Appeals court upholds block on HUD homelessness overhaul : NPR
NPR • • nation
Key Points:
- A federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration's attempt to impose new conditions on homelessness funding, ruling that the changes would be "immediately destabilizing and disastrous."
- The court upheld a preliminary injunction against the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) plan to cut funding for permanent housing and shift it to transitional programs requiring sobriety and mental health treatment.
- HUD Secretary Scott Turner defended the proposed reforms as a way to promote self-sufficiency, criticizing the existing "Housing First" approach as ineffective and self-serving.
- The ruling emphasized that the current bipartisan policy, which involves nearly $4 billion annually, has been effective and that the threat of funding cuts has already caused local service providers to limit new client intake.
- The legal challenge was brought by a coalition of non-profits, local governments, and mostly Democratic-led states, arguing that the last-minute policy overhaul was unlawful.
