20 states sue Donald Trump administration over cuts to homeless funding

• ‘Targeting most vulnerable Americans’

Among those conditions is that local authorities recognize only two genders. According to the lawsuit, the changes violate federal law and are illegally targeted at LGBTQ people and other communities that are not aligned with the Trump administration’s policy priorities.

“This Administration continues to punch down by targeting the most vulnerable Americans, and unfortunately, this most recent attack on homeless individuals is consistent with their modus operandi,” Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said in a statement.

“If allowed, these cuts and conditions would further exacerbate already dire conditions for homeless Rhode Islanders.”

James, a Democrat, said in a statement that communities across the country depend on the program to provide housing and other resources to their most vulnerable members.

“These funds help keep tens of thousands of people from sleeping on the streets every night,” James said.

The states that joined New York in the lawsuit include California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Kentucky.

Continuum of Care program

Congress created the Continuum of Care program in 1987 to provide resources for states, local governments and nonprofits to deliver support services to homeless people, with a focus on veterans, families, and people with disabilities.

The program has long been based on the “housing first” approach to combating homelessness, which prioritizes placing people into permanent housing without preconditions such as sobriety and employment.

Along with housing, the grants fund childcare, job training, mental health counseling and transportation services. The Trump administration has criticized the housing-first approach, and HUD this month said it was overhauling the grant program to focus on transitional housing initiatives with work requirements and other conditions.

HUD has also barred grant recipients from using the funding for activities that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, elective abortions, or “gender ideology,” or interfere with the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda. Trump has also urged states and cities to clear out homeless encampments and direct people to substance abuse and mental health treatment facilities.

The changes could cause more than 170,000 people to lose their housing, according to the states’ lawsuit.

The states claim the Trump administration cannot impose its own conditions on funds that Congress said should be distributed based solely on need.