The US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) recently released Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) contains a policy change that may result in the displacement of many MA residents who rely on permanent supportive housing. The Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA) predicts that more than 3,800 households in MA that are funded by the Continuum of Care program will be at risk of losing their homes. MHSA is continuing to analyze the 128-page FY 2025 Continuum of Care Competition and Youth Homeless Demonstration Program Grants NOFO and working with local, state, and national partners to strategize. They will continue to issue advocacy alerts and share their findings. Contact Annie Martin at amartin@mhsa.net to receive MHSA’s advocacy alerts.
Please read their two-page overview of this policy change’s threat to housing in the US and in MA.
Proponents of HUD’s policy change are critics of the Housing First approach, which relies on the premise that providing stable housing to people who are experiencing homelessness and have behavioral health needs (often manifesting as substance use disorder) is the first, necessary step for safety, security, and the possibility of important life changes.
Those in favor of HUD’s policy change argue that Housing First has not worked, but they do not address the high cost of housing, which is the chief driver of the country’s homelessness crisis. New HUD policy will reduce funding for permanent supportive housing to Continuum of Care grantees from 90% to 30% of the program’s Annual Renewal Demand, a move that is certain to cause an increase in homelessness.
What can we do?
Short term actions (best done ASAP):
- Contact your member of Congress and encourage them to:
- Urge the White House and HUD to maintain the two-year CoC funding cycle and ensure any major program changes go through the proper legislative channels.
- Include protective language in a legislative vehicle to preserve the two-year funding cycle and safeguard supportive housing programs.
- Educate your local leaders & community stakeholders. The impact will be felt locally – educate mayors, city councils, select boards, hospitals, faith communities, business leaders, funders, and more.
- Reach out to contacts in other states and encourage them to contact their Members of Congress. These changes will impact communities nationwide.
- Sign and send this National Alliance to End Homelessness letter to your Congresspeople urging their action to stop this attack on federal homelessness funding.
- Sign on your organization to this National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) letter urging Congress to enact FY26 spending bills that reject cuts to HUD programs and instead provide the highest level of funding possible.
- Sign on as an individual constituent to this NLIHC letter.
Long term actions we can take:
- Improve our understanding of local Continuum of Care programs and permanent supportive housing, which incorporates important services for people living with disabilities
- Familiarize ourselves with how this policy change will impact the Continuum of Care program
- Learn about the US Supreme Court’s June 2024 decision that is being decried as the criminalization of homelessness and what that might look like in your community
- Contact your state legislators and members of Congress to express your concerns and ask questions
- Continue to learn about tools for finding income-restricted units in your region
- Build relationships with other organizations and workers who assist people with housing stability
- Join a regional alliance dedicated to ending homelessness (i.e. Western MA Network to End Homelessness)
- Join our state’s Supportive Housing Pipeline Coalition
- Share information about this issue on social media platforms and in conversation
For additional context:
“Trump Administration Proposes a Drastic Cut in Housing Grants,” New York Times, Nov. 12, 2025
From article: “By cutting aid for permanent housing by two-thirds next year, the plan risks a sudden end of support for most of the people the Continuum places in such housing nationwide, beginning as soon as January. All are disabled — a condition of the aid — and many are 50 or older. The document does not explain how they would find housing.”
