Policies & Analysis

The Trump-Vance administration aims to punish people who are unhoused and people struggling with mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders through the criminalization of evidence-based harm reduction programs. It calls for the Attorney General, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to work with state and local governments to commit people who are living on the streets against their will. It also ends funding for "housing first" programs that improve the wellbeing of people struggling with substance abuse disorders. The Executive Order ignores evidence-based research on improving outcomes for people experiencing homelessness and promotes short-term actions rather than addressing the root causes of homelessness.