Federal Court Rulings Reverse Trump Admin’s Attempt to Politicize Affordable Housing & Homelessness Assistance Grants

WASHINGTON, DC - For the second time in less than 48 hours, the Trump Administration lost in a court of law as a U.S. federal court judge from Rhode Island and the First Circuit Court of Appeals both ruled that the Trump Administration has unlawfully restricted federal funding for housing grants and homelessness assistance, respectively.

Last night, a U.S. federal court judge from Rhode Island ruled in National Alliance to End Homelessness v. Turner, et al. that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) unlawfully restricted $75 million in federal housing grants through the "Continuum of Care (CoC) Builds" grant program by dramatically changing funding criteria based on the partisan whims of President Trump and his Administration.

The decision in National Alliance to End Homelessness v. Turner, et al. determined that the Trump Administration wrongly altered eligibility requirements to try to demand that groups seeking affordable housing grants comply with its extremist agenda on other unrelated issues.

The lawsuit brought by a number of local organizations and national homelessness assistance and affordable housing groups pointed out that HUD had issued the same grant opportunity notice three times, even after Congressional notification of grant awards had been issued. The dramatically updated criteria within the "Continuum of Care (CoC) Builds" grant program would have essentially barred awards in states, like Rhode Island, and localities that have policies in place that don't align with President Trump's views.

This morning, the First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump Administration's request in National Alliance to End Homelessness v. HUD to overturn a previous court order from December that blocked the administration's attempts to upend Continuum of Care (CoC) funding that is the primary source for homelessness assistance authorized by Congress.

The First Circuit's decision determined that the Trump Administration's efforts to shift funding away from proven solutions to address homelessness are unlawful. The administration's repeated updates to CoC grant eligibility would have had disastrous consequences for communities and service providers who rely on the funding to combat homelessness. The coalition behind this lawsuit against the Trump Administration included the State of Rhode Island and Crossroads Rhode Island.

"We must reduce homelessness and responsibly allocate U.S. tax dollars to ensure they are effective and well spent. The Trump Administration tried to condition federal homelessness prevention funds in a partisan way that prioritized partisan political objectives over effectively helping people. They sought to needlessly transform the CoC and CoC Builds programs from initiatives that reduce homelessness to programs that seek to force states and localities to criminalize homelessness. And they lost in court because they failed to follow the law," said Senator Reed, a longtime champion of affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee who recently announced $27.75 million in federal investments for Rhode Island's affordable housing safety net.

Federal CoC grants, which are administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), help local nonprofits and community partners deliver safe, affordable housing and supportive services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness. These federal grants are coordinated at the state level by RIHousing and administered by non-profits throughout the state. CoC funds are eligible for a variety of homeless assistance activities, including permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, coordinated entry systems, and other services to help ensure homelessness is a brief and rare experience.

The CoC Builds program was created to provide funding to help address and reduce the number of individuals and families experiencing homelessness by adding new units of permanent supportive housing through new construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation under the CoC Program.

In Rhode Island, the Women's Development Corporation (WDC) was a plaintiff in the National Alliance to End Homelessness v. Turner, et al. lawsuit after a $7 million grant award through the CoC Builds program was pulled back, after Congressional notifications had been issued, in the chaos stemming from HUD's last-minute criteria changes. WDC planned to use the funding to build 14 new homes for Rhode Islanders escaping domestic violence.

"I will continue doing all I can to help prevent and end homelessness and assist Rhode Islanders in need. I am grateful to the Women's Development Corporation and other frontline organizations and service providers who do this critical work each and every day. They deserve federal support, not unnecessary red tape, unpredictability and uncertainty - which does nothing to help us solve our housing crisis."

People in need of shelter may call the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness CES help line: (401) 277-4316.

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