Thousands of Ohioans could face homelessness because of federal policy change
More than 10,000 Ohioans could return to homelessness due to a federal funding policy change for local homeless assistance programs, advocates warn.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a new Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Continuum of Care program on Nov. 13 that would limit funding for programs for certain permanent housing programs to 30% of a community’s total Continuum of Care grant, instead of the current 87%.
HUD’s Continuum of Care Program is the largest federal grant funding source for homelessness services and housing.
It helps fund permanent supportive housing, repaid rehousing, and transitional housing, among other things.
“What’s the most critical part of this shift is that there are 10,000 people across the state of just Ohio that will potentially lose their housing because the supports will not be there any longer for them to remain in the place that they’ve called home,” said Amy Riegel, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio.
Nationally, 170,000 people are at risk of going back to homelessness because of this policy change.
“That is a lot of individuals at one time that none of our systems can absorb to be able to support them and the needs that they would then have,” Riegel said.
The application for funds has to be submitted to HUD by Jan. 14, 2026, and funds are likely to be announced in May 2026, Riegel said.
“On January 1, programs will start to be affected by these changes, and by May 1, almost every program receiving funding through the Continuum of Care process will be affected by the delays in funding and also then the shifts in the priorities of the program,” Riegel said.
HUD announced $178 million in Continuum of Care funding for Ohio back in January and this federal policy change could take $80 million away from Ohio programs that house people experiencing homelessness.
Ohio would be one of the most impacted states since it relies on federal funds for a majority of its permanent housing beds for people experiencing homelessness, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
“We were able to build great programs that are very effective and work well for people, but in this case we will be at greater risk than other states because of that,” Riegel said.
“Because we’re doing well and because we meet the objectives of the program, we’ll actually lose out in this process.”
Louisiana was the only state that has more permanent housing beds funded by the Continuum of Care program with 75%.
Twenty states sued the Trump administration over these cuts to federal funding for local homeless assistance programs, but Ohio was not one of them.
Over the summer, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to get people experiencing homelessness off the streets by committing them to mental health institutions or drug treatment centers without their consent.
But Riegel said this HUD announcement runs counter to Trump’s executive order.
“There is a mismatch in what the administration is saying and then the actual policy that they put forward that’s very confusing and makes it very difficult for communities to understand how to actually respond to the needs that they have at home,” she said.
The executive order goes against Housing First, a homeless assistance approach that was first adopted federally during the George W. Bush Administration, which prioritizes housing without any prerequisites, such as sobriety or participation in treatment.
“Getting people access directly from streets into housing is what solves the housing crisis,” said Christopher Knestrick, executive director for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.
“If we think about homelessness, the solution to homelessness is housing. We need to continue to give people access to housing and then provide wraparound services to them.”
Winter is a volatile time for those experiencing unsheltered homelessness, Riegel said.
“These conditions are extreme, and it is very difficult for even a person who is healthy and has proper clothing and all of those items to spend any length of time outdoors,” she said.
“It is also a time where people may seek shelter that is unstable or unfit for human habitability, and that also creates dangers for those individuals.”
Homelessness in the U.S. increased 18% last year with 771,480 people experiencing homelessness, according to HUD.
There were 11,759 people experiencing homelessness in Ohio last year— about a 3% increase, according to the HUD.
Nearly 80% of those experiencing homelessness in Ohio were sheltered while the rest were unsheltered.
There were 2,556 people experiencing homelessness in Franklin County during January’s Point-in-Time Count — a 7.4% increase from last year, according to the Community Shelter Board.
Ohioans need to be making at least $22.51 an hour working a full-time job to be able to afford a “modest” two-bedroom apartment, according to COHHIO and the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2025 Out of Reach report.
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