Cost of basic needs and housing, and maximum monthly Reach Up grant, family of four, 2004-2023

Reach Up provides cash assistance to low-income Vermonters with children based on an estimate of the cost of basic needs and housing. It’s a different—and much lower—standard than the Basic Needs Budget amount in the state’s livable wage report, more a bare minimum than a self-sufficiency standard. For the last 20 years, the state has aimed to provide a maximum benefit that covers half that minimum basic needs amount. But for 15 years, from 2004 to 2019, the state did not update the benefit amount for inflation, continuing to use the 2004 basic needs standard. To address the increasing gap between what families needed and what the program provided, the state began basing grants on the 2008 basic needs amount in 2019, and in 2021 started using the 2019 standard, where it remains. The current maximum benefit for a family of four is $976, which covered 40 percent of basic needs in 2023. The housing allowance is still based on 2001 housing costs, which have risen by 66 percent since then.