Trump Ends Federal Support for Housing First Policy

President Donald Trump is ending federal support for the Housing First policy, a decade-long strategy that prioritized permanent housing for homeless individuals before addressing other needs. Through an executive order and a proposed fiscal 2027 budget, the administration intends to eliminate the $4 billion Continuum of Care program, which funded 6,500 projects in 2024.

The administration is shifting toward a Treatment First model, which favors short-term transitional housing limited to two years and requires mandatory treatment for mental illness and addiction. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development argues that the previous Housing First approach enabled addiction and failed the most vulnerable populations.

This policy shift has caused immediate upheaval for local governments and nonprofits. In Louisville, Kentucky, the St. John Center is converting permanent housing into transitional units to maintain federal funding, while Volunteers of America Mid-States saw a permanent supportive housing project in Corbin, Kentucky, cancelled. Similar funding losses are impacting available housing in Santa Cruz County, California, and at The Delores Project in Denver, Colorado. Service providers warn that chronically homeless individuals with severe disabilities cannot stabilize within two years and risk returning to the streets.