{"id":8000,"date":"2026-03-31T16:08:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T23:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/news\/7599444\/judge-rules-that-hud-effort-to-change-criteria-for-homeless-funding-is-unlawful\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T16:30:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T23:30:23","slug":"judge-rules-that-hud-effort-to-change-criteria-for-homeless-funding-is-unlawful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8000\/judge-rules-that-hud-effort-to-change-criteria-for-homeless-funding-is-unlawful\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge rules that HUD effort to change criteria for homeless funding is unlawful"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s<\/a> effort to dramatically change the criteria to get tens of millions of dollars in funding to aid homeless people was unlawful. <\/p>\n

Several nonprofits filed a lawsuit last year accusing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development<\/a> of changing the rules for receiving $75 million to build housing for homeless families and individuals. The plaintiffs accused the Trump administration of issuing a new Notice of Funding Opportunity, or NOFO, for the Continuum of Care Builds program to better align with its social policies. <\/p>\n

U.S District Judge Mary McElroy, nominated by President Donald Trump, said the department\u2019s \u201cslapdash imposition of political whims\u201d was unlawful and she ordered it to scrap the new policy. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again, this Court is faced with a case in which an executive agency has made a last-minute decision to make major, disruptive changes to grants within its purview, all for the express purpose of accomplishing the current administration\u2019s policy objectives,\u201d McElroy said in her ruling that the NOFO violated the Administrative Procedure Act, a law governing how federal agencies develop and issue regulations.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for HUD did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n

Advocates for plaintiffs welcomed the ruling.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than three decades, the federal government has supported housing providers and communities through HUD\u2019s programs to help people experiencing homelessness move into stable housing,\u201d Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, co-counsel for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. \u201cWe are pleased that the court has stopped the Trump-Vance administration from holding life-saving funding hostage to a political agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said the ruling was \u201ca victory for people across this nation who have overcome homelessness and stabilized in HUD\u2019s permanent housing programs.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s news reinforces a fundamental truth: that the work to end homelessness is not partisan, and never should be interfered with for political means,” Oliva said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Plaintiffs argued the Trump administration was aiming to upend polices in place for decades to satisfy its political considerations, including whether jurisdictions \u201csupport sanctuary protections, harm reduction practices, or inclusive policies for transgender people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Alliance and the Women\u2019s Development Corporation argued that HUD lacked the authority to make the changes, adding that the new award process was \u201cshockingly unlawful\u201d and would \u201cirreparably injure qualified applicants for these funds and the communities they serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its court filings, HUD argued the new criteria was an effort \u201cto ensure the availability of funding to protect our Nation\u2019s most vulnerable individuals and families from the trauma of homelessness while simultaneously promoting self-sufficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDefendants acted reasonably and prudently because the NOFO conditions, focusing on public safety, cooperation with law enforcement and prohibitions on illegal drug use, are sufficiently related to the funding goals of self-sufficiency and reduction of trauma,\u201d HUD wrote.<\/p>\n

\n \"|\"
FILE – A sign for the Department of Housing and Urban Development stands outside the agency’s headquarters, Jan. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s effort to dramatically change the criteria to get tens of millions of dollars in funding to aid homeless people was unlawful. Several nonprofits filed a lawsuit last year accusing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of changing the rules for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":8003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"guid":"6296f6ee-6f1f-4afa-9c0f-8f0ff68d327f","source":"The Associated Press","byline":"Michael Casey","published":"2026-03-31 16:08:51","updated":"2026-03-31 16:17:56","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1827,1737,661,1738],"tags":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-8000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-international","category-lifestyles","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8000\/judge-rules-that-hud-effort-to-change-criteria-for-homeless-funding-is-unlawful\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Judge rules that HUD effort to change criteria for homeless funding is unlawful","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8000\/judge-rules-that-hud-effort-to-change-criteria-for-homeless-funding-is-unlawful\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8000\/judge-rules-that-hud-effort-to-change-criteria-for-homeless-funding-is-unlawful\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/inhome-e260ad5870411849eaaa67252511904cc5e6b1d5b2b935e01591aa18bd408ccf.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/inhome-e260ad5870411849eaaa67252511904cc5e6b1d5b2b935e01591aa18bd408ccf.jpg"},"articleSection":"Health","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Associated Press"}],"creator":["The Associated Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNhome","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-03-31T23:08:51Z","datePublished":"2026-03-31T23:08:51Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T23:30:23Z"},"rendered":"