NextFin news, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner announced on Thursday in Washington, D.C., a “paradigm shift” in the Trump administration’s approach to addressing homelessness. The new strategy involves imposing limits on public housing benefits and transferring the responsibility for housing support from the federal government to nonprofit and faith-based organizations.
Turner emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships and making it easier to collaborate with faith-based entities. He described the approach as holistic, arguing that the federal government alone cannot solve homelessness. “The real answer is in the private sector. It's in these faith-based entities and institutions,” Turner said in an interview with Scripps News.
The administration is moving away from the “housing first” policy, which prioritizes immediate housing access for homeless individuals, and instead focuses on comprehensive support services aimed at healing and transformation. Turner stated, “Different plays are being called, different mindset. Not only get people off the streets, but help people to get healed, help people to be transformed, and then really use it as a trampoline for people to live lives of self-sustainability.”
Since the federal takeover of homelessness operations in Washington, D.C., 49 homeless encampments have been cleared, according to a White House official. The administration claims that affected individuals are offered mental health and addiction support services, though details on specific programs and relocation sites have not been disclosed.
Turner asserted that nonprofit and faith-based groups have sufficient infrastructure and funding to take on a greater role in homelessness support. “We have enough infrastructure. We have more than enough funding. We just had the wrong mindset prior to this administration coming in,” he said.
However, homelessness advocates and housing organizations strongly disagree. Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center called Turner’s comments “downright insulting,” stating that providers and faith-based groups are already stretched thin. Rabinowitz warned that the administration’s policies would increase poverty and homelessness due to insufficient funding, social workers, and housing availability.
Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order encouraging civil commitments for homeless individuals with mental illness and directing HUD to increase accountability in homelessness assistance grants while ending “housing first” policies.
The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal includes a two-year cap on rental assistance for able-bodied adults and aims to convert federal rental assistance programs into state-based formula grants. Policy researchers warn these changes could lead to over three million Americans facing eviction or homelessness, with children comprising more than half of those affected.
Turner defended the proposed time limits and work requirements for housing assistance recipients, stating that work restores dignity and honor. He said, “When you set time limits for people that are receiving HUD funding, what you're saying is, 'hey, you have two years... to be gainfully employed.'” He added that the administration is still defining the specifics of these work requirements.
Rabinowitz countered that most housing support recipients are already working and that the proposed requirements would disproportionately affect those struggling with bureaucratic hurdles rather than employment status. He criticized the administration’s policies as harmful to vulnerable populations.
This shift in homelessness policy marks a significant change in federal strategy, with ongoing debate between government officials and homelessness advocates regarding its potential impact.
Source: Scripps News, August 28, 2025.
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