By Dr. Deborah Bailey
AFRO Contributing Editor
A U.S. District Court Federal Judge issued a temporary halt to changes in a U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program that would have left thousands of Marylanders homeless.
On Dec. 22, U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy barred HUD from implementing changes to the federal government’s Continuum of Care Program, in response to a lawsuit supported by Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown and a coalition of 21other states and the District of Columbia. A second lawsuit was filed by 11 local governments and non-profit organizations on behalf of recipients of HUD Continuum of Care funding.
“This ruling keeps roofs over the heads of more than 4,000 Marylanders who were at risk of going homeless under the administration’s inhumane policy,” said Brown, in a statement issued in response to the ruling.
HUD’s Continuum of Care program represents the largest national resource for a wide range of housing-vulnerable persons, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. More than 170,000 persons nationwide would have been at immediate risk of homelessness if changes proposed by HUD in November would have been allowed to proceed.
This year, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Homeless Services Planning and Coordinating Committee did their annual regional Point-in-Time (PIT) count of homeless in Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas on Jan. 29. According to information released by COG, “the 2025 PIT enumeration resulted in a total count of 9,659 individuals experiencing homelessness.”
The number represents a drop in the number of homeless people by 115 persons when compared to the point in time count from 2024. Still, there is more to be done.
“Continuity of housing and stability for vulnerable populations is clearly in the public interest,” McElroy said during the two-hour hearing.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner issued an abrupt policy change in the Continuum of Care program, announcing a new notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) with significant cuts in funding available for permanent housing, instead prioritizing transitional housing. Tests would be put in place for those receiving housing support from HUD. Additionally, HUD removed the program’s two-year grant cycle, replacing it with a one-year cycle
“HUD has adopted new policies, without any meaningful public input, which reverse the agency’s longstanding support for Housing First policies and fundamentally undermine the goal of providing dependable housing,” stated the lawsuit. “A Housing First model provides stable housing to individuals without preconditions like sobriety or minimum income.”