Trump’s Targeting of Homeless Agency Signals Sharp Shift in Policy
“When President Trump set out last month to eviscerate a tiny agency that coordinates federal efforts to reduce homelessness, he was not just clearing bureaucratic brush.
He was escalating a conservative war on how billions in federal aid gets spent, a fight that could have life-altering stakes for the record number of people sleeping on the streets.
The obscure focus of Mr. Trump’s ire, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, is smaller than many Boy Scout troops. His larger target appears to be the policy that dominates homelessness work, an approach called Housing First.
Once the product of bipartisan consensus, Housing First programs, which the council promotes, provide apartments to chronically homeless people without requiring them to accept services like drug treatment or mental health care. Supporters say the policy saves lives by getting treatment-wary people safely indoors, where some go on to accept services. Proponents have credited it for a signature success, the decline by more than half in the number of homeless veterans.”
Read more at NY Times.