Housing advocates warn HUD policy changes could cut millions from Montgomery County homelessness funding

Mike Hayes, director of the Montco 30% project and a Pottstown resident, told commissioners that recent federal changes at HUD pose an immediate risk to local homelessness programs funded through Continuum of Care grants.

"Last month, HUD enacted these changes with no public notice, no explanation, and no acknowledgment that they contradict the agency's own long standing Housing First policies," Hayes said, and he warned the changes "could slash permanent housing funding, capping funding for permanent housing at just 30%" where it had been roughly 90%. He told commissioners the loss to Montgomery County could be "potentially 3,700,000.0 in rapid rehousing, transitional, and permanent supportive housing, impacting up to a 172 households."

Hayes urged the county to consider legal challenges and to plan for service disruptions, saying the changes "will require providers to fundamentally redesign programs within an impossible timeline, risking service interruptions and evictions." He noted county investments already underway, including a 24/7 emergency behavioral health center in King of Prussia and supportive housing projects in Pottstown, Lansdale and Norristown.

Why this matters: Continuum of Care funding supports rental assistance, permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing that local nonprofits rely on to prevent and end homelessness. A substantial federal funding change could force program redesigns, reduce placements and increase pressure on county emergency services.

The transcript records advocacy and estimated funding impacts but does not record any immediate county decision or formal response to the proposed legal or programmatic steps.