A new federal policy could spur widespread evictions of formerly homeless people across Louisiana, disrupting yearslong efforts in New Orleans and elsewhere to close encampments and permanently house the state’s most vulnerable.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development this month issued new rules that will redirect much of the tens of millions of dollars in grants that have been used to permanently house formerly homeless people in Louisiana. The state’s share of those grants totaled $93 million last year, but next year parishes must shrink permanent housing programs in favor of temporary housing and other assistance, and they could see their overall awards decrease.
The move is a departure from a long-standing federal approach to homelessness, called “Housing First.” President Donald Trump’s HUD argues that the Housing First program has incentivized “never-ending government dependency.”…