(The Center Square) – Washington Attorney General Nick Brown has launched his 45th lawsuit so far against the Trump administration in response to new requirements imposed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for housing grants.
HUD’s Continuum of Care grant program provides funding to nonprofits, as well as state and local governments, to aid individuals seeking housing. In total, Washington state receives about $120 million annually from this program.
Recently, HUD imposed restrictions on its grant program that shifts efforts from indefinite permanent housing support and toward transitional housing. Additionally, it imposes new requirements for nonprofits and shifts funding toward competitive grants.
These changes stem from an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on July 24, in which he declared that much of the homeless crisis is driven by drug abuse and mental health problems.
“The Federal Government and the States have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats,” the EO states. “Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order.”
The EO also directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to do the following regarding grants:
End support for “housing first” policies that “deprioritize accountability” and fail to promote treatment, recovery, and self-sufficiencyIncrease competition among grantees through broadening the applicant poolHold grantees to higher standards of effectiveness in reducing homelessness
At Tuesday’s press conference announcing the lawsuit, Brown described HUD’s changes as “ unlawful and unconstitutional and un-American action. The changes that HUD is attempting to make will throw so many people into crisis, people be forced to reenter the shelter system, hospitals, jails and behavioral crisis facilities straining to get by this moment.”
State Rep. Nicole Macri, D-Seattle, said at the press conference that “the federal government has a legal and moral obligation to honor commitments.”
Macri is the deputy director for the Downtown Emergency Service Center, which according to its website “helps people with the complex needs of homelessness, substance use disorders, and serious mental illness.”
Washington Department of Commerce Director Joe Nguyen said at the press conference that HUD’s policy change “is either ignorant or cruel in terms of how it is being deployed, and likely a combination of both.”
