 Good morning, everyone. They were here to talk about mental health and the important prevention work we must continue to focus on. Over the past few years, the Department of Mental Health and their partners have done a lot of work to help our monitors more easily and quickly. The health room partners have done a lot of work to help our monitors more access support. The work is ongoing, but I think it's especially important to make sure people are aware of the resources available to them as many are still overwhelmed with the hardships caused by this summer's flooding. I know for many this may seem like a thing of the past, but there's still hundreds, if not thousands, of our fellow Vermonters living with it every single day. For those who are struggling, these are people who want to help you. There are people who want to help you, and it's okay to not be okay. There's no shame in asking for help. Deputy Commissioner Croft from the Department of Health and Alicia Webb from 988 will have more on that in a few minutes. I know firsthand how independent Vermonters are. Many don't want to ask for help, even when they need it. They don't want to be burdened or they don't want to burden anyone else, but it's not a burden. I also know Vermonters want to help each other out. They've proven it time and time again. I've heard directly from people with those stories over the past few weeks. People I wouldn't have guessed were struggling because they hide it very well. This is why it's so important for people to check in on their neighbors and loved ones. Ask them how they're doing. Ask them if they need help with anything and be willing to lend a hand if you can. Because again, you never know what someone might be going through until you ask. Allison and Alicia will discuss more on what you can do if you believe someone you know is dealing with a mental health crisis. In addition to the resources you'll hear about in a few minutes, I know some aren't in crisis, but they're feeling overwhelmed by the flood damage they have to deal with. If you're in this situation, if you had flooding in your basement and still need help cleaning up or cleaning debris out, we want to know about it. Call my office at 802-828-3333 and we'll work to get you the help you need because we're all in this together. I'll turn it over to Deputy Commissioner Croft. Good morning. Since July, Vermonters have been confronted with the profound challenges posed by devastating flooding within our communities and have started on the path to recovery. Before this, we've been facing the impacts of a global pandemic. These events and the challenges that come with them remind us that recovery is truly a journey and that healing is not a linear process. We've been faced with significant obstacles, but the resilience of Vermonters is something that offers us hope. It's important to remember that there is a deep connection between mental health and disaster recovery. Individuals in certain fields or roles may experience increased stressors, particularly in response to flooding crisis. Members of our community like farmers, business owners, construction workers and other first responders face unique challenges. While we work to physically rebuild and repair, we must take time to support and encourage one another to care for our mental well-being. Remembering that this looks different for each of us. For some folks, a quick text or call is a great way to tend to their well-being. For others, it looks like a walk around the block, a warm cup of coffee, or spending time with a beloved pet. It's important to recognize that nurturing our mental and emotional health doesn't need to include big or extravagant acts. Even the smallest gestures are great steps that we can take towards supporting ourselves. As we enter into September, which is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, it's important to recognize that life challenges can affect people differently. It might be a subtle as increased worry or emotions for some. For others, it might prevent them engaging in activities that they enjoy or keep them from going to work. And at times, these struggles can come with thoughts of suicide. Please know that there are resources available to support you through whatever you're experiencing. Resources that can help us identify warning signs, learn coping skills, and empower us to reach out on behalf of ourselves or someone else. To unlock the full potential of these resources, we must work collectively to dismantle the stigma that prevents many of us from seeking help when we need it. It all begins with initiating open and honest conversations about our mental health. If someone you care about is acting differently or appears to be struggling, start by asking them how they're truly feeling and letting them know that you're here for support. If you or someone you know is facing intense feelings that aren't letting up, please consider reaching out to a mental health resource. For help connecting with a counselor, you can call 2-1-1 for referral to your local mental health agency. But if you need to speak with someone immediately, there are multiple crisis resources available in the state. You can text the letters VT to 741-741 to reach the Vermont Crisis Text Line. Or you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. These resources are free, they're confidential, and they're available 24-7. Remember, you don't need to be an expert to check in with someone about their mental health. The 988 Lifeline also serves as a powerful tool for people who are concerned about someone else in their life. When you contact 988 on behalf of someone else, there's an employee who can equip you with the knowledge and support you need to assist them. We do not need to face these challenges alone. It's important to recognize that it's okay to feel however you're feeling and seeking help is a brave step on the journey of healing. For many people, hearing the stories of others who've been through similar mental health challenges can offer valuable insights and inspiration. Listening and sharing our experiences, we can start to make it easier to ask for help and get help when we need it. If you want to hear real stories from Vermonters, Facing Suicide Vermont is your go-to resource. You can go to FacingSuicideVT.org to hear inspiring stories of hope, resiliency and recovery and also to access suicide prevention education and support. You can also speak to someone with lived experience who may be familiar with the challenges you are facing. If you'd like to speak with a peer, consider contacting the Pathways Vermont support line at 833-888-2557. To those battling with the burden of suicidal thoughts or mental health challenges, please remember that there is hope on the horizon. In the moment, it may feel like these emotions will last forever. But mental health crises are most often short-lived and getting support really can help. Our goal is to make sure that no one faces their struggles alone. And now I'd like to introduce Alicia Webb from the 988 Lifeline Program. She's the Program Manager at Northeast Kingdom Human Services, and she's going to tell us a little bit more about 988 Services. Good morning and thank you for inviting me here today. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has its name for a reason, and I'm reminded of it every day in my role as the Lifeline Program Manager for Northeast Kingdom Human Services. The Lifeline is here for you and for those you love when you need it most. And even when you think you don't, there is never a reason too small to make the call. It could save a life. When you dial 988, you'll find a compassionate, caring, and patient person waiting on the other side of the line, ready to collaborate with you and let you define the crisis. Our call team is made up of Vermonters who want to help Vermonters, and they genuinely care about your well-being and the well-being of the community. Some of us have personal experiences with mental health struggles or know someone who does, but no matter how we've ended up working for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, we all share one thing in common, a strong desire to help others and to make it easier to talk about mental health. We want to remind you that you are resilient. There is hope for healing and that you are not alone. If you are a veteran or a service member in need of support, simply dial 1 after dialing 988 and you will be seamlessly connected to the veteran's hotline. Likewise, if you identify as a member of the LGBTQ plus community and wish to access support, you can request a transfer to that hotline during your phone call or follow the text line prompt to initiate the switch. When you dial 988, your area code guides you and your call to a lifeline center right here in your community. At the very beginning of your conversation, whether you're the one seeking help or you're calling on behalf of someone else, our first step is to always complete a safety assessment. We understand that even those reaching out on behalf of someone else might be going through some tough times, so our top priority is to make sure everyone who connects with us is safe and supported. After conducting a safety assessment, we will work with you to identify the problem you're facing and together we will create a plan tailored to the situation you're in. This plan might include gathering some resources or learning some coping mechanisms or making a list of supports present in your life, like friends, family, pets, neighbors. We've been there for folks who are navigating the challenges of breakups, dealing with workplace stress, handling jitters before important court appearances, and resolving family conflicts. Remember, no matter how big or small your concern may feel to you, it is important to us. After our initial conversation, we'll keep in touch and provide ongoing follow-up support to ensure you're on the right track. You can reach out to Lifeline whenever you feel the need. As many times as necessary, we are always here for you. Every day we hear from neighbors, teachers, employees, family and friends who are worried about someone in their life and are seeking advice, resources, or simply just someone to talk to and we're here to help them. The Lifeline is not only a tool for those who need to help themselves, but also an incredible resource for anyone in the community who wants to call because they're concerned about somebody else. Just recently, a woman called. She was a worried mom and she was worried about her teenage son. He was acting a little bit different than usual. We figured out that his behavior change wasn't necessarily a crisis, but we could still benefit from some support. Together we worked with the mom to make an action plan and provided her with resources so she could give her son the support he needed. We also scheduled a follow-up call to see how the plan was going. When we talked to her again during the follow-up call, she shared some exciting news. She had found a therapist for her son because of our work together and he was going to start therapy. Being open and talking about your feelings, whether it's with 988 or someone in your life, can be a big step towards healing. The more we discuss our stressors, the more we normalize the conversation around mental health. Certain times of years, the holidays, the changing seasons and the back-to-school hustle can act as triggers for so many of us. Holidays are meant for joy, but they can sometimes bring along a mixed bag of emotions. Loneliness, grief, and even financial stress. Seasonal shifts, especially the shift into fall and winter, can weigh down our spirits. Additionally, the back-to-school season can bring high-end anxiety, not only for students but also for parents who may worry about new routines, academic pressures, and their children's well-being. At 988, we know these triggers can sneak up on anyone, and that's okay. Our goal is to be a support to you. No matter what time of year it is, you don't need to tackle these thoughts in these tough moments alone. We're here to help you navigate them. In closing, I want to say thank you. Thank you from the 988 team to all of you and our community for trusting us with our thoughts, concerns, and emotions. 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is more than just a helpline. It's a testament to our collective strength and compassion. Your courage in reaching out, whether for yourself or someone else, keeps us going strong, ready to listen, give support, and help you find your way through life's ups and downs. Please remember, you are never in this alone. Let's keep the conversation going. Together, we can break mental health stigmas and work to make each day a little brighter. Thank you. I'll pass it back over to the Governor for any final thoughts. Now we'll open it up to questions. Governor, what are Vermont's... What are the markers for mental health? How do we know it's not nurse? What are the signs? And is it worse than it was a few years ago? And what are the... Yeah, I guess that's it. I'm going to let Deputy Commissioner Cromf answer that. And from my perspective, I don't know if it's worse or not, but I know that there are situations out there that we can help alleviate. So we want to make sure that we're there to help get people through it, whether it's in agriculture or through this pandemic. We've just seen the signs of this over the years, and we just want to be there to help. It's an interesting question because I think what we're struggling to figure out is our mental health issues worse are people more readily admitting they have mental health issues, and those are some interesting dynamics. There's a few places we can turn to. Certain surveys conducted by the CDC, we do a youth risk behavior survey and an adult survey, and particularly with the youth, we've seen an increase in youth saying, yes, I've had feelings of depression, yes, I've had suicidal thoughts at a higher rate than they have in previous years. We also have the suicide death rates that we look at in terms of ultimate indications. Why are the youth saying that? What are the truths? Understanding why someone's mental health is deteriorating is a pretty tricky business, but I think certainly there's been a lot of instability in youth's lives. When you think of having to manage the COVID pandemic in and out of school, routines shifted, parental stress, financial stress in their home life, those are all reasons why they erode stability, which is really important for child and youth development. How many people are calling into 988, maybe daily or weekly, and where has that data gone over the past couple of years? Are we seeing more or less? Sure. We have a new director of suicide prevention who follows the data really closely, so I'm going to pull up Chris Allen to answer that. Hello, everybody. My name is Chris Allen. I'm the director of suicide prevention in the state of Vermont. So in July of 2022 is when the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline began, so that's the three-digit 988 code that people can call 24-7. Since that has been changed from a 10-digit number, which it was previously, we have seen call volumes jump 30%. So we have looking at data from August, which is the first full month of 988 data for call volume. We've seen an over 30% increase from August 2022 to July 2023. We're still waiting on August of 2023 data to come in, and since July of last year, we've answered over 7,600 calls, which is more than we've ever answered before when it was the national suicide prevention lifeline. And that's also 30% higher than what we were projected to answer by vibrant emotional health, which is the national administrator of the 988 crisis lifeline. What's your name when you were introduced? Alicia Webb. Alicia, do you want to ask me a follow-up question, too? So, you know, it's been about two months now since the floods hit. A lot of folks in the kingdom suffered some piece of damage. Have you seen any uptick, or have you noticed any increase in folks reaching out due to experiences that they had as a result of the flood? I think that's something we were definitely prepared for once the floods happened. We kind of gathered resources that would be helpful. At this time, we've seen a few callers expressing things with concerns of the floods, but we haven't seen a real uptick in that. What I'm expecting is that once the initial relief kind of settles and people are kind of left without that relief that was rushing in, we might see an uptick again. Do you spell your first and last name before me, please? A-L-I-C-I-A. Then, web is W-E-B-B. I had one more mental health one. Maybe it's for the deputy commissioner. I know for specialty care, we've got wait times that have been well-documented. We have another hospital. Where do we stand for therapists and psychologists and others in terms of getting people these longer-term mental health services? Sure. We still have a staffing crisis in mental health. That is a reality that we are facing, and I would be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to implore young people and college graduates to be considering coming into the mental health field. The vacancy rates are taking a slight turn for the better, meaning at our designated agencies, they had some extraordinarily high vacancy rates right in the period, right after COVID, and we're starting to see those ticked down. Qualitative data tells us when I talk to those CEOs that the resumes are finally starting to come in and there's been a drought for that for some time. So we are hopeful that that's coming back, you know, online and going to help with our wait lists. But part of our strategy is to bring in immediate resources like the ones we referenced today, knowing that some people might have longer waits for ongoing care. Sure. Yeah. Like a summit, I heard. I mean, you know, better than most about concerns among farmers with taking on new debt. I'm wondering, given that, to what extent does this USDA announcement yesterday really alleviate the issues that they're going to be facing in the coming months? Well, I look at this as another piece in the puzzle. So this is another, you know, piece we've got to put together to recover. So this declaration yesterday by USDA allows our farmers to access emergency loans at some pretty good rates, 3.75%. So that's decent compared to the private sector. Granted, the first thing a farmer will tell you is they, you know, they don't want to take on another loan. They don't want to take on another debt, or more debt. But I think it's worth having a conversation with the Farm Service Agency. Farmers should reach out to them, look at the, you know, the programs that they do have through this declaration and it may help them, they may be able to refinance some debt that they already have at a more favorable rate, which could free up some capital for them. We do have some programs out there, granting programs through the Commerce Agency that farmers are using to get some grants. And we also have the Vermont Community Foundation that is also providing $10,000 grants and that money is available. So I look at it as, you know, keep working at it, keep looking at it, and it may click for a farmer or two. The growing season isn't over yet, it will be for a while. A lot of farmers are still assessing their situation. I mean, how long do you think it's going to take for farmers to know for sure whether or not they need to avail themselves or not be pleased? One of the advantages of this declaration is it does give them eight months to think about this and whether they want to access some of this. So it gives them a longer period of time than I think the general declaration, the presidential declaration. So I think that that's important. You know, we've been talking about mental health today and I think the farmers are really enjoying the weather. I know a lot of people, it's really hot and muggy out there, but a lot of work is being done right now. And one of the meetings that I was at earlier this year, during that period where it was really soggy and it was raining every day, a lot of them were really concerned about their mental health because they weren't able to work. And when you tell a farmer they can't work or they can't get in the field, it really does affect their mental health. So there is a program that I would encourage all to, and it's specifically for agriculture, it's called Farm First. It's a free program for our farmers to access you know, looks at well-being, anti-managed anxiety, stress, depression, grief and loss. It also has connection to financial resources and it's a farmer peer network. So it's called Farm First. There's a phone number, 802-318-5538. 802-318-5538. And it's farmfirst.org and we appreciate all of our partners at Human Services for the support of that as well. Last question. There are zero interest loans available to farmers right now, emergency loans, that they can defer payments on for up to 12 months. How do you suggest farmers work through this process logistically? Should that be their first stop? Should they get that $15,000 if they can and then see if they need to supplement that with the USDA loan? I think, you know, we're not going to advise farmers on their individual cases but I think the best thing is to sit down with the loan officers with USDA, FSA and look at your overall program. We also have another program called Farm Viability and they do business planning and you know, lean on them for advice, financial advice. They are a great network of professionals that can offer financial advice both currently and well into the future if they're thinking about maybe doing something differently and a transition and maybe diversifying, et cetera and that's run by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. I know for a lot of farmers there's a huge concern about feed they have to be able to grow or harvest it as the state thinking about doing anything to help that situation. Yeah, we've had some discussions, you know, how to manage that until this, thank goodness the weather broke here and there's a lot of work being done right now but there is, I think, considerable concern about availability of feed for livestock but also the quality of that feed. The quality certainly is going to be diminished to longer that the haze in the field or the crops are in the field, the quality goes down and you know, a cow doesn't give as much milk if they don't have quality feed. We did put up the feed directory and that's been very popular. You can go to the agency of agriculture and you can find where people are selling feed. I think there's about maybe three dozen that have put up their name and number so they can broker with someone looking for it so that's been encouraging and we've turned to some of our neighbors just to let them know of the awareness that we may need to import feed but we want to make sure we have a plan in place before winter comes so I think over the next couple of months our farmers are really planning that scenario because we don't want to get a situation to become February and March where we're out searching for feed for livestock. When you say coffee with neighbors mainly those in New England and maybe New York or are you looking at New England? Yeah, New England, we've sent it out in New England. Also, anyone in Canada from time to time feed has come down from Canada but we have some farmers that do have some excess feed and they are advertising on that. It's a free service but you can get the scope of whether people are looking for corn or hay or grass or et cetera so we're appreciative for the digital services for standing that up so quickly for us. A question for the Governor and maybe this is for Doug as well but it was about a month and a half for Sogo that you now announced funds for folks in mobile homes and manufactured homes to clean them up and to remove them. I think people pay like two months now of rent on their properties and some of them are still there mainly in Berlin. Do we have an update on where we stand? We're working on that almost on a daily basis. It's a bit frustrating from my standpoint and more complicated than it was during Irene for a lot of different reasons but we're getting there and we should have more to say on that next week but we want to get those off the lot just as quick as we can but we are somewhere still in the FEMA process we can't move them or we can possibly move them we're hoping to move them but we can't deconstruct them until the FEMA appeal is complete so that's one of the complicated factors in all of this but it's not lost on us that they're paying or at least burdened with lot rent during this time so we want to make them as whole as we possibly can and get the best results for them financially as possible. When you say the FEMA appeal in the part that might have gone denied originally go back, reapply, get their potential they're 41,000 41,000 is a high bar in some respects because what happens is and probably I can refer to General Roy on this but it's the value of the the unit not you don't get to that the replacement value it's the value of the unit itself so if the unit is a value that 10,000 to 15,000 that's all you're going to get and I think some of us envision everyone if they had a condemned home that they would automatically get the 41,000 but that's not the case and to replace these is anywhere from a new one is anywhere from 80 to 120,000 so it's quite a gap there so we're trying to do whatever we can we don't want to affect the process we don't want to put them behind by prematurely doing something that would restrict the amount of money coming to them we saw some of the housing units from the federal government staged in the upper valley do we have any sense or any update on where those would go I think that is a General Roy question good morning so right now the individual assistance team is working with those individuals who have had destroyed or are homes that were considered major damage major damage considered 12 dollars per square foot beyond to see what their status is to see if they have a housing situation that they're good with or if they're going to need help and typically what we find is that you'll start with a larger group of people that say yeah I really need help I can't find a place to go and this is not a as we talked about this is not a fast process we're looking around 90 days before we have a good solution in place and so in that period of time a number of individuals will find a solution and so by the time we get to having the MHUs ready for them to move and housing units to move into they've already found another solution so we'll we're working closely with them as you know we have a number of them already in place we're looking to have an opportunity to provide information on the units so share that with the press and then there's a couple of different other options we're looking at the first process we go through is a direct lease so if you're out of your home and you can't find a place to go we'll see if we can help find a place for you to go into we also look for we talked about before multi-family lease and repair we've put out the word for that we've got some people offering their facilities not many have really been suitable for us so the next step for us to look at is the possibility for a group site where we can locate a number of units together and we're looking at sites right now to see if they're viable options for us recognizing we're running up against winter obviously so working very closely with the state and people who are offering up their facilities and so in addition to that if somebody had a property that they could position a mobile housing unit on individually we'll work with them to actually station that so if they have a let's say their home was destroyed but they have a location close by that's not in a flood plane we can place a single unit there for them so it's a number of different options going on and will that option of a single unit based on private property only be available once you determine there's not a good place for a group site or no sir the goal in tandem yes sir so I'm confused because I have heard that say if you're a washer and dryer in your basement and they flood FEMA will pay you for the replacement cost of the new washer dryer not like the top model but you'll get like an economy model is that different with mobile homes so of course a mobile home is a home and so when we take a look at the damages to a mobile home it's really based upon how much damage there was so if they get 18 inches of flood into the mobile home we'll take a look at what would it cost to repair that and if it can be repaired that's the amount of money that will be offered up the challenge is when the unit is actually condemned and that's where it becomes a situation where we have to work between what the site inspection found for the damages versus what the unit has been deemed as and so that's why the appeal process is going on is it a total loss and what are they available for for assistance so a mobile home typically average mobile home around 1,000 square feet and so if you go 12 dollars per square foot it doesn't take a lot to fully damage them but we're not we're not providing replacement costs for the unit we're providing funding for the repair of the unit and that's why it's hard for them to reach the 41,000 dollar threshold but why would you provide the cost of repairs if it's beyond repair the determination is it repairable or not and that's where we run into difficulty where it was condemned whereas our inspection showed that it was repairable and that's what we're trying to work our way through but even if it's a total loss I mean like the governor said 41,000 even the policy is basically the maximum we can for repair for it and so they'll receive a check for repairing it and then whatever property is inside that can be reimbursed for like if they've total loss for their heating system we can replace the funding for that even though they're not moving back into it we can provide them the funds for the HVAC system I wish it was an easy answer but it's a challenge we continue to work with for the mobile homes is this fair do you think a lot of work has gone into it across the U.S. on how we can provide assistance to folks in mobile homes I won't say whether it's fair or not it's been a system that's been in place for several years right now and we continue to try to refine it I mean what does it seem I expect people to do if they can't get even like the governor said if a mobile home is 80 to 100 what are people supposed to do so a number of different programs we have out there obviously the direct housing is one of them right and then for those who are eligible there is the opportunity if approved by headquarters for them to be able to purchase the mobile home unit that we provided for them as temporary housing temporary housing so that may be an option on the table for them well it depends on where it's located so if you had a place to place your mobile home unit and it could be a permanent solution for you and you were able to purchase it that could be a solution for you with the payments made while it was considered temporary counted toward the purchase of it like a rent to own kind of situation so there are a number of different parts of the program as to whether the funding you've received can be considered part of the down payment for the purchase of it I wish it was an easy answer but actually it's case by case with individuals based upon their income level and so forth if somebody wants to buy one of those FEMA trailers what would that cost I don't have that number off the top of my head right now we can certainly research what the current values are for it and obviously it depends on what type of unit it's a three bedroom, two bedroom one bedroom unit thank you we'll start with Brad B.T. Digger good morning question for the governor disaster unemployment assistance when did you expect those payments would have been distributed and what do you think about the delay of getting them out again another source of frustration in some respects and I don't want to give excuses we want to give reasons but for those who are impacted certainly it can't come soon enough it's been what eight weeks now since the initial flood and those who are in business for themselves haven't been able to have any income so they need some help other than some of the assistance through BGAP and so forth but that's not enough either so we can't get there fast enough commissioner Harrington is here to possibly give some of those reasons we hope that we're able to get those payments out the door for those who don't understand it's the disaster unemployment assistance I think that's what it's called and it's for those who are in business for themselves, self proprietors and so forth that wouldn't qualify for traditional UI much like it reminds me a lot of the PUA we had during the pandemic and how frustrating that process was and have it up and going something new we didn't have we don't have a program in place for that it's again a fairly new program and standing it up has been challenging at best but commissioner Harrington I just want to echo the governor's comments it can't come fast enough and we certainly recognize that I also just want to share my sincere appreciation and the department's appreciation for folks patience as we move through this process the governor hit on a couple of different pieces there that I think are important but as as we work to meet the stringent federal guidelines and the criteria for the program again this is not funding that's provided by the state it's provided by the federal government and it's highly regulated by the federal government we all know that stringent programs can be very complex they can be difficult to understand we saw that through the PUA process as well this is especially true because we also are required to take people's private information when we process their claims including their bank account information for payment so we also have to make sure we keep to those stringent guidelines in order to protect their identity and the security from our perspective it's important to note I do want to note that a majority of the people who have filed for benefits have become eligible for regular UI and are receiving benefits through the traditional unemployment insurance program however that does not mean we are not keenly aware and acutely focused on working as fast as we can to get the DUA system program built and payments out the door for individuals who don't qualify for regular UI Vermont's a little unique we don't deal with major disasters on a regular basis and so we did not have a pre-existing disaster unemployment system that met the federal requirements so we had to build one from the ground up and that's what we've been working on to use the technology that we use to ensure that we can take the initial claims we can process the weekly claims we can issue payments and we can also meet all the federal deliverables and checkpoints along the way like gathering the appropriate tax information and eligibility requirements so we can also calculate benefits I just want to recap on some of the steps we took early on just you know again taking a page out of what we learned about pandemic you know following this disaster we immediately looked at a variety of different areas that we could enhance in order to respond to the public's needs within a matter of days the department increased the agents on the phone because we knew that was a pinch point during the pandemic so we increased our capacity to handle surge calls we also set up our DUA website and began the organization on a variety of channels in partnership as I mentioned with the agency of digital services we also even before we received authorization began the process of standing up different applications so folks could one file for unemployment insurance online and they could do that publicly and then we began working even before the individual assistance declaration came through and standing up what is known as the DUA initial application and then began working on the DUA continued application so folks have to qualify for the program and then they have to file weekly for each week their unemployed or their employment is disrupted due to the disaster we were able to finish the weekly application last week our team has been testing that application and as we moved into this week we began reaching out to claimants directly by phone to take their weekly claims with the hopes that within hopefully the next day we can be at a point where we can submit a payment file to the bank and the bank can begin processing the direct payment so if all goes according to plan we should have our payment files to the bank hopefully by the end of this week we can begin processing direct payments to folks again it won't be all at once as we get in contact with folks so we can take their weekly claims so again it's a direct call from us we found that to be the most expeditious way to not only capture their current week but also all their back weeks so they will get retroactive benefits all the way back to the first week of the disaster I do want to just highlight some of the things that people should be aware of if someone has lost their employment whether it's temporary or permanently they should file for unemployment insurance benefits first so if they haven't done that they should do that that is the doorway to the DUA program so they must go through the unemployment insurance program first we must review their application and if they're not eligible for regular unemployment then they can potentially become eligible if they meet the disaster criteria for DUA they will our folks will call them directly to file the application and if they are self-employed or an independent contractor they will be asked to provide proof of employment and income verification this is usually just simply what they filed for the last tax year and that is one area that is holding some folks up so we do have some that have been deemed eligible we have moved their application forward but before we can process their weekly claims we're still waiting on their tax information and that is a federal requirement of the program I do before I just wrap up I want to share some numbers so we just understand what we're all talking about one of the pieces we started grabbing right at the start of the disaster were the number of claims coming through the door that were flood related so we asked applicants is your displacement from employment flood related so far we've received 1,467 applications for regular unemployment that are flood related once we reviewed those again most of those people became eligible for unemployment because they were employees of a company the total number of people that have been deemed potentially eligible for UI and then filled out the DUA application is 125 and the number of those applications that have been made eligible thus far meaning they gave us all the documentation we have everything we need is 48 the number that's ineligible is 28 and again most of those 27 ish are waiting on additional documentation and proof of employment a couple that we found to be potentially fraudulent and the rest again were eligible for UI that just kind of gives us an idea of the scope but in closing I just want to share that again if someone's employment was impacted they should contact the department if they have questions or have questions about regular unemployment or disaster unemployment they can call or claim an assistance center 7214-3332 option 1 or they can email us at labor.disasterunemployment at vermont.gov and there's also more information online at our website we also do provide translation and interpretation services for folks who need it so I'm happy to answer any additional questions but Fred let me know if that didn't answer the question sure I did do a follow up but you mentioned pandemic unemployment assistance why do you think the department of labor again is struggling to provide prompt aid in the aftermath of the disaster that were there any lessons learned from missteps made during the pandemic yeah there was always lessons to be learned we learned a lot during the pandemic we're learning a lot now maybe not missteps I think the problem is that none of us are able to move as fast as we want to when we're trying to manage these federal programs and so again they're highly complex they come with a lot of requirements that both the state and the applicants need to meet so some of it is just the time it takes early on during this disaster we reached out to a number of states that have disaster unemployment programs and to see if their systems were interchangeable like we could borrow one to administer the program in vermont they weren't we did look at contracted service to have someone an outside vendor build a system from the ground up however we were told that that would not be covered under the federal program so the federal program would not pay for us to build a system using a third party vendor and again what we saw during the pandemic is we were roughly able to build the PUA system again which is an extremely complex system in a matter of I think four to six weeks by the time it all moved through to processing and we're looking at roughly the same time frame here using in-house supports through the agency of digital services it's a different program DUA than PUA but what we don't want to do is find ourselves on the back end of this having to go back to claimants and re-ask for information or put them in some type of jeopardy you know because of some component of the program wasn't administered correctly which is what the nation found following the pandemic Governor what impact are you hearing about you know about the impact of small businesses struggling to hang on and flooding after the flooding as a result of you know they're not being able to get some behavior yeah I'm hearing from a lot of businesses trying to make decisions about what they're going to do next whether they're going to rebuild whether they're going to rebuild in the same area just the sense of apprehension as to whether they want to go through this again I'm not hearing directly myself about the DUA in particular about the concept of do I rebuild or do I just pull the plug at this point and I'll go through this again and one last question just do you have confidence in the leadership of the Department of Labor I do again this is I'm not trying to give any excuses whatsoever we want to make sure I think we all would agree we want to give the support to those those affected by the flood in any way we can whether they're in mobile homes or in businesses so we're trying to do the best we can to put these programs in place new programs in some instances and it's been difficult but as a reminder this has been two months two long months for many and it can't come soon enough but at the same time it takes time to develop programs such as this even for a relatively small amount of people it still takes time to set it up so we do it properly so we don't put people in jeopardy as happened with the PUA system that we're still dealing with today thank you Tim McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Hi Governor I have a couple of questions but following up on the the PUA issue I assume like the PUA that would be backed up to the point of where it should have started if everything you know had been hitting the ground running at that point yeah it's retroactive and they will receive payments back to the I believe the first week of the flooding okay sort of germane to that is the tax revenue came in last month and not good late last week by any measure and there's some suggestion that this was in some part due to the flood but it seems like a pretty big number to be off to be just from the impact of the flood what is your take on the revenue report? I think we're going to have to wait another month before we see anything definitive because we were able to defer some of the tax filings so some just haven't filed so we don't know how big a number that is I think we'll know more next month and see if it's a trend in a negative way or whether this is flood related because I was thinking the personal income tax hasn't been good for husband meeting expectations for a few months whether that's just more the same or exacerbated by the impact of the flood or not? I'm sure it won't improve I was concerned about this before the flood I'm more concerned now that the revenue columns whether it's personal income or corporate or whatever is going to continue to degrade another question separate from that broadband funding we're able to take $20 million to keep that big app program is there any concern? I'm asking this because there's been a little bit of issue with taking money I think Commissioner Tierney said you don't want to rob Peter to pay that sort of thing is that money going to be available when the construction becomes possible for the broadband to build up? a couple things it wasn't rob Peter to pay Paul it was borrowed from Peter so that Paul can survive for another six months or so and put us on a better path we arrived at that decision because it was money that was sitting there that was match money where they didn't get the grant that they were hoping to get so this money won't be used for another I think it's into 2024 so we'd just be sitting there and it was just the cash reserve that we knew that we could get too quick there is no danger from my perspective of not fulfilling our promise to backfill that so I don't think anyone has anything to worry about we do have money coming in we have a surplus in some respects that we will make sure that's dedicated right up front to backfill that so there shouldn't be any concern Chris Roy, Newport Daily Express Chris Roy back to the room I have followed from actually one of Tim's questions if several hundred people in Central Vermont Barry Montpelier if they ask for abatements on their property taxes or they can't pay their taxes what does that mean for the delivery of local services and is the state more prepared to maybe chip in to some this is a longer term conversation that will probably happen in January, February, March with the legislature don't know at this point don't know the impact we're hearing I guess just kind of on the status of the state building what is the court the pavilion but also the federal building because what we're hearing is that may not necessarily be salvageable or if it is it could take years I have heard nothing about the federal building I will say that our like 109, 133 and other structures are coming back slowly back online other than like the access points the elevator in particular the parts there's a supply chain issue there and so they won't be available for quite some time so those 109, 133 will be limited in terms of use for the next several months but we're slowly seeing other buildings come back into into use do we have any idea how much this is going to cost for the state's building? we're still trying to pull everything together and it's a bit of a moving target and then kind of going off to another topic earlier this week you announced an interim state's attorney for Franklin County a completely full circle and somewhat full circle special committee and a little way of resign what's your overall thoughts and thought process of this kind of coming to full circle at this point now at least the state's attorney please I'm very grateful for for Bram to step forward and accept this position as the interim state's attorney in Franklin County I think he's the right person at the right time to take over and provide some support and stability and so I think we just need to look forward at this point and bring about leadership there at the state's attorney's office that can pull everybody together and give taxpayers what they deserve and victims as well and that my last question going to the other case in Franklin County with Sheriff John Grismore sure everyone's seen the video it's been circulating for a while now do you believe you should step down or kind of wait for those processors where you stand with that again I was before the election I had said that I didn't think he should run that he that was egregious enough to prevent him from running but he moved forward with that the people of Franklin County elected him and now the legislature has decided to formalize an impeachment process so I would suggest you know they're not asking me this is something they did on their own but they should follow through on this I think at this point and see where it takes them the situation varies north end and whether it should be redeveloped or not and by whom? yeah I mean it's something that I think we should be addressing I think long term I don't believe the structures there some of the structures in the north end should be there I think we need to expand the river access points so that we can create more reservoir more storage in the long run it's something that kind of I don't know if it's breaking news but I'll be asking the federal delegation to take a look at we put a pretty big ask in there to do something different in the north end but there's no guarantees there and it's a long term process it's not something that's going to happen overnight we need to make sure that we have the housing to replace whatever is displaced but long term I think it's going to continue to flood and impact the city but also impact those on the downhill side as well when you say you're asking the delegation for assistance do you mean with the cost of river widening the whole concept redevelopment of that area well I don't want to get ahead of ourselves it's something that we've asked the federal delegation to take a look at I don't know if they're going to include it in their ask with congress but it isn't lost on me that this is something a big problem that we need to address for the future and whether it's in this way or we find another path forward I just think that it's going to be continue to be an area that is going to confront us it's flooding it's flooded multiple times and it's not going to get any better do you think that the housing should be because there are a lot of people who own their homes there so should it be replaced with housing that they can buy and should there be a path to buy in or should it be rental housing? I think that there should be multiple paths forward again it's way too early to determine what it's going to be but at the same time we want to make sure that the folks who live in those neighborhoods are given an opportunity to stay in that area and have homes of their own just one last number of questions how much individual aid has been paid out to how many families just a quick update so 17.2 million dollars give me my glasses on so 17.160 million dollars has been approved and 17.134 has been actually disbursed and those disbursements and the number of payments were 5,450 applicants thank you all very much