The surprise move, revealed in a one-paragraph note by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, did not give a reason for withdrawing the plan or a timeline for reissuing it, saying only it would do so in time to govern awards for the current fiscal year.
The announcement added new uncertainty and potential delays to the government’s main program for homelessness relief.
The funding changes, announced in November, sought a wholesale shift in priorities. By changing the rules under which HUD makes the awards, they proposed to take billions of dollars away from so-called Housing First programs, which offer long-term housing with no preconditions, and shift it to time-limited programs that impose work rules or treatment for mental illness or drug abuse.
Critics said the shift from past policy, meant to take effect as soon as January, would have displaced as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people who rely on the long-term housing aid.
Two federal lawsuits are challenging the move — one by Democratic attorneys general and another by the National Alliance to End Homelessness and other nonprofit and government groups. The suits are being heard by Judge Mary S. McElroy in the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island.
HUD withdrew the funding rules Monday afternoon, shortly before McElroy’s first hearing on the lawsuits, a move first reported by Politico. “It feels like intentional chaos,” the judge said in court of the government’s decision.HUD said in a statement Tuesday that the withdrawal was meant to address “technical” issues, rather than a change in policy direction. HUD “fully stands by the fundamental reforms” it proposed last month, the statement said.
In a normal year, funding rules are published in late spring and decisions made by early fall. Now, with only a few weeks left in the year, thousands of programs to aid the homeless are still awaiting the rules upon which proposals will be judged.
“HUD’s chaotic approach is putting people around the country at risk of losing their homes,” said Anna Bailey, a housing analyst with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which opposes the shift away from permanent housing.
McElroy scheduled another hearing next week.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
