AG Jennings wins appeals court ruling against HUD’s attempts to restrict housing-assistance programs

In a major victory for Delaware, Attorney General Kathy Jennings has announced that a federal appeals court has rejected the federal government's request to impose harmful restrictions on HUD grant funding. The result means that tens of thousands of formerly homeless people across the country will remain in stable housing.

"The programs that the White House has tried to upend are, in many cases, the only thing sitting between vulnerable Delawareans and homelessness," said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. "I'm grateful to the First Circuit Court of Appeals for upholding our previous efforts to ensure that these crucial programs remain intact."

AG Jennings and a multistate coalition sued the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last November after HUD abruptly changed its Continuum of Care program, the largest resource for federal homelessness assistance funding. HUD dramatically reduced the amount of grant funds that can be spent on permanent housing and put unlawful conditions on access to the funding.

U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy sided with the states in December, saying HUD's actions would cause irreparable harm to the plaintiffs, and issued a preliminary injunction barring HUD from implementing the unlawful restrictions. On April 1, an appeals court rejected HUD's request to temporarily allow the restrictions to go into effect.

The appeals court said plaintiffs had provided ample evidence that if HUD moved ahead with its planned restrictions to the funding, the results would be "immediately destabilizing and disastrous for their constituents."

In Delaware, the consequences of HUD's proposed changes would be catastrophic, resulting in an $8 million loss - more than a 70% reduction - that the State alone cannot fill. That reduction would render the State unable to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities and would unacceptably require Delaware's housing programs to value some Delawareans' lives more than others.

A copy of the appeals court judge's ruling is available here.