Homelessness Grants: A Sudden Shift in Policy

The Trump administration has decided to pause recent changes to a major homelessness grant program. This program, worth $3 billion, helps provide services to people without homes. The changes were put on hold due to lawsuits from states, cities, and nonprofits.

Initial Changes and Withdrawal

The administration initially announced changes to the Continuum of Care grant program. These changes included:

Limiting funds for permanent housing
Banning grants for groups focusing on transgender communities

However, they have now withdrawn these changes to review the issues raised in the lawsuits.

Legal Challenges and Judicial Response

A federal judge in Rhode Island was set to hear a case about blocking these changes. Just before the hearing, the administration announced the withdrawal. The judge was not pleased with the last-minute change. She said it caused confusion and wasted court resources.

Impact of the Changes

The lawsuits claim the changes:

Conflict with the law
Unfairly target LGBTQ communities

If the changes had gone through, many groups would have had to quickly change their programs or risk losing funding. This could have left over 170,000 people without housing.

Continuum of Care Program

The Continuum of Care program was created in 1987. It focuses on helping:

Veterans
Families
People with disabilities

The program uses a "housing first" approach, which prioritizes giving people permanent housing without conditions like sobriety or employment.

Administration's Criticism and New Focus

The Trump administration has been critical of this approach. They wanted to shift the focus to:

Transitional housing
Work requirements
Other conditions

They also barred grant recipients from using funds for:

Diversity, equity, and inclusion activities
Elective abortions
"Gender ideology"

Administration's Urging

The administration has urged states and cities to:

Clear homeless encampments
Direct people to substance abuse and mental health treatment facilities