Albany — CARES of NY, an organization that works with organizations and agencies in 37 counties in New York, says federal uncertainty is creating a crisis within the homeless service sector.
The government shutdown and the federal spending plans have been a cause for concern, with organizations hoping another year of funding will be including in the final continuing resolution agreement.
“It’s about $3.3 billion that goes toward permanent Supportive Housing [nationally],” Denise Galloway, CPO of CARES of NY, Inc., says. “If the changes that HUD is noting within this notice go through, it would bring that down to $1.1 billion.”
They say the timeline of finding out what funding is available is key, as the organizations have expiring projects, and are planning projects for housing people as soon as February. They say people could lose their housing if an answer doesn’t come soon enough.
“There are some permanent supportive housing projects that have housed people for years who their contract would be up January 31, so as of February 1, there’s no more funding to pay for rent or to pay for support services, which were keeping people stably housed,” Galloway says.
As they wait for a funding commitment, the same organizations, of which address the homeless population, addiction services, domestic violence victims and more, are also facing a change in guidance for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
CBS6 obtained documents from HUD, which detail to the organizations what they need to convey in the application process, along with the parameters they should strive to meet for a better chance at receiving more funding.
For example, to have a better score in the application process, the HUD documentation provides new parameters like:
-The proposed project must be located in a jurisdiction (state, county, city) that enforces laws and/or ordinances prohibiting urban camping or loitering, prohibiting open illicit drug use, and prohibiting urban squatting
-The proposed project must be located in a jurisdiction that cooperates with Federal immigration enforcement
-The proposed project will require program participants to participate in services by contract, occupancy agreement, or lease. Examples of services include case management, employment assistance and job training, life skills training, and substance abuse treatment
-The applicant does not operate drug injection sites or “safe consumption sites,” knowingly distribute drug paraphernalia on or off of property under their control, permit the use or distribution of illicit drugs on property under their control, or conduct any of these activities under the pretext of “harm reduction.”
-Fewer than 10% of the applicant’s current participants who have exited the program return to homelessness within 24 months according to HMIS data or their own data system
-[The municipality the organization is based in] substantially implements and complies with SORNA, particularly in the case of registered sex offenders with no fixed address, including by adequately mapping and checking the location of homeless sex offenders
-The applicant does not and will not promote, encourage, subsidize, or facilitate racial preferences or other forms of illegal discrimination
-The applicant does not and will not deny the sex binary in humans or promote the notion that sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic
These newer parameters are based on Executive Orders signed by the Trump Administration earlier in 2025. A HUD Spokesperson telling Politico: “HUD is no longer in the business of permanently funding homelessness without measuring program success”.
CBS6 reached out to several New York House Reps on both sides of the aisle who have these Continuums of Care in their District.
Hudson Valley Republican Rep. Mike Lawler (NY-17) has about two in his District. His office sending a statement to CBS6:
“Congressman Lawler is opposed to the proposed changes and their impact on NY-17 applicants and is signed onto a letter urging the administration to reverse their decision.”
Meanwhile, Congressman Paul Tonko, whose whole District contains several Continuums of Care, spoke with CBS6 about the concerns.
“[President Trump] is authorizing $21 billion to be sent to Argentina, like, let’s focus on domestic issues here and get this stuff done. Where are these dollars, if you’re not going to invest them in these populations, where do they find themselves?” Tonko says. “You’re just going to add those populations to the roles of homeless in the in the community, and it will make it very difficult for people to advance their goal and their desire to achieve housing.”
CARES of NY leadership says they want lawmakers to keep the Continuum of Care funding intact, the way its been for the past decade plus, and allow the organizations to continue their “Housing First” approach, which they believe is working.