No, HUD will not evict 170,000 disabled homeless people

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is revising its framework for funding homelessness programs in a move that critics claim will evict 170,000 disabled people from permanent supportive housing. That claim is misleading on two fronts: First, it is unlikely that the changes will lead to evictions, and second, HUD’s category of “disabled” is complex and not colloquial in its definition.

The changes that HUD is making to its hallmark homelessness program do not cut funding for housing; rather, the changes financially incentivize service providers to change the components of their existing housing programs. This has happened before.