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Attorney General William Tong today sued the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to stop the Trump Administration from implementing changes to the Continuum of Care program.
The lawsuit was filed today by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
The proposed HUD changes are intended to increase accountability, promote self-sufficiency, and reallocate certain resources.
The new requirements include that providers only recognize two genders, mandate residents accept services as a precondition to obtain housing, and punish providers in localities that do not enforce anti-homeless laws -- especially interesting considering the "homeless support" tucked into Connecticut's HB 8002.
“These drastic and cruel changes will throw people out of their homes and back onto the streets. These are rules based on memes and sound bites with zero respect or understanding of what it takes to provide safe and stable housing. The Trump Administration cannot make new rules up as they go along, and we’re suing to stop them,” said Attorney General Tong.
“It is with sincere gratitude that I thank Attorney General Tong and our state partners for pursuing this case against the federal government,” said DMHAS Commissioner Nancy Navarretta. “The proposed changes by HUD would endanger the housing and services of the 2,300 individuals we serve at DMHAS as we enter the winter weather and at critical inflection points in their engagement in services. Further, the policy changes accompanying the funding component would rewind the clock on effective, evidenced-based practices in favor of confinement.”
“HUD’s action to cap federal Continuum of Care programs is an attempt to gut the housing system that exists to support thousands of Connecticut residents and is a direct attack on the rights and liberties afforded to us all as citizens. If allowed to stand, HUD’s policy will deliver an effective cut of 70 percent to the permanent housing and support services. We should be bringing people indoors, not kicking them out into the cold, and we thank Attorney General Tong for the swift and decisive action he is taking today to save the backbone of the federal homelessness response system here in Connecticut,” said Sarah Fox, Chief Executive Officer of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness.
“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is turning the Housing First policy on its head by slashing renewals, forcing providers to jump through needless ideological hoops, and punishing localities that refuse to adopt draconian anti-homeless laws. That’s not only unlawful, it’s cruel. In Connecticut, we’ve seen how stability in funding and services leads to people getting back on their feet,” said House Majority Leader Jason Rojas.
“These changes by this federal administration and HUD to the Continuum of Care program are not only cruel, but will have real consequences for thousands of residents experiencing housing instability. This is particularly concerning to me as temperatures begin to drop, and housing becomes even more vital,” said Rep. Kadeem Roberts, Chair of the End Homelessness Caucus.
“The new guidelines the Federal Administration is seeking to enforce puts the lives of thousands at risk and deliberately strips the dignity from people simply because they are unhoused. We know that changing our systems of care at this fundamental a level undoes decades of important work and we cannot allow that to happen,” said Housing Committee Co-Chair Rep. Antonio Felipe.
“In Connecticut, access to safe, stable housing isn’t optional, it is a right. I stand behind AG Tong’s effort to challenge the cuts to federal housing assistance programs. Thousands of our families will lose their housing. We must fight these cuts with urgency and be unapologetic. I thank AG Tong for his leadership,” said Housing Committee Co-Chair Sen. Martha Marx.
The coalition filing the lawsuit claims that the new policies "virtually guarantee that tens of thousands of formerly homeless people in permanent housing nationwide will eventually be evicted through no fault of their own when the funds aren’t renewed."
"Additionally, HUD is planning to withhold funds to applicants that acknowledge the existence of trans and gender-diverse people, de-prioritize services to people with mental health issues or substance-use disorder, and discriminating against localities whose approach to homelessness differs from the administration’s," the statement continued.
The complaint alleges HUD violated its own regulations by not engaging in rulemaking before issuing the changes and violated the law by not receiving congressional authorization for these new conditions.
The plaintiffs also argue that HUD’s actions are "arbitrary and capricious several times over, as HUD has made no effort whatsoever to explain the abandonment of their own longstanding policies or consider the obvious consequences of tens of thousands of vulnerable people being suddenly evicted."
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