DCF - Family Services.  The primary goal of the BARJ program is to support youth involved in, or at risk of becoming involved in the justice system by providing restorative interventions that reduce or eliminate further involvement in the system.

Who We Serve

BARJ serves youth who are at risk of becoming involved with the justice system, have been adjudicated or truant from school.

How We Impact

The purpose of this contract is to provide restorative services that focus on accountability and competency development of the youth, and community safety, while including the victims and the community in repairing the harm caused.  The Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) program is successful because it offers a variety of supports and services that vary depending on the individual needs of the youth and family.  The BARJ program works with youth to support them in:

• Building upon their protective factors; 
• Building upon their self-regulation in natural settings; and
• Not committing new offenses.

Budget Information

What We Do

Strengthening Families Child Care provides grants to 28 community child care programs throughout Vermont to ensure affordable access to high quality comprehensive early care and education and afterschool programs for children and families challenged by economic instability and other environmental risk factors.

Who We Serve

These grants serve:

• Children/families eligible for and participating in the CDD Child Care Financial Assistance Program (at least 25% of enrolled children).

• Children/families who are receiving specialized child care services: including children with an open case with the Family Services Division of the Department for Children and Families (including foster children), children in families participating in Reach Up, refugee children and teen parents.

How We Impact

The following impacts on intended by these grants:

• Documented use of the Center for Social Policy Strengthening Families Program Assessment tool through submission of outcomes and related program plan.
• Continuity of care improves as measured by attendance records and compared to participants in CCFAP including specialized care in other non Strengthening Families programs.
• 70% of parents report positive family experiences (protective factors) as part of their overall experience of having an enrolled child in the program.

Budget Information

What We Do

The Office of Child Support (OCS) helps to obtain financial support for families with children by:

1. Establishing, enforcing and modifying child support orders for children who do not live with both parents
2. Establishing and enforcing medical insurance provisions in court orders
3. Collecting, recording and distributing child support payments through the OCS Registry
4. Establishing parentage when children are born outside of marriage

Who We Serve

Populations served:

1. Parents entitled to medical and child support
2. Parents obligated to pay medical and child support
3. Guardians entitled to medical and child support
4. States seeking assistance in Vermont courts

How We Impact

The Office of Child Support improves the economic security of children and families in Vermont.

Vision:

Every child has the resources needed to be safe, secure, and stable.

Mission:

The Vermont Office of Child Support promotes the well-being of all families by strengthening their financial safety net.  We provide quality services and information to parents, caregivers, and community partners involved in the child support process.

Budget Information

What We Do

The HIV/STD/Hepatitis Program funds and supports programs that help people at risk for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD):

• learn how to protect themselves from acquiring STDs and prevent their spread
• access appropriate STD testing
• access and adhere to treatments that can reduce symptoms, improve health, and reduce the risk of transmission

We work with medical providers to ensure that they are best able to perform appropriate STD testing and deliver the best treatment to their patients who are diagnosed with STDs.

Who We Serve

We serve people at risk for STDs and those with an STD diagnosis. Our prevention, testing and treatment programs benefit individuals, their families and all Vermonters.

How We Impact

• Support programs that target those at highest risk with prevention information and supplies
• Perform patient follow-up to ensure treatment success
• Assist patients in voluntary partner notification and partner testing or therapy access
• Work with medical providers to ensure appropriate testing guidelines and treatment strategies are followed
• Work with medical providers to reduce barriers to successful patient treatment access

Budget Information

What We Do

Vermont’s Emergency Medical Services system (EMS) is an integrated system for providing emergency medical treatment and transportation of sick and injured patients. EMS responds to medical emergencies every day and deliver medical care in many unique and oftentimes dangerous environments. There are nearly 180 ambulance and first responder agencies in the state, and most of our nearly 3,000 licensed EMS personnel are volunteers. The Vermont Department of Health Emergency Medical Services program (VTEMS) has been responsible for certifying emergency medical personnel, and licensing ambulance and first responder services since the early 1970s. VTEMS conducts investigations into complaints, criminal charges and convictions made against EMS personnel and services. VTEMS inspects ambulances to ensure they are safe and adequately equipped.  VTEMS is a clearinghouse for information on the EMS workforce to assist in the management of the EMS system and fulfill specific requests for resources. 

Who We Serve

The Vermont Office of Emergency Medical Services provides vital services to all Vermonters, including support for first responders and statewide incident reporting. We work in collaboration with our partners to provide programs, education, and initiatives for EMS personnel and agencies to expand their scope of practice, increase their volunteer ranks and become more engaged in their community. Vermont EMS is available to all citizens, 24 hours/day, 365 days/year, irrespective of location, health care problem, or ability to pay.

How We Impact

The Vermont Office of Emergency Medical Services works on behalf of all Vermonters to ensure that the EMS system is adequately equipped and prepared to provide the best out-of-hospital emergency care possible.

Budget Information

What We Do

Family planning is one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century. A priority of the Vermont Department of Health is to increase the percent of pregnancies that are healthy and planned. The Division of Maternal and Child Health supports programs and initiatives that strengthen the system of family planning services in Vermont.

The Health Department administers the Title X Family Planning Services Program. This work is carried out in partnership with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, and supports Title X services in 7 Planned Parenthood health centers across the state. The goal of Vermont's Title X program is to provide high quality clinical family planning and related preventive health services, education and counseling to Vermonters who would otherwise not have access, with a special focus on low-income populations.

Who We Serve

We work to ensure that Vermonters have access to quality family planning services, including services that support achieving a healthy pregnancy, preconception health care services, contraceptive services, and screening for and treating sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS.

How We Impact

Family planning helps individuals prevent unplanned pregnancy or achieve intended pregnancy. Family planning empowers individuals to exercise personal choice in the number and spacing of children they have – even if the choice is not to have children. Family planning contributes to improved health outcomes.

Budget Information

What We Do

Tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death, but about 800 Vermonters still die each year from tobacco-related diseases.

Given the high level of morbidity and mortality related to tobacco use, three goals guide the work of the Tobacco Control Program: prevent youth smoking; reduce adult smoking; reduce exposure to second-hand-smoke. The Health Department Tobacco Control Program employs Centers for Disease Control and Prevention best practice in four key areas to address these goals:

• Cessation services help Vermonters quit smoking through the Quitline, Quit Partners, or Quit Online as part of 802Quits. These services are evidence-based and greatly increase the chances a smoker will quit successfully. The program also partners to provide nicotine replacement therapy
• Mass Reach Media, including hard-hitting ads, is shown to be effective in reaching those who smoke and inciting them to reach out to 802Quits. This includes television, radio, and social media efforts.
• State and community interventions raise awareness on the actions decision makers can take to reduce the toll of tobacco. These include educating decision makers about passing smoke-free policies at local parks and playgrounds, which reduce secondhand smoke exposure and create positive social norms around tobacco use, and changing the tobacco retail environment, where exposure to product and advertising causes youth tobacco initiation. The Vermont Department of Health and the Agency of Education fund two youth tobacco prevention groups – Our Voices Xposed (OVX) in high schools and Vermont Kids Against Tobacco (VKAT) in middle schools.
• Surveillance and evaluation ensure the program stays on track and uses data to drive programmatic decision making. The Tobacco Control Program invests in data collection, analysis, and dissemination to partners in and outside of government.

Who We Serve

The Tobacco Control Program is committed to serving all Vermonters seeking to reduce and quit their tobacco use. Some populations, including pregnant smokers, Medicaid-insured, those with mental illness or substance abuse disorders, less education, and lower income, are a focus of the Health Department. Additionally, supervisory unions with a higher burden of tobacco use are a targeted sector supported by this program. Tobacco use and the morbidity and mortality it causes disproportionally impact those with fewer resources and results in large health disparities.

How We Impact

By employing CDC Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs with fidelity, the work of the Tobacco Control Program and partners should, over time, impact the number of Vermonters who smoke and therefore reduce deaths from tobacco-related diseases. Quitting tobacco has beneficial short and long term health impacts no matter one’s age. Three behaviors - no physical activity, poor diet, and tobacco use - lead to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease accounting for more than 50% of premature deaths in Vermont. Reaching Vermonters that want to quit and supplying the needed cessation support will reduce, over time, the number of Vermonters suffering and dying from chronic disease.

Budget Information

What We Do

The Department of Health Division of Substance Use Programs is made of many programmatic elements that collectively prevent and eliminate the problems caused by alcohol and drug misuse. Our mission is to prevent, reduce and eliminate the problems caused by alcohol and drug use.  Strategies used by the various substance use programs include education, prevention, treatment, and recovery. The programs also collaborate with healthcare providers, community partners, and people with lived experience to end stigma and increase opportunities for treatment and recovery. 

Some of the specific programs and activities, many of them jointly implemented with valuable partners, include:

• ParentUpVT
• Prevention Consultants
• Do Your Part
• Impaired Driver Rehabilitation Program
• Community Coalitions
• Hub & Spoke System of Care
• Recovery Centers
• School-based Substance Abuse Services

Who We Serve

We serve all Vermonters of all ages, not only those who are directly experiencing substance misuse or directly serving them. We provide prevention services to those of all ages, intervention services to those misusing substances, treatment services to those with substance use disorders, and recovery services to any Vermonter needing support to sustain healthy behaviors. We also support people, organizations, and entire communities working to reduce substance misuse in Vermont through funding, media and promotion campaigns, and coalition building.

How We Impact

Substance Use Programs:

• Improve access to prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery services to address substance use in Vermont.
• Increase understanding of substance use disorders.
• Employ evidence-based practices and strategies.
• Fund services, provide technical assistance and encourage collaboration in communities.

Together with population indicators, the following performance measures focus on whether Vermonters are better off as a result of this program. They do so by looking at the quality and efficiency of these programs and services.

Budget Information

This program includes the entire appropriation #342006000

Budget information

 Each Area Agency on Aging receives an annual $53,000 grant award.  The grant term is two years. 

What We Do

Vermont's Area Agencies on Aging build a coordinated response to self-neglect through a variety of activities.  These include raising awareness, providing education, training and case management to individuals considered self-neglecting. 

Who We Serve

Adults, 60 years and older, who can be described as self-neglecting.

How We Impact

The Area Agencies on Aging respond to self-neglect referrals and provide case management services to those who are identified as self-neglecting.  Case managers work with individuals who are self-neglecting to develop goals identified by the individual and by use of a risk and safety evaluation tool.  Goals may be related to food, shelter, medical/mental/financial health or in other areas.  To help achieve these goals community partners and resources are accessed and leveraged.  Where resources don't exist, the Area Agencies on Aging work to build awareness and capacity.

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What We Do

HomeShare Vermont provides screening, matching and ongoing support services for older Vermonters and Vermonters with disabilities who wish to continue living in their own homes (hosts), pairing them with others (guests) who are looking for affordable housing.  These matches allow people to remain at home and to receive help with yard work, light chores, homemaking services, transportation, or companionship in exchange for reduced rent from the guest. 

Who We Serve

HomeShare Vermont serves Vermonters who are looking to share housing for mutual benefit. Most people sharing their homes (hosts) are older Vermonters or Vermonters with disabilities.  People looking for housing (guests) are financially challenged by market rents or are in housing transitions.  HomeShare Vermont serves Chittenden, Addison, Franklin, Grand Isle, Washington, Orange, and Lamoille Counties. 

How We Impact

HomeShare Vermont:

• Helps make housing more affordable for Vermonters
• Helps older Vermonters and Vermonters with disabilities live in their own homes
• Helps improve the quality of life for homesharing participants, who report that they feel safer, less lonely, eat better, and feel healthier 

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What We Do

SASH coordinates the resources of social-service agencies, community health providers and nonprofit housing organizations to support Vermonters who choose to live independently at home. Individualized, on-site support is provided by a Wellness Nurse and a SASH Care Coordinator.

Who We Serve

SASH serves older adults as well as people with special needs who receive Medicare support. SASH touches the lives of approximately 4,500 people throughout Vermont.

How We Impact

Benefits to SASH Participants:

• Improved quality of life

• Comprehensive health and wellness assessments

• Individualized Healthy Living Plans

• Money savings through preventive health care

• Regular check-ins by caring staff

• Health coaching and access to wellness nurses

• Help in planning for successful transitions (e.g., following hospitalization), navigating long-term care options and during a crisis

• Access to prevention and wellness programs

• Support in self-managing medications

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What We Do

Survey and Certification (S&C) is the State Survey Agency for the State of Vermont. In this role, S&C licenses and certifies health care organizations to ensure that they meet minimum state and federal regulatory compliance.  S&C fulfills its mission by conducting unannounced, regular surveys at health care facilities, and investigating complaints made about the care received in these facilities.

Who We Serve

S&C provides balanced and assertive regulation of health care organizations to ensure that Vermonters receive care with dignity, respect, and independence.

How We Impact

S&C surveys and investigations can result in fines and other corrective action, including bans on admissions or revocation of operating licenses.

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What We Do

Division Philosophy

DVR's mission is to help Vermonters with disabilities prepare for, obtain, and maintain meaningful careers and to help employers recruit, train, retain and promote employees with disabilities. Consumer choice and self-direction are core values that drive DVR’s approach to providing services and developing new programs. DVR's ability to help jobseekers succeed also depends on clearly understanding needs of our other customer – employers. To that end, DVR plays an important facilitating role in Creative Workforce Solutions (CWS), an Agency of Human Services (AHS) initiative that builds on DVR’s initial employer outreach work.

Division Overview

The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation serves people with disabilities in Vermont who face barriers to employment. We help VR consumers figure out what work will work for them through careful assessment, counseling and guidance from our expert staff. We capitalize on our extensive networks in the employer community to create job opportunities and make good placements that match employer needs with jobseeker skills, and help employers retain staff with disabilities. We use our financial resources within Vermont communities to support our consumers as they transition to stable employment, and our employers as they try out new workers.

Who We Serve

The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation serves people with disabilities in Vermont who face barriers to employment.

How We Impact

Staff and Partners

DVR believes in collaborating with other service providers to reach people facing the greatest challenges to employment. As a result, DVR has created innovative partnerships to serve youth, offenders, veterans, people receiving public benefits, individuals with substance use disorders, and those who need ongoing support in order to work.

Recent Developments and Accomplishments

The Summer Career Exploration Program (SCEP): In 2021 DVR launched the Summer Career Exploration Program (SCEP). The SCEP was designed to provide high school students with disabilities paid summer work experiences combined with a career exploration curriculum. This is the first time DVR has implemented a summer employment program for students and planning had to start before COVID vaccines were available so it wasn't clear whether we would be able to conduct it in person. But engagement with work-based learning over the summer was a high priority after the disruptions of the pandemic year. Despite the challenges, district DVR teams created amazing opportunities for youth, while engaging employers who were facing their own challenges amid the pandemic.  DVR saw a need and committed to creating what became an outstanding experience for all involved. The following is a brief summary of the outcomes:  

• SCEP provided 144 students with a paid work experience with a local employer. 

• SCEP engaged 110 employers in providing work experiences for students.  

• SCEP included all students with disabilities, regardless of the level of support required for them to be successful.  

• 34 students were offered competitive employment after completing the SCEP program (23.6% of participants). 

DVR has already begun planning a SCEP for 2022. DVR will use lessons learned in the first year to enhance and improve the experience for future participants.  

Kessler Foundation Grant/WorkVT2.0: DVR was selected by the Kessler Foundation to receive a grant designed to improve employment prospects for DVR consumers who receive Social Security disability benefits (SSI and SSDI). Vermont was one of only 6 projects to be selected out of over 70 applications. The project provides an innovative combination of services and financial incentives to help beneficiaries obtain income sufficient enough to end their benefits. The project has two sites, one in Burlington and one in Rutland.  

DVR named the project WorkVT2.0 and began recruitment in March 2021 after a one-year delay due to COVID. As of September 30, 2021, over 50 beneficiaries have signed up to receive WorkVT2.0 services. The project is already showing some early successes with four participants working full time and no longer receiving SSI/SSDI benefits. Another sixteen participants have started working part time with the goal of increasing their hours and income over time.  

Future Directions

DVR is making a major effort to support consumer participation in post-secondary training leading to industry-recognized credentials in high demand fields. This is the most effective and efficient route to consumers achieving high quality and high wage employment. It is also aligns with employers’ needs for skilled workers. The following are major initiatives we are embarking on in 2022 to support this effort.  

The Vermont Career Advancement Project (VCAP): DVR was awarded a $6.5 million grant from the US Department of Education to support the Vermont Career Advancement Project (VCAP). VCAP will establish a robust partnership between DVR, the Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL), the Community College of Vermont (CCV), Vermont Technical College (VTC), and secondary Career and Technical Education Centers (CTEs), to build on-ramps enabling individuals with disabilities to pursue high quality, good paying careers. The project will embed dedicated Career Pathways Student Advisors in these post-secondary programs to provide intensive support for VCAP participants. VCAP will also partner with other work force development organizations to expand paid, credentialed, occupational training programs in response to employer needs.  

Utilizing the best available employment projections for high quality, high wage career pathway opportunities in Vermont, DVR identified the following five career sectors for the project: Advanced Manufacturing, Financial Services, Healthcare, Skilled Construction Trades, and Information Technology. VCAP will utilize its extensive network of employer contacts through its Business Account Managers to engage employers in offering opportunities in these sectors. CCV and VTC, which have program development experience and expertise, will provide the required Related Instruction for apprenticeships and other credentialed programs. These programs will be linked directly to secondary and adult programs offered through the State’s 17 Career and Technical Education (CTE) centers. The project will enroll 500 participants, with 375 earning Industry Recognized Credentials and 75 enrolling in Registered Apprenticeships. 75% of participants will exit their training programs employed and earning at least 150% of the state’s minimum wage.  

The Career Training Offset (CTO): DVR has long recognized that many of our consumers cannot participate in industry recognized credential training programs because they cannot afford to stop working. As a result, they remain in entry level employment without the training and skills to move up the career ladder. To address this issue, DVR implemented the Career Training Offset (CTO). DVR consumers participating in trainings that leads to an industry recognized credential, are paid minimum wage for classroom and unpaid instruction time. For example, an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) program has approximately 144 hours of unpaid training time. DVR will pay the consumer minimum wage for these hours, to ensure they have a steady source of income while they get trained. The CTO was launched October 4th of 2021 and we expect it to have a significant impact. 

New Partnerships with Training Providers: DVR has always referred consumers to workforce training programs and provided financial support. This year DVR is entered into partnerships with of the following training providers to enroll cohorts of DVR consumers in credentialed training programs:  

• Resource Inc will provide 72 DVR consumers access to the following training programs: 

• Construction 101 which will lead to NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research), and OSHA 10 (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) certifications. 

• HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Airconditioning) which will lead to Natural Gas/LP EPA Class 1 and OSHA 10 certifications. 

• CLT (Certified Logistics Technician) which will lead to CLT and OSHA 10 certifications. 

• Vermont Adult Learning (VAL) will provide DVR consumers training and certifications in weatherization and green energy. 

DVR also plans to create new workforce training partnerships with CCV and VT Technical College during 2022 and 2023.  

Programs and Services

Vocational Rehabilitation Services: DVR services to jobseekers are tailored to the person and driven by his or her own interests, job goals and needs. Each person meets regularly with his or her VR counselor, who helps to develop an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) and manages the services and supports needed to realize the person’s career goals. The core services of vocational assessment, counseling and guidance, job training, and job placement provided by DVR staff and partners are enhanced with a range of purchased services and supports.

Placement Services: DVR counselors benefit from dedicated Employment Consultants who provide job development, job placement, and workplace supports to help people find and keep jobs. DVR has longstanding partnerships with Designated and Specialized Services Agencies (DAs and SSAs) to provide supported employment services to people with significant disabilities. DVR also has an ongoing partnership with the Vermont Association of Business, Industry, and Rehabilitation (VABIR) to provide employment services to DVR customers.

Budget information

What We Do

The Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired (DBVI) is the designated state unit to provide vocational rehabilitation and independent living services to eligible Vermonters who are blind and visually impaired. DBVI's Mission is to support the efforts of Vermonters who are blind and visually impaired to achieve or sustain their economic independence, self reliance, and social integration to a level consistent with their interests, abilities and informed choices.

Who We Serve

DBVI serves Vermonters who are blind and visually impaired.

How We Impact

DBVI supports Vermonters who are blind and visually impaired to achieve or sustain their economic independence, self reliance, and social integration to a level consistent with their interests, abilities and informed choices.

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What We Do

The Vermont Brain Injury Program supports Vermonters with a moderate to severe brain injury, diverting or helping them return from hospitals and rehabilitation facilities to a community-based setting. This program is focused on rehabilitation and driven by participant choice, supporting individuals to achieve their optimum level of independence and to return to work.

Who We Serve

The Vermont Brain Injury Program serves Medicaid eligible Vermonters with a moderate to severe brain injury.

How We Impact

The Vermont Brain Injury Program helps Medicaid eligible Vermonters with moderate to severe brain injuries to achieve their optimum level of independence and to return to work.

Budget information

In addition, each school district listed above contributes a per pupil tuition via Special Education funding which, in collaboration with the DAIL budget, covers the expense of the program.

What We Do

Project SEARCH prepares student-interns during their last year of high school or transition age adults with technical skills taught through several training rotations within a host business which lead to competitive employment upon high school graduation.

Who We Serve

Transition age youth age 18 to 26 who are eligible for developmental disabilities services.

How We Impact

The Project SEARCH model assures a smooth transition into the Vermont workforce for transition age youth by providing marketable technical skills and person-centered job placement.