The U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) today in National Alliance to End Homelessness v. Turner, et al, halting the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful restrictions on federal housing funding through the “Continuum of Care (CoC) Builds” program. The order ensures that providers and communities will not be barred from competing for lifesaving housing resources simply because they are located in jurisdictions that don’t adopt the administration’s ideological agenda, while the litigation continues. The National Alliance to End Homelessness and Women’s Development Corporation are represented by Democracy Forward, National Homelessness Law Center, Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island, and ACLU of Rhode Island.
For decades, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s homelessness programs have supported states, localities, and service providers in building permanent supportive housing to reduce homelessness. The Trump-Vance administration’s sudden addition of extreme, new grant criteria sought to deny funding to entire communities based on political considerations, including whether jurisdictions support sanctuary protections, harm reduction practices, or inclusive policies for transgender people.
The coalition of plaintiffs and counsel in this case issued the following joint statement:
“We welcome the court’s decision to stop a rushed, lawless attempt to make essential funding contingent on a community’s compliance with harmful and unlawful restrictions the Trump-Vance administration is trying to impose. This order ensures that service providers can focus on what matters most: providing safe, stable housing and support to people in crisis. We will continue to fight to make sure housing resources remain available to all communities, free from political interference.”
More information about the case be found here. Case documents can be found here.