Federal funding change could impact thousands in state, homelessness advocacy group says

A recently announced plan from the Trump administration to shift homeless services funds away from permanent housing programs toward transitional housing is causing concern among local and national homelessness advocacy organizations as legal wrangling continues.

A federal district court decision on Dec. 19 ruled the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is at least temporarily barred from imposing new conditions for homelessness programs. According to media reports, U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy for Rhode Island granted a preliminary injunction to a group of states, cities and nonprofits who said an overhaul of how to distribute about $3.9 billion in funding for continuums of care was unlawful. Continuums of care are the local agencies that coordinate services and funding for homeless individuals.

HUD last month issued a notice of funding opportunity that had major changes that the National Alliance to End Homelessness said in an analysis could impact more than 170,000 people nationally, including over 3,100 in Missouri. The Washington, D.C.-based organization is among plaintiffs in the lawsuit. According to the notice, no more than 30% of the funding for next year could be used for permanent housing programs. Currently, communities spend nearly 90% of continuums of care funding on permanent housing.

Locally, the Ozarks Alliance to End Homelessness is the designated continuum of care for Greene, Christian and Webster counties. Meleah Spencer, CEO of The Kitchen Inc., serves as vice chair of the executive committee for OAEH.

“That’s our primary federal resource that helps communities move from homelessness to stable housing,” she said of the local continuum of care program coordinated by the Community Partnership of the Ozarks Inc. “It’s a community-wide approach, and our whole goal is to make sure that homelessness is rare, brief and nonrecurring.”

OAEH-funded programs provide housing and stabilization for people with disabilities, seniors, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, youth and families with children, according to Spencer. It provides nearly $1.5 million annually across critical housing and system coordination functions. However, she said if HUD’s proposed funding changes to reduce permanent housing to 30% were enacted, it would reduce that annual total to around $436,000, leaving more than $1 million at risk. Statewide, it could cut more than $32 million in funding, according to the NAEH.

“The majority of who that is going to affect is our chronically homeless,” Spencer said. “These are the folks that need the help the most.”

HUD has sought to significantly reduce funding for permanent housing and encourage more transitional housing that requires work and treatment for addiction or mental illness. In its notice of funding opportunity announcement issued last month, HUD said roughly 90% of the continuum of care awards were funneled to support a “Housing First” ideology, which “encourages dependence on endless government handouts while neglecting to address the root causes of homelessness, including illicit drugs and mental illness.”

“Our philosophy for addressing the homelessness crisis will now define success not by dollars spent or housing units filled, but by how many people achieve long-term self-sufficiency and recovery,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a news release.

Although HUD’s planned changes are at least temporarily paused, Spencer said homelessness advocates need to stay vigilant as changes to how federal funding is distributed for continuum of care programs remains in the crosshairs.

She said OAEH has formed an advocacy committee looking to get the word out of the potential changes in the community. Aside from Spencer, the committee includes Emily Fessler with CPO, Missey Hayward with Guaranty Bank, Tim Knapp with Missouri State University, Tammy Shipp with Centerstone and Alyssa Spradlin with Brentwood Christian Church.

“We know that HUD currently is focused on making these types of changes, and we need to be prepared as a community that these types of funding resources that we’ve had since 2014 has a very high potential of not coming to us again,” Spencer said. “How are we going to ensure that those experiencing homelessness, especially those with mental health disorders, are somehow stably housed and not out on the streets?”