HUD halts funding shift, but Phoenix housing still at risk
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Monday rescinded a controversial funding plan that advocates warned could leave 1,400 Phoenix families without housing — but providers say evictions are still likely.
The big picture: The Trump administration is looking to upend the "housing first" model that's dictated federal homelessness policy for decades in favor of a hard-line approach that requires participants to seek drug treatment or meet work quotas.
Why it matters: Housing providers that have scrambled to retool their programs to meet the new funding parameters are left unsure how to proceed as they brace for funding to expire as soon as Jan. 1.
Catch up quick: HUD last month announced it would change its funding model to limit how much is spent on Permanent Supportive Housing, which is how 90% of Maricopa County's federal homeless housing dollars are spent.
- Instead, HUD said it would prioritize transitional housing programs that require participants to attend drug treatment, work programs or mental health clinics.
The latest: Following legal challenges and an outcry from the homeless advocacy community, HUD said Monday it will revise its funding plan. No further details were provided.
The intrigue: HUD's announcement came an hour before a scheduled court hearing on the plan, which a handful of states, cities and advocacy groups had challenged in federal court.
- Rhode Island judge Mary McElroy said the last-minute maneuver "feels like intentional chaos," the Rhode Island Current reported.
Threat level: Some HUD grants expire at the start of next year, and it seems unlikely the agency will be able to reissue its plan and award funding before money runs out, local experts told Axios.
Zoom in: The Arizona Behavioral Health Corporation has historically received $35 million in HUD funding annually to provide permanent housing to people with serious mental illness, president and CEO Charles Sullivan told Axios.
- The organization pays rent for 175 households using an HUD grant that will expire Feb. 1 and an additional 150 with a grant to expire March 1, Sullivan told Axios.
- "We have to pay landlords or people will start to get evicted. But how can we be expected to make those payments?" he said.
What we're watching: Advocates, providers and politicians nationwide are asking HUD to renew its current grants and wait to make sweeping changes until next year so organizations, renters and landlords can adequately prepare.