The Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Trump administration has made significant policy shifts in recent weeks that are reshaping how federal housing assistance works across the country. The HUD announced substantial changes to its funding structure earlier this month that are now reverberating through states and communities nationwide.
Minnesota has joined 20 other states in filing a lawsuit against HUD over the funding cuts to permanent supportive housing programs. According to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, if the Trump administration's attempts to cut this funding go through, tens of thousands of formerly homeless people will end up getting evicted from their homes through no fault of their own. The changes represent a dramatic reduction in how federal dollars are allocated, with only 30 percent of federal HUD dollars now able to be spent on permanent supportive housing compared to the previous 90 percent allocation.
Permanent supportive housing is described as a research-backed approach that moves people into affordable housing without preconditions while providing access to built-in support like caseworkers and mental health care. Chris LaTondresse, president of Beacon Housing Interfaith Collaborative which operates more than 600 permanent supportive housing units statewide, called the day HUD announced these cuts "a day that will live in infamy for any of us that have been working on advancing proven bipartisan solutions on homelessness."
The new HUD rules shift the majority of funding to a competitive process that gives the federal government more control over how local communities approach homelessness. The administration is also tying funding for housing to local policies around gender identity, immigration, encampments, and whether projects include work and drug treatment mandates. Additionally, the new rules encourage communities to follow an executive order calling for strict camping bans nationwide and encourage governments to commit homeless people with mental illness to institutions long-term against their will.
David Hewitt, director of Housing Stability at Hennepin County, said the timeline for implementing these changes is unrealistic. Developing 12 million dollars worth of new street outreach and transitional housing in less than two months is pretty much impossible, according to Hewitt. Minnesota alone relies on 48 million dollars in federal funding from HUD, and housing experts warn that if these changes proceed as planned, homelessness challenges in communities will demonstrably worsen.
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