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Up to 150 face risk of homelessness in southeast Ohio after the federal government announces cuts to funding for permanent housing
By: Amanda Pirani
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB/Report for America) — Over a hundred households in the region could be at risk of homelessness after the Department of Housing and Development announced changes last month to one of its grant programs.
The program provides funding for community nonprofits addressing homelessness. Until now, most of those grants have funded long-term housing. But last month, HUD released new grant guidelines mandating that only 30% of funding go to permanent housing.
The majority of funds from the Continuum of Care program will instead be directed to transitional housing and supportive services “promoting self-sufficiency,” according to a press release announcing the change.
Amy Riegel, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, said agencies around the state are now left uncertain if they can continue funding housing for nearly 10,000 individuals.
Nationally, the policy change is estimated to put as many as 170,000 people at risk of homelessness.
“Normally … the majority of what they’re applying for is to renew funding for housing units that currently exist,” she said.
Grant applications are expected to open in the coming weeks, and will close Jan. 14, giving agencies little time to craft grant proposals under the change. Reigel said that process typically takes agencies four to eight months.
In response to the policy change, state governments, city governments and nonprofits have joined a multiparty lawsuit against HUD.
The announcement comes after President Trump released an executive order in July that called for HUD to “increase accountability” in its funding for housing assistance and encouraged states to shift homeless individuals into long-term, institutional settings.
The order also signals a shift away from the housing-first model, a research-backed approach to addressing homelessness previously favored by HUD.
Policy change leaves nonprofits scrambling
The funding change was announced in HUD’s recently released notice of funding opportunity (NOFO).
That’s the way the federal government announces the grant funding available for a program and the parameters grant applicants should aim to meet. But this year’s notice, and its changes, arrived unexpectedly.
“Somebody might have just signed a lease last month for a year before we knew these changes were coming into place,” said Rose Frech, director of external affairs at Integrated Services. “Now we’re in a position where we don’t know if we can guarantee them rental assistance for the entirety of their lease.”
In southeast Ohio, Integrated Services is one of the largest agencies providing housing supported by Continuum of Care funds. It provides behavioral health care and also supports clients with other needs such as housing.
Frech said that while she doesn’t want people to panic, there is still a lot of uncertainty. Integrated Services serves 150 households with Continuum of Care funds that could no longer be available.
“Our number one priority right now is doing everything we can to make sure that we are working with other community partners, with other funders, with landlords, to make sure those folks are not displaced and then aren’t moving back into the streets,” she said.
Integrated Services has paused administering new leases under the programs at risk of losing funding. Frech said she won’t know what programs have been funded until grants are awarded in May.
Grant application unexpected for housing nonprofits
In 2024, Congress authorized HUD to fund Continuum of Care grants on a two-year cycle. When agencies were awarded those grants, Riegel said most believed they were receiving two years of funding and would not have to reapply in 2025.
“The current administration interprets that language a little differently,” she said. “They say that basically that funding cycle allowed them to fund it for two years, but that they didn’t have to, so they made the choice to re-release the NOFO and to make everyone submit the application again.”
The notice also changes how projects are ranked and no longer prioritizes renewal funding. In the past, nearly 90% of projects, mostly permanent housing, fell under what’s known as the Tier 1 category.
Heather Hall, who directs Integrated Services’ housing program, said Tier 1 projects were essentially considered safe because they were prioritized each grant cycle. The same guarantee isn’t available for those ranked Tier 2.
“What happens in Tier 2 is, if there’s not enough funding available, the projects that are on the lower end of Tier 2 can be at risk to not receive funding,” she said.
Now, with a 30% cap in place for Tier 1 projects, she worries that will create challenges with providing long-term, stable housing.
“For consistency, for continuity … you have to have stable programs,” Hall said. “When you get an award for a 12-month cycle, unless you lease everybody on day one, you can’t support a 12-month lease.”
Grant announcement includes new criteria, shifts away from permanent housing
Most of the housing provided under Continuum of Care grants, according to Frech, is known as permanent supportive housing. That’s housing assistance without a set expiration date, which includes access to wraparound services such as treatment and case management.
It includes new criteria for permanent housing projects, such prioritizing housing for the elderly, and those with disabilities or impairments, which will no longer include someone with a substance use disorder.
The grant announcement also stated it will be critical of programs that practice harm reduction or have used “a definition of sex as other than binary in humans.”
“This is reinventing the wheel overnight,” Hall said. “Providers across the country are expected to adapt and present a proposal within a very short window with very little opportunity to really thoughtfully consider everything that’s being presented to them.”
Frech said the agency will be working quickly to adapt its programs to the new grant priorities announced by HUD.
“We are going to do whatever we can to help to preserve and protect whatever permanent housing we can,” Frech said. “And then see what else we can do within these new program requirements to try to keep … these resources in southeast Ohio, even if the programming looks a little bit different.”
Federal policy no longer supports housing-first model
An executive order released by the president in July required HUD to end support for programs following a housing-first model. Frech said the approach has been an industry standard and was previously supported by HUD.
“It is basically this philosophy that says if somebody is unhoused … giving them housing first is what is critically most important for them to become stable and then be in a position to potentially access supportive services,” she said.
Frech said the programs that will now be prioritized, like transitional housing, aren’t necessarily bad — but they won’t be able to help everyone served by permanent housing right now.
“It takes awhile for people who are … maybe struggling with a health condition or serious mental illness that maybe they haven’t been getting treatment for,” she said. “It’s really designed to bring those folks in and give them the time they need to heal.”
She added that some of those served by Integrated Services, like those with physical disabilities, may have longer-term needs transitional housing can’t address.
Kelly Madewell is executive director of My Sister’s Place, an organization supporting survivors of domestic violence in Athens. She said her organization and others are already unable to meet the area’s needs.
“We turn a lot of people away, over 200 people a year, because we’re full,” she said.
Madewell said the area lacks affordable housing, and renters face additional challenges in the city of Athens due to competition with students. According to the Athens County Foundation, the area sees a shortage of 4,875 housing units in reach of renters with the lowest household incomes.
Madewell worries the need will only be greater as permanent housing options are cut.
“We’re full … not because our shelter is not big enough, but because there are not enough … affordable options for folks who are trying to move out,” she said. “It’s just very limited already in terms of options for people needing permanent affordable housing, and this is going to make it much, much more difficult.”
Amanda Pirani is WOUB’s Report for America Journalist covering Economic Livelihood. For more information about Report for America, you can click here.