Thousands of households in Ohio are at risk of returning to homelessness because of policy changes at the federal level.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is capping funds for programs that house formerly homeless people at 30% of their previous allocation. That will mean the loss of $36 million from supportive housing in Cuyahoga County, Director of the Office of Homeless Services LeVine Ross said.
“We have about over 2,700 units, permanent supportive housing units," she said. "That would take us down to 554.”
Statewide, the change puts 10,000 households at risk of becoming homeless, Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio's Executive Director Amy Riegel said.
"These are permanent housing units that an induvial moves into," she said, "and while they live there, not only do they have the roof over their heads, but they also have the support of case managers, of behavioral health professionals, of addiction services."
The new policy is the latest from the Trump administration to move away from the housing first model, she said, which prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness.
“So instead of housing them and then having them in a safe stable place so that they can go to that treatment appointment or go to that behavioral health appointment, we’re going to have to make them stay on the streets and wait to be able to get those treatments and services," she said.
Instead of continuing to fund these permanent supportive housing units, HUD Is putting more money toward transitional housing, addiction treatment and street outreach, Riegel said.
"Without those permanent housing units, we can have street outreach," she said, "but there's no place - no better outcome for them to end up in if those permanent housing units are no longer available."
HUD has said the new policies will "restore accountability" and promote "self sufficiency."
"I think from their statements as they talk about their desire to move away from housing first, they obviously haven't come to Ohio and seen our version of housing first," Riegel said, "because I think if they were to come to Ohio, they would see that housing first really does work."
Permanent supportive housing is designed to be a long-term solution, while transitional housing is temporary and can require work and addiction treatment, which can be barriers for those experiencing homelessness.
"What we see is that for those that currently live in supportive housing, they will need these supports for the rest of their lives or for a very long period of time due to a disability that they may have," Riegel said.
Summit County Continuum of Care Executive Director Christopher Richardson is working with supportive housing providers to adapt to the change, he said.
“We’ll have to help some providers shift or redesign programs," he said, "so they stay competitive under the new federal rules.”
Those providers will have to transition into providing transitional housing, Richardson said, a temporary solution to a homelessness rate still on the rise.
"It's either they're going to be able to adjust and adapt to the new lay of the land if you will," he said, "or there could be some possible repercussions in which they may not sustain, organizations may not exist."
The move away from housing first will cause a ripple effect throughout the community, Richardson said.
"It's proven to be ineffective. It's gonna cause more of a community crisis, especially with increased system costs on our police, jails and our hospitals as well," he said.
COHHIO and other advocacy groups are asking Congress to include a provision in an upcoming appropriations bill that would require HUD to renew the permanent supportive housing grants. They are asking residents to call their elected officials, including Rep. Dave Joyce who represents Ohio's 14th Congressional District and sits on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. Joyce's office did not respond to a request for comment.
