National Alliance to End Homelessness v. HUD

Public Rights Project, on behalf of local governments, filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to upend long-standing and effective policies that address homelessness. Public Rights Project and Democracy Forward are representing the plaintiffs in the case, alongside the National Homelessness Law Center.

The case focuses on the Continuum of Care (CoC) grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). With a 2025 budget of $3.9 billion, it is the primary source of federal funding for addressing homelessness in the U.S. Local governments use CoC funding to keep people housed through permanent supportive housing, emergency shelter, street outreach, and services for people with disabilities and serious mental health needs.

In a recent grant notice, HUD reallocated funding away from long-term housing and introduced harmful requirements that CoCs would have to accept in order to receive funding. The changes prioritize approaches that have been proven less effective — such as requiring people who are homeless to address substance use issues before accessing housing — and it prioritizes CoCs that criminalize homelessness.

In addition, HUD threatens to reject CoC applicants that previously or currently adopted policies it views as “facilitating racial preferences,” despite prior applications requiring a plan for addressing racial equity. HUD also unlawfully excludes mental health conditions from the definition of disabilities.

If HUD cuts funding for long-term supportive housing, thousands of organizations across the country will close, displacing 170,000 people with disabilities and straining public services. 

Since the early 2000s, HUD has used the evidence-based Housing First approach, which prioritizes placing people who are homeless into housing as soon as possible. Then, they are offered treatment for substance abuse or mental health and provided other support. Research shows this approach helps people stay housed and makes communities safer, while also reducing the strain on local government resources. 

As we explain in the complaint, HUD’s actions violate the Constitution and parts of the Homeless Assistance Act. HUD also unlawfully issued the NOFO outside the required schedule and without legal justification.

More than $266 million is at stake for the local governments in the case, and the funding notice covers over $3.9 billion in federal funds. Public Rights Project represents Boston, Massachusetts; Cambridge, Massachusetts; King County, Washington; Nashville, Tennessee; and Tucson, Arizona. The other local government plaintiffs are San Francisco, California and Santa Clara, California.

Read the motion for a preliminary injunction.

Update:

On December 23, 2025, a federal court granted a preliminary injunction that blocks HUD from rolling back policies that were set to stay in place through 2026, and limits some unlawful funding restrictions on the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program.

The court’s order temporarily preserves lawful funding conditions and prevents the administration from shifting resources away from permanent housing and other proven, evidence-based solutions while the case proceeds. The injunction provides some immediate relief to local governments and service providers.

Read the ruling.

Update: 

In December, HUD issued a new funding notice after the plaintiffs challenged the November version. On January 14, 2026, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint that challenges the December notice and adds an additional claim relating to HUD’s failure to award renewals from fiscal year 2024 funding. The December notice continues to impose harmful rules and conditions. And, it would continue to create large timing gaps in funding for programs that rely on stability. 

In the amended complaint and a motion for summary judgment filed the same day, we’re asking the court to declare both of HUD’s 2025 funding notices unlawful and order the agency to move forward with the CoC grants that were already approved in 2024. 

By changing the program conditions after required legal timelines, HUD is violating the Administrative Procedure Act. Additionally, HUD is violating the Constitution’s separation of powers by setting conditions that conflict with Congress’s intent when it approved this funding.

Read the amended complaint.

Update:

On April 1, the First Circuit Court of Appeals continued a lower court’s protection of nearly $4 billion in funding for supportive housing and other proven anti-homelessness programs.

The court’s decision blocks HUD from implementing the unlawful restrictions it attempted to impose and preserves funding for proven, housing-first solutions while this case proceeds. This ensures that communities across the country can continue relying on stable federal support to serve residents experiencing homelessness.

In its ruling, the court relied heavily on the evidence PRP’s local partners submitted about the harms they would face from HUD’s sudden and dramatic changes to the CoC program, stating “the plaintiffs submitted ample evidence that any implementation of the December NOFO would be immediately destabilizing and disastrous for their constituents.”

Read the ruling.

Update:

On June 22, 2026, Public Rights Project filed a supplemental complaint on behalf of local governments. It challenges HUD’s 2026 grant notice to fund homelessness solutions.

The new notice recycles many of the same unlawful provisions the court already blocked in the 2025 grant notice. HUD pressures grantees to:

• Restrict housing to people who meet specific conditions, such as sobriety, employment, or participation in treatment. HUD falsely portrays this approach as failing to hold people accountable.
• Eliminate harm reduction programs, despite proof that they reduce overdose risk and improve housing stability.
• Promote incorrect and biased stereotypes about who is “self-sufficient” and deserving of housing support, specifically discriminating against people with mental health disabilities and substance use disorders.

The notice also requires grantees to comply with conditions unrelated to homelessness, including abandoning diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; rejecting transgender and nonbinary people’s identities; and helping enforce federal immigration law.

Without congressional authorization, HUD set aside $1.3 billion for new projects in 2026 when the money is intended for renewals. The notice heavily prioritizes strategies that are likely to exacerbate homelessness and ignores Congress’s directive to fund evidence-backed approaches. For example, existing strategies have been proven to reduce veteran homelessness by 50%; lower chronic homelessness by 16%; and reduce family homelessness by 29% over a 10-year period.

HUD’s actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution. The complaint also explains that HUD has yet to issue the 2025 grants, leaving projects without funding and further disrupting a critical homelessness response program.

If implemented, the 2026 program would abruptly cut off funding that communities rely on to house at least 97,000 formerly homeless people. It would force tens of thousands of those people back into homelessness and undermine communities’ homelessness response. 

Read the supplemental complaint.

Update:

On June 29, 2026, the district court ruled that HUD violated federal law when it issued its 2025 grant notices. The court found that HUD failed to weigh the harm caused by the funding gaps and instability created when it tried to end the longstanding Housing First approach in favor of a new framework. The court called the agency’s reasoning “the hallmark of unreasoned decision-making.”

The court declined to permanently halt HUD from taking similar actions in the future, saying it would need a record of harm from future actions before taking action. The court also denied our motion to file a supplemental complaint, but it left the door open for a new complaint to be filed. We’re evaluating next steps.

Read the ruling.