“Pushing to forcibly relocate street homeless to large camps and mandate mental health and addiction treatment”
President Trump is completely dismantling the “Housing First” approach that has been the cornerstone of U.S. homelessness policy for decades, pushing instead to forcibly relocate homeless people to large camps and mandate mental health and addiction treatment.
“Our once-great cities have become unlivable, unsanitary nightmares,” President Trump said in a campaign video.
“We will take people suffering from serious mental illness to mental institutions, with the goal of reintegrating them back into society once they’ve recovered sufficiently.”
Although the White House has not yet announced an official policy, it is opening the door to a “treatment first” agenda and pushing for a major overhaul of housing and social service programs that form the backbone of the homelessness response system relied upon by city and local governments.
About $4 billion was allocated to these programs last year alone.
Scott Turner, head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the Trump administration, has called for massive funding cuts and a review of taxpayer spending.
“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we will no longer take a business-as-usual approach, and the DOGE task force will play a crucial role in identifying and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse,” Turner said in a statement.
The Fall of ‘Housing First’ and the Rise of a New Approach
The ‘Housing First’ policy was implemented nationwide during George W. Bush’s administration in 2004 to address chronic homelessness.
This policy aims to first provide stable housing to homeless individuals without forcing treatment, job requirements, or sobriety, while offering case management support and social services.
“When you’re on the streets, you only think about how to survive each day,” said Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
“Housing is the most important intervention that brings safety and stability, so you don’t have to constantly work to find food or a safe place to sleep.”
However, Trump is pursuing a punitive approach that would scale back taxpayer-subsidized housing initiatives and impose fines and potential detention time on homeless individuals.
He also wants to mandate sobriety and mental health treatment as primary interventions for solving homelessness.
These changes are causing fear and alarm among homelessness experts and frontline service providers.
They argue that forcing treatment and criminalizing homeless people is ineffective.
“It only makes things worse,” said Donald Whitehead Jr., executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
“Putting everyone in treatment programs is not an effective strategy. The real problem is that we don’t have enough affordable housing.”
Changes from Both Parties, but Different Approaches
The ‘Housing First’ policy is under attack not only from Republicans but also from Democrats responding to public complaints about the nationwide increase in homeless encampments.
Last year, the federal government estimated that more than 770,000 people in the U.S. were homeless, a record figure and an 18% increase from 2023.
Already, both liberal and conservative cities and states are taking stronger approaches to street homelessness and the mental health and addiction crisis.
This is true even in deep blue states like California, where Governor Gavin Newsom created a “CARE Court” initiative that can mandate treatment even when housing isn’t always available, and threatened to withhold funding from cities and counties that don’t actively clear encampments.
However, there are differences in opinion about dismantling the entire policy. Liberal leaders want to maintain existing housing and homelessness funding streams while expanding shelters and moving people off the streets.
Conservatives blame the ‘Housing First’ policy for causing increases in homelessness and are pushing for mandatory treatment and cuts to housing subsidies.
Research shows that the ‘Housing First’ policy has been successful in moving vulnerable and chronically homeless individuals into permanent housing.
For example, a systematic review of 26 studies found that “compared to treatment first approaches, Housing First programs reduced homelessness by 88%.” The approach also significantly improved health, reducing costly hospital and emergency room care.
Experts say the ‘Housing First’ policy has been severely underfunded and unevenly implemented.
Some homeless agencies received federal funding but didn’t provide adequate services or housing placements.
“This works when it’s done right,” said Margot Kushel, policy director for the Homelessness Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco, arguing that housing saves lives and lowers expensive medical costs. “But I think we’ve been too polite and nice about actual incompetence for too long.”
