Delaware News

AG Jennings sues over HUD policy that would force more people into homelessness

Department of Justice | Department of Justice Office of Impact Litigation | Department of Justice Press Releases | Newsroom | Date Posted: Friday, December 5, 2025


Navy blue background featuring the Delaware state seal in the center
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is illegally upending supports for tens of thousands of Americans experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity with abrupt changes that will limit access to long-term housing and other services, according to a lawsuit filed last week by Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and a coalition of 20 other plaintiffs.
HUD is drastically changing its Continuum of Care grant program in violation of congressional intent by dramatically reducing the amount of grant funds that can be spent on permanent housing and project renewals and putting new unlawful conditions on access to the funding. These requirements include that providers only recognize two genders, mandate residents accept services as a precondition to obtain housing, and punish providers in localities that do not enforce strict anti-homeless laws, all barriers that are in contrast to HUD’s previous guidance and Congress’ approval.
“That the federal government would choose to willfully worsen homelessness – in the midst of an affordability and housing crisis that is hammering every community in America – is cruel,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. “This grant program is a life-saving measure, and we’ll go to the mat to protect it.”
“Delawareans deserve access to affordable, reliable housing, regardless of their income or their background,” Governor Meyer said. “While the Trump Administration cuts funding, creates barriers, and makes it harder to provide housing, I applaud Attorney General Kathy Jennings for taking a stand to protect Delaware’s families and reduce homelessness across our state. Her work builds on actions the Delaware State Housing Authority and the Delaware Interagency Collaborative to End Homelessness are taking to promote housing access in all three counties.”
DSHA Director Matthew Heckles said, “The proposed plan from HUD is a punch in the gut, given the work that we’re doing to help Delawareans – many of whom are children – fight homelessness. These changes would be catastrophic to anyone seeking housing stability in the First State, and force our Continuum of Care to decide — based on new arbitrary and capricious rules — that some individuals’ housing, and, indeed, their lives, matter more than others. I’m proud to stand with Governor Meyer and Attorney General Jennings to protect our most vulnerable residents.”
Previous changes to the grant conditions have been incremental to not disrupt providers’ ability to provide housing and to budget for their programs well in advance. These wholesale changes will create administrative chaos and likely result in thousands losing housing.
For decades, HUD has helped local and regional coalitions plan and coordinate housing and services for people experiencing homelessness through Continuum of Care grants, which were created by Congress. Providers pair these grants with other funding sources and rely on the predictability and continuity of the grants to support the unhoused.
HUD has a longstanding policy of encouraging what is known as a “Housing First” model that provides stable housing to individuals without preconditions like sobriety or a minimum personal income. These policies are proven to improve housing stability and public health while reducing the costs of homelessness to individuals and their communities.
In Delaware, the consequences of HUD’s proposed changes would be catastrophic, resulting in an $8 million loss — more than a 70% reduction — that the State alone cannot fill. That reduction would render the State unable to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities and would unacceptably require Delaware’s housing programs to value some Delawareans’ lives more than others.
Previously, HUD has directed approximately 90% of Continuum of Care funding to support permanent housing, but the agency’s new rule – which Congress never authorized – would cut that by two-thirds for grants starting in 2026. Similarly, HUD has long allowed grantees to protect around 90% of funding year to year – essentially guaranteeing renewal of projects to ensure that individuals and families living in those projects maintain stable housing. But HUD has slashed this figure, too, to only 30%. These new policies virtually guarantee that tens of thousands of formerly homeless people in permanent housing nationwide will eventually be evicted through no fault of their own when the funds aren’t renewed.
Additionally, HUD is planning to withhold funds to applicants that acknowledge the existence of trans and gender-diverse people, de-prioritize services to people with mental health issues or substance-use disorder, and discriminating against localities whose approach to homelessness differs from the administration’s.
The complaint alleges HUD violated its own regulations by not engaging in rulemaking before issuing the changes and violated the law by not receiving congressional authorization for these new conditions, many of which are directly contrary to congressionally passed statutes and HUD’s own regulations. The plaintiffs also argue that HUD’s actions are arbitrary and capricious several times over, as HUD has made no effort whatsoever to explain the abandonment of their own longstanding policies or consider the obvious consequences of tens of thousands of vulnerable people being suddenly evicted. The agency explicitly encouraged grantees to implement Housing First policies and to focus on the particular needs of LGBTQ+ individuals as recently as last year.
Delaware joins this complaint along with the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
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AG Jennings sues over HUD policy that would force more people into homelessness

Department of Justice | Department of Justice Office of Impact Litigation | Department of Justice Press Releases | Newsroom | Date Posted: Friday, December 5, 2025


Navy blue background featuring the Delaware state seal in the center
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is illegally upending supports for tens of thousands of Americans experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity with abrupt changes that will limit access to long-term housing and other services, according to a lawsuit filed last week by Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and a coalition of 20 other plaintiffs.
HUD is drastically changing its Continuum of Care grant program in violation of congressional intent by dramatically reducing the amount of grant funds that can be spent on permanent housing and project renewals and putting new unlawful conditions on access to the funding. These requirements include that providers only recognize two genders, mandate residents accept services as a precondition to obtain housing, and punish providers in localities that do not enforce strict anti-homeless laws, all barriers that are in contrast to HUD’s previous guidance and Congress’ approval.
“That the federal government would choose to willfully worsen homelessness – in the midst of an affordability and housing crisis that is hammering every community in America – is cruel,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. “This grant program is a life-saving measure, and we’ll go to the mat to protect it.”
“Delawareans deserve access to affordable, reliable housing, regardless of their income or their background,” Governor Meyer said. “While the Trump Administration cuts funding, creates barriers, and makes it harder to provide housing, I applaud Attorney General Kathy Jennings for taking a stand to protect Delaware’s families and reduce homelessness across our state. Her work builds on actions the Delaware State Housing Authority and the Delaware Interagency Collaborative to End Homelessness are taking to promote housing access in all three counties.”
DSHA Director Matthew Heckles said, “The proposed plan from HUD is a punch in the gut, given the work that we’re doing to help Delawareans – many of whom are children – fight homelessness. These changes would be catastrophic to anyone seeking housing stability in the First State, and force our Continuum of Care to decide — based on new arbitrary and capricious rules — that some individuals’ housing, and, indeed, their lives, matter more than others. I’m proud to stand with Governor Meyer and Attorney General Jennings to protect our most vulnerable residents.”
Previous changes to the grant conditions have been incremental to not disrupt providers’ ability to provide housing and to budget for their programs well in advance. These wholesale changes will create administrative chaos and likely result in thousands losing housing.
For decades, HUD has helped local and regional coalitions plan and coordinate housing and services for people experiencing homelessness through Continuum of Care grants, which were created by Congress. Providers pair these grants with other funding sources and rely on the predictability and continuity of the grants to support the unhoused.
HUD has a longstanding policy of encouraging what is known as a “Housing First” model that provides stable housing to individuals without preconditions like sobriety or a minimum personal income. These policies are proven to improve housing stability and public health while reducing the costs of homelessness to individuals and their communities.
In Delaware, the consequences of HUD’s proposed changes would be catastrophic, resulting in an $8 million loss — more than a 70% reduction — that the State alone cannot fill. That reduction would render the State unable to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities and would unacceptably require Delaware’s housing programs to value some Delawareans’ lives more than others.
Previously, HUD has directed approximately 90% of Continuum of Care funding to support permanent housing, but the agency’s new rule – which Congress never authorized – would cut that by two-thirds for grants starting in 2026. Similarly, HUD has long allowed grantees to protect around 90% of funding year to year – essentially guaranteeing renewal of projects to ensure that individuals and families living in those projects maintain stable housing. But HUD has slashed this figure, too, to only 30%. These new policies virtually guarantee that tens of thousands of formerly homeless people in permanent housing nationwide will eventually be evicted through no fault of their own when the funds aren’t renewed.
Additionally, HUD is planning to withhold funds to applicants that acknowledge the existence of trans and gender-diverse people, de-prioritize services to people with mental health issues or substance-use disorder, and discriminating against localities whose approach to homelessness differs from the administration’s.
The complaint alleges HUD violated its own regulations by not engaging in rulemaking before issuing the changes and violated the law by not receiving congressional authorization for these new conditions, many of which are directly contrary to congressionally passed statutes and HUD’s own regulations. The plaintiffs also argue that HUD’s actions are arbitrary and capricious several times over, as HUD has made no effort whatsoever to explain the abandonment of their own longstanding policies or consider the obvious consequences of tens of thousands of vulnerable people being suddenly evicted. The agency explicitly encouraged grantees to implement Housing First policies and to focus on the particular needs of LGBTQ+ individuals as recently as last year.
Delaware joins this complaint along with the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
image_printPrint

Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.