National Homelessness Law Center

05/29/2026

BREAKING: Today’s release of the Point in Time (PIT) Homeless Census shows that, between 2024 and 2025, homelessness fell by 3.3% nationwide. This is good news: it means that over tens of thousands of people moved from homelessness into housing. This PIT count, conducted just weeks intro Trump’s second term, reflects the progress made when housing and services programs were still a priority. These results show clearly that solving homelessness is possible.

But, over the past year and a half since the 2025 PIT count was conducted, Trump has done everything in his power to backtrack on this progress. Instead of bringing down the cost of basic needs like housing, food, and healthcare, Trump and his right-wing billionaire backers are using their power to make homelessness worse.

Our statement: https://homelesslaw.org/statement05292025/

05/28/2026

BREAKING NEWS: The Louisiana Senate just passed one of the cruelest anti-homeless bills in the country. HB 211 would force unhoused people to choose between jail or involuntary treatment—and make them pay for it. If they can't pay, they would be forced to perform unpaid labor. The bill evokes Louisiana's long history—and present—of entrenched white supremacy.

Just a few hours earlier in the the hearing, Louisiana lawmakers voted to give themselves $1,000 to cover certain housing expenses in recognition that housing is too expensive. Let’s be clear: lawmakers think they should get support from the state if they can't afford housing, but their own homeless constituents should be arrested, jailed, and punished.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The safest communities are those with the resources—like affordable housing and healthcare—to help their residents thrive. Making it a crime to sleep outside only traps people further into the cycle of poverty. The only real solution to homelessness is making sure everyone has the housing and supportive services they need. We need housing, not handcuffs.

If you live in Louisiana, contact your House member to block this unfunded mandate from becoming law before it is too late: https://lafairhousing.salsalabs.org/homeslessnessnotacrime/index.html?utm_campaign=feed&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=later-linkinbio

05/27/2026

Last week’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on was a shameful spectacle, and a preview of the administration’s strategy to intimidate and attack any organization that dares to stand in its way. Every American should be concerned about this campaign of political retribution.

We are honored to have partnered with for decades to defend the rights of marginalized people—and we are honored to defend their right to continue their life-saving work.

05/26/2026

You'd think between building a gold ballroom and a UFC cage on the White House lawn, the Trump admin could find funds for affordable housing programs and supportive services. But no, this administration is more concerned with the interests of billionaires than the public good.

We won't solve homelessness until we tackle the root cause: housing is just too expensive.

05/26/2026

We won’t solve homelessness until we tackle the root cause: housing is just too expensive. Gold ballrooms and UFC cages don’t help.

Between building a golden ballroom and a UFC fighting cage on the White House lawn, you would think that the Trump administration could fund affordable housing programs and supportive services.

This administration is more concerned with selling contracts to Trump’s billionaire friends and creating obscene displays of wealth than actually addressing homelessness and the fact that millions of Americans are just one missed paycheck away from losing their home.

Photo: NBC News

05/25/2026

It's simple: when housing is too expensive, people can't afford it. Every time rents go up $100, homelessness increases by 9 percent. But instead of focusing on affordable housing, the Cicero Institute is influencing the US to adopt racist, backwards, and ineffective solutions to homelessness that focus on arresting and ticketing people for sleeping outside.

How US Policy Is Reframing Homelessness as a Choice

05/22/2026

What really happens when a homeless encampment gets evicted? Encampments often reappear days — sometimes hours — after they’re cleared. The evictions cost taxpayers more than $7 million each year.

What actually solves homelessness? Housing, not handcuffs.

Encampments often reappear days — sometimes hours — after they’re cleared. The sweeps cost taxpayers more than $7 million each year.

05/21/2026

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing that produced zero evidence that anyone was defrauded by . Instead, this shameful spectacle was designed to send a message to every civil rights organization in America: fall in line or you are next.

Make no mistake: SPLC is being targeted not because it is dangerous, but because it is effective. It stands in the way of efforts to roll back civil rights, suppress voting rights, intimidate immigrants, and normalize hate.

We are not fooled. We demand transparency, accountability, and an end to this agenda of political retribution.

We stand with SPLC, who has been a leader in the fight to protect civil rights for over 50 years.

05/20/2026

“People are going to die,” a frantic homeless services administrator warned in early December 2025. Temperatures were plunging. Snow was falling. And just two weeks earlier, HUD had released a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) that upended the United States government’s Housing First approach to homelessness.

We may have won the lawsuit to block these changes, but another NOFO is slated to be posted by HUD in June. Administrators expect funding requirements to mirror those included in the November NOFO, especially since HUD officials all but promised as much during a recent roundtable.

If HUD continues to violate federal statutes in its next NOFO—as it appears determined to do—litigation might follow, leading to further project delays. This could indefinitely prolong the crisis we’ve lived through over the past five months, weakening system capacity, increasing rates of homelessness, and overwhelming emergency services with unnecessary demand.
https://shelterforce.org/2026/04/20/what-huds-new-homeless-policy-looks-like-on-the-ground/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRllWVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeQiAA_jTV3TZTbVrhihUMxvLPtuQcrrK21_wH_7ml0-L6ac1A87DwZEg1dlY_aem_lvifKPpgBUQpMiLl4iYWxA

Homelessness services administrators share their views on how proposed cuts, rapid changes to funding guidelines, and delays are affecting their work.

05/19/2026

With more than half of all Americans struggling to pay rent and many of us just one missed paycheck away from losing our homes, the criminalization of homelessness affects us all.

You can stay informed about the criminalization of homelessness and learn about opportunities to take action in your community by subscribing to the Housing Not Handcuffs campaign at HousingNotHandcuffs.org/join.