California blocks Trump from withholding funds for homeless

from Marissa KendallCalMatters

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

California scored a legal victory Monday that for now undermines the Trump administration’s efforts to drastically cut funding for housing for the homeless.

The changes, which would have diverted huge chunks of federal funds away from permanent housing and instead toward temporary shelters and sober living programs, will remain on hold after the Trump administration withdrew its appeal of an earlier court loss. While the broader case is still being considered, the new development could give some confidence to California counties waiting for federal funds.

“We keep fighting for Californians and the rule of law, and we keep winning,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. “People experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness need the continued support of the federal government, not the return of aid.”

In November, the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development tried to change the way it gives out money homeless services through its Continuum of Care program. It rules that jurisdictions applying for a share of about $4 billion in federal homelessness funds cannot spend more than 30 percent of that money on permanent housing — a move that would significantly reduce the type of long-term housing that can resolve someone’s homelessness.

Last year, California communities spent about 90 percent of their federal funds on continuing care for permanent housing.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration quickly joined 19 other states and the District of Columbia in judicial to stop the Trump administration’s changes. In December, a federal judge in Rhode Island temporarily blocked amended and directed HUD to process funding applications under the original rules. The Trump administration is appealing that decision, leaving local governments and homeless service providers uncertain about what they will receive funding for and when.

The federal government dropped its appeal on Monday. While the rest of the case will move forward and could take months to resolve, counties should have access to permanent housing stock in the meantime.

Instead of prioritizing permanent housing, as has been the rule in the past, the Trump administration wants to focus more on shelters that get people off the street quickly and temporarily and on programs that require residents to be sober. HUD has also sought to prohibit the use of federal homeless funds for diversity and inclusion efforts, support for transgender clients, and the use of “harm reduction” strategies that seek to reduce overdose deaths by helping people with active addictions use drugs more safely.

HUD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a December statement, a spokesman said HUD stands behind its funding reforms.

Former President Joe “Biden’s policies have harmed the vulnerable people HUD intends to serve through the grant program,” the agency said in an email. “This new framework is the first step toward correcting these failures with increased funding for high-performing programs that have demonstrated real success and accountability.”

HUD suffered another legal setback last month when a federal judge in Rhode Island shot down the agency’s reversal attempt another, smaller, source of federal homelessness funding. At issue in that case was a program called the Continuum of Care Builds grant, which funds the construction of new housing for the homeless. Last year, HUD made recipients reapply under a very different set of criteria, which appeared to disqualify organizations that support trans clients, use “harm reduction” to prevent drug overdose deaths, or operate in a “sanctuary city.”

About $75 million in federal funds were frozen while the case moved forward.

in march the court found HUD violated the law through its “blatant imposition of political whims.”

“This decision is a victory for people in this nation who have overcome homelessness and stabilized in HUD’s permanent housing programs,” Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which filed the lawsuit, wrote in a statement. “Today’s news reinforces a fundamental truth: that the work to end homelessness is nonpartisan and should never be interfered with by political means.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.