The current Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 features a Fiscal Yr (FY) 2026 spending invoice for the Division of Housing and City Growth (HUD) with measures defending everlasting supportive housing (PSH) and different housing and homelessness funding. This advocacy win displays contributions from growing older and incapacity advocates, who helped urge lawmakers to save lots of PSH and different packages for older adults.
Over 170,000 individuals in PSH – the overwhelming majority of whom are older adults and other people with disabilities – have been vulnerable to dropping their houses this yr beneath HUD’s plans to intestine funding for PSH and different everlasting housing in its Continuum of Care (CoC) homeless help program. CoC funding gives round $3.7 billion yearly for communities’ homeless response programs nationwide.
Why is PSH necessary for older adults?
PSH primarily serves individuals with disabilities who have been previously chronically homeless and have probably the most complicated wants. For a lot of older adults who’re unhoused, entry to PSH gives a roof over their heads and companies, akin to behavioral well being care, to stabilize their well being and lives. As a confirmed resolution for homelessness, PSH has loved bipartisan help for many years.
Older adults are the fastest-growing group amongst individuals experiencing homelessness and an more and more bigger share of individuals in PSH. In 2022, seniors age 55 and over comprised 40% of PSH residents.
How was HUD attempting to undermine PSH and the CoC program?
HUD has sought to upend the CoC program’s funding insurance policies and priorities. At the moment, round 87% of CoC funding helps PSH and different everlasting housing. In late 2025, nonetheless, HUD launched a CoC Discover of Funding Alternative (NOFO) that proposed slashing that quantity to 30% to shift funds to momentary and fewer efficient types of help, akin to transitional housing. These unprecedented cuts would have taken away housing from PSH residents, who would have been compelled again into homelessness and attempting to outlive on the streets.
HUD’s new CoC funding standards additionally included different dangerous modifications. For instance, HUD aimed to prioritize awarding funds to states that criminalize homelessness and use measures akin to involuntary dedication towards people who find themselves unhoused.
Two lawsuits difficult HUD’s FY25 CoC NOFO stay ongoing, with the NOFO briefly blocked because of a courtroom order.
How Does the FY26 HUD Spending Invoice Help PSH and Older Adults at Danger of or Experiencing Homelessness?
The FY26 HUD spending invoice consists of provisions to cut back disruptions in funding for PSH and different types of housing and homeless help.
CoC Funding
The invoice establishes a timeline for HUD to robotically renew present CoC grants to advertise continuity in funding, with out the draconian cuts proposed by HUD. HUD should instantly renew CoC grants expiring in quarter one (January by way of March) of 2026 for a 12-month interval.
All year long, HUD should proceed to resume expiring CoC grants for one more 12-month interval if the company has not already issued new funding awards. Though some uncertainty nonetheless exists given the pending CoC litigation, the invoice’s renewal provisions doubtless defend PSH funding for this yr.
The invoice additionally gives extra stability for CoC funding that might be launched subsequent yr. Below a future FY26 CoC NOFO, HUD should renew funding for every group’s CoC (which then distributes funding to particular person CoC grantees, together with PSH initiatives) at a minimal of 60% of present funding ranges. (Below the FY25 NOFO, HUD had tried to drastically decrease every group’s yearly protected renewal funding from 90% to 30% of present ranges.) Moreover, to stop funding delays that would destabilize CoC initiatives, HUD should well timed situation any new FY26 CoC NOFO by June and make awards by December 2026.
Funding to Assist Households with Emergency Housing Vouchers
Different provisions within the invoice are designed to assist the just about 50,000 households who’re presently utilizing Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs), that are set to run out this yr. EHVs have been created throughout the COVID pandemic to help individuals vulnerable to or experiencing homelessness. Many EHV recipients are older adults and other people with disabilities, who use these vouchers to bridge the hole between their incomes and rents.
Though the invoice doesn’t prolong funding for EHVs, the invoice consists of new flexibilities for Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to make use of Tenant Safety Vouchers (TPVs) to assist EHV households transition to different rental help packages. Congress additionally elevated funding for the TPV program by $264 million, for a complete of $600 million, to account for the wants of EHV households.
Different HUD Funding
Additional, Congress offered funding will increase for different key federal rental help packages, akin to Housing Selection (“Part 8”) Vouchers and the Part 202 senior housing program. These investments will permit these packages to maintain tempo with inflation and keep present ranges of help for low-income households.
What Threats Nonetheless Exist?
Congressional intervention (and litigation by states and advocates) has to this point considerably restricted HUD’s plans to overtake the CoC program. Nevertheless, the Trump Administration has signaled that it’ll proceed pursuing its punitive method to homelessness.
As an alternative of investing in evidence-based PSH that gives long-term housing with companies, HUD will doubtless persist in attempting to shift assets in direction of short-term homeless help and long-term institutionalization. HUD might, for instance, renew its makes an attempt to severely restrict the share of CoC funding that communities can use for PSH. The outcome might be continuous threats to community-based housing for individuals vulnerable to or experiencing homelessness, a disproportionate variety of whom are older adults and other people with disabilities.
Growing older and incapacity advocates should keep engaged on points round housing and homelessness. Policymakers should perceive that HUD’s CoC and different packages assist older adults keep housed, and that federal rental help is a vital a part of the security internet for seniors. By uplifting the wants of older adults, advocates can efficiently push again towards dangerous proposals and defend important packages older adults depend on.
