Department of Housing and Urban Development

On December 16, HUD Secretary Scott Turner toured facilities at the Helping Up Mission in Baltimore, Maryland, a faith-based organization serving the homeless for 140 years. This visit was part of a larger tour in which Turner will visit facilities that are successfully helping people transition from homelessness to self-sustained living as HUD reexamines its approach to homelessness. WMAR 2 News reports: U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner toured Helping Up Mission’s men’s recovery campus today, meeting with clients and staff to learn how healthcare, recovery, job training and faith work together to address homelessness. Turner said models like this are key to helping people move toward independence rather than long-term dependence. For nearly 140 years, Helping Up Read More ›

Tackling the Root Causes HUD Secretary Scott Turner takes direct aim at America’s “homeless industrial complex” and says the the days of “warehousing people” are over. The Trump administration is reallocating federal dollars to tackle the root causes of homelessness like drug addiction and mental illness. This plan could cripple so called Housing First programs that do not require people to find jobs or enter drug treatment. Many of these understaffed facilities under Housing First also trigger the most 911 calls in cities, allow drug use behind closed doors, and attract an inordinate amount of crime to neighborhoods. California and WA are ranked in the top three for overall homelessness in the nation. But elected officials in these states are Read More ›

SEATTLE, WA — “Federal reforms have finally created space for local leaders to put treatment and recovery back at the center of homelessness policy,” says Discovery Institute President Steve Buri. “Real compassion means helping people reclaim stability and dignity, not leaving them trapped in addiction and illness without a path to restoration.” Following a newly-released reformed funding package from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Discovery Institute published an essential policy brief calling on local governments, Continuums of Care (CoCs), and service agencies to leverage these new federal reforms and make treatment and recovery central to local homelessness solutions. The brief outlines how “Housing First” and “Harm Reduction” policies failed the homeless by misdiagnosing the crisis as primarily Read More ›

In a memorable scene from “Casablanca,” actor Claude Rains plays a corrupt police chief ordered by the Germans to shut down a popular nightclub after patrons indulge in a disfavored patriotic song. “But I have no excuse to close it!” protests Rains. “Find one,” is the curt reply. Rains orders everyone to leave immediately. When the nightclub’s owner Rick (played by the unforgettable Humphrey Bogart) demands to know “on what grounds,” Rains exclaims: “I’m shocked, shocked, to find that gambling is going on in here!” He then cordially thanks the staff member who hands him his night’s winnings. In a similar show of manufactured outrage, executives at the National Alliance to End Homelessness filed a lawsuit September 11 in Rhode Read More ›

New “Housing First” is an utter failure and must be scrapped. The latest data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development proves it. Even the drug addicts say this not an affordable housing issue. In fact some people are now afraid to go into low barrier “permanent support housing” situations because they know drug use and overdose deaths are rampant behind closed doors. They don’t want to die alone in these inhumane conditions. “Housing First” and “harm reduction” policies are fueling this crisis. When will King County and Seattle leaders start course correcting? Liberal Media is Turning This cartoon in the Seattle Times sums up “Housing First” and how it’s been fueling the crisis on the streets. Even Read More ›

The federal government is hoping you, the public, won’t notice that homelessness in America reached an all-time high last year. That was the impression given by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) when it quietly released the 2024 annual homelessness report on the Friday between Christmas, Hannukah, and New Year’s. Nationwide, 771,480 people were experiencing homelessness in 2024, an 18 percent increase from the year before and the highest number on record. The HUD administration attributes this record-setting number to a lack of affordable housing, systemic racism, and rising inflation. Impossible to hide, the report also highlights the strain caused by a surge in migrants and asylum seekers: “new arrivals” made up 13,600 of Chicago’s sheltered population and Read More ›

Washington, D.C. — Homelessness reached the highest number on record nationwide in 2024 according to a report the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released on December 27 in a likely attempt to avoid public attention. Dr. Robert Marbut, Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and former Federal Homelessness Czar, says, “HUD spent over 3.16 billion on homelessness in 2024 and continues to attribute rising homelessness to unavailable housing and systemic racism, while ignoring the fentanyl epidemic and untreated mental illness.” According to the national Point-In-Time count report, homelessness increased by 18.1% since 2023 to the highest number on record. Of the 771,840 people experiencing homelessness, 274,224 are unsheltered. The data reveals a 32.9% increase in people experiencing homelessness from 2020 Read More ›