Lancaster County officials, advocates still uncertain after Trump’s reversal on homelessness funding

• By Tom Lisi / LNP | LancasterOnline

Local housing officials and advocates for homelessness services this week are assessing a policy reversal from the Trump administration that removed, at least for the time being, the threat of cuts to long-term housing programs, including ones that cater to people with disabilities.

Advocates who called on Lancaster County commissioners last week to set aside $1.5 million in the 2026 county budget for housing-focused programs said Wednesday they still supported that idea despite the Trump’s administration’s pause on changing how it funds and prioritizes homelessness services.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development nixed sweeping changes Monday to a federal program that targets homelessness. The overhaul of the program, called Continuum of Care, was introduced just a month ago.

“The Department still intends to exercise this discretion and make changes,” HUD’s statement says.

Rev. Willam Cluley, president of the Rotary Club of Lancaster Sunrise, which has fundraised for Lancaster organizations that operate homelessness services, said he thinks the policy reversal just means the Trump administration is retooling to find another way to make major changes.

“I think bureaucratically they’re trying to manipulate things to continue to accomplish things they want in terms of changing the (homelessness services) requirements,” Cluley said.

Perry Hazeltine, a psychologist and former outreach worker for the Lancaster County Food Hub, said the most recent change is likely a temporary one and the housing programs for people with disabilities were still in danger of getting cut. “The ax is going to fall a little later, but we still know it’s going to fall,” he said.

Among the now-withdrawn changes was a move away from programs that sought to keep people housed permanently: either homes for people with disabilities or temporary rental assistance for families or individuals in danger of becoming homeless. Instead, the rescinded HUD requirements favored temporary “transitional housing.”

The advocacy group National Alliance to End Homelessness estimated that 70,000 people nationwide could lose their homes as a result of the changes, including 155 in Lancaster County.

The Trump administration submitted a copy of the announcement that it was withdrawing its changes to Continuum of Care in federal court Monday morning. A group of states and Washington, D.C. sued the Trump administration over its surprise overhaul of the HUD program in November.

A federal judge in Rhode Island hearing the case said in court Monday that HUD’s sudden reversal an hour before their court hearing “feels like intentional chaos,” according to Reuters.

“We are grateful that (HUD) has paused the recent changes to its Continuum of Care grant program announced Monday,” Jessica Deer, a spokeswoman for the Lancaster County Housing and Redevelopment Authorities, said in an email Wednesday.

According to a written statement from Deb Jones, director of the Lancaster County Homelessness Coalition, local officials were focused on adapting to whatever changes that come from HUD.

“We trust that a revised (plan for Continuum of Care funding) will more clearly recognize the essential role of permanent housing solutions,” Jones said in the statement provided by Deer.

County funding

Local advocates, including Hazeltine, last week responded to a call to action from the progressive group Lancaster Stands Up to ask the county commissioners to allocate $1.5 million in reserve funds to protect existing permanent housing programs from cuts.

Democratic Commissioner Alice Yoder said Wednesday she still supports the idea despite HUD’s policy reversal this week.

“This does not make us feel any more certain that we’re going to have the federal funding,” Yoder said of the change.

GOP Commissioner Ray D’Agostino, a former affordable housing nonprofit leader, said at a commissioners meeting last week that it was too early for the county to dedicate funds to the permanent housing that could lose funding.

“The application awarding doesn’t look like it’s going to happen until May, which means now until May, things can change,” he said at the commissioners meeting last week.

D’Agostino did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday regarding the Trump administration’s reversal.

The uncertainty around the federal funding is taking a toll on county employees who manage social services that often involve people in need of housing, Hazeltine said. “There is a cost to have this all hanging over our heads,” he said.

The Lancaster Stands Up group plans to organize people to attend a public hearing on Dec. 16 where the commissioners will answer questions about their proposed 2026 county budget. The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Lancaster County Government Center.