Reach Up: Helping Vermont Families Thrive

Reach Up is Vermont’s safety net program for families, ensuring children’s basic needs—food, housing, and clothing—are met. It’s Vermont’s version of the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, but most federal funds go to other work-support programs like childcare and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and Reach Up is primarily state-funded. This allows for a flexible program design that strives to be person-centered while complying with federal TANF rules.

The Problem

Reach Up is meant to support families, but financial limits make it difficult for them to succeed. The income eligibility threshold is so low that even small earnings can cut families off from the program, stripping away vital support. Worse, the program bases housing and cost-of-living budgets on outdated figures—2001 for housing and 2019 for other needs—then slashes that amount in half before distributing assistance. This leaves a family of three with just $880 per month to cover most expenses, which is simply impossible.

As a result, families are forced into crisis mode, seeking emergency housing, food pantries, and urgent medical transportation instead of building long-term stability. Research shows that persistent poverty also increases the risk of children being placed in foster care, a traumatic and costly outcome.

The Cost of Inaction

While the state increases the cost-of-living adjustments for other programs, Reach Up families remain stuck at the same inadequate funding levels. Each year, the Department for Children and Families (DCF) reports on Reach Up’s impact, highlighting the growing gap between what families receive and the bare minimum they need to survive.

The Solution

We must fully fund Reach Up to give Vermont families the stability and opportunity they deserve. No child should go without basic needs because of outdated policies and insufficient support. It’s time to invest in families and end poverty.

  1. Index basic needs grants to DCF’s current year cost of living calculation.

  2. Eliminate the “ratable reduction” as it currently exists. Ensure that the cumulative benefits a family receives is sufficient to meet their basic needs.

  • 2026 Reach Up Issue Brief (PDF)

  • Voices Supports H.657

    Fact Sheet

    Several DCF-related measures have been combined in this bill, including:

    • the elimination of RU asset limits;

    • ending the practice of seizing foster youth’s federal benefits to pay for their care (SSI);

    • giving unaccompanied youth certain rights to act without parental consent;

    • restraint and seclusion of youth in residential programs and during transport; and

    • surveillance of pregnant people by DCF.

    • CVOEO

    • Disability Rights Vermont

    • Hunger Free Vermont

    • King Street Youth Center

    • Planned Parenthood - PPNNE

    • Prevent Child Abuse VT

    • Public Assets Institute

    • Root Social Justice Center

    • Vermont Children’s Alliance

    • Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services

    • Vermont Commission on Women

    • Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance

    • Vermont Legal Aid

    • Vermont Food Bank

    • Vermont Low Income Advocacy Council

    • Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence

    • Vermont Parent Child Center Network

    • Voices for Vermont’s Children

  • Enter household characteristics on this worksheet to see what the Reach Up benefit would be, and total household resources including other safety net programs. See how quickly families lose their Reach Up benefits when they work, well before they are financially secure.