A coalition of officials from 20 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over the government’s plan to overhaul an Obama-era approach to homelessness.
Nineteen state attorneys general and two governors joined the lawsuit, led by New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James. The lawsuit seeks to stop reforms to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “Continuum of Care” program funding, which provides grants to groups that provide housing to homeless people and families.
The Trump administration plans to significantly reduce funds allocated to so-called “Housing First” providers. Under the department’s current homelessness grant structure, nearly all funding goes to providers that offer housing without requiring tenants to stay sober, pursue job training, or participate in other support services.
“HUD has adopted new policies, without any meaningful public input, that reverse the agency’s longstanding support for Housing First policies and fundamentally undermine the goal of providing dependable housing,” the lawsuit states. “A Housing First model provides stable housing to individuals without preconditions like sobriety or minimum income. It is a model that Congress, experts, and, until recently, HUD itself, have agreed improves housing stability and health while reducing costs.”
The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration’s proposed changes to the Continuum of Care program “are unlawful several times over.”
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The Housing First strategy was introduced to federal programs under the administration of former President George W. Bush. Housing First was massively expanded under former President Barack Obama, who promised in 2010 to eliminate homelessness within a decade with major reforms to the federal approach to homelessness.
Critics of Housing First say the strategy has led to a backsliding in efforts to combat homelessness in the United States. Critics argue that the approach falls short by failing to address the root causes of homelessness, such as economic insecurity, mental illness, and drug addiction.
A 2022 report by the Cicero Institute shows that, contrary to the Obama administration’s 2010 aims, homelessness in the United States has significantly worsened in areas that rely on a Housing First approach. The study found that homelessness increased by nearly 25% in areas that exclusively rely on the Housing First model.
Rep. Andy Barr, a Kentucky Republican, is leading an effort in Congress to address the federal government’s reliance on the housing first model. Barr, who is running to replace outgoing Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), has introduced legislation to cut funding for housing providers that use the Housing First approach.
“Housing First policy shuts out providers who offer critical wraparound services that are often essential for helping individuals break the cycle of homelessness,” Barr said. “We need to abandon HUD’s exclusive reliance on Housing First in favor of an all-hands-on-deck approach to equip the best and most effective providers with the federal funds needed to end homelessness.”
The states suing include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, along with the commonwealths of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
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