HUD’s homelessness reforms put human lives ahead of housing bureaucracy, tell me about this news in (https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/huds-homelessness-reforms-put-human-lives-ahead-housing-bureaucracy)

The article is an opinion piece written by Michele Steeb, a visiting fellow with the Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness Initiative and former CEO of a program for homeless women and children.

The piece discusses a decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals that clears the way for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the Trump administration to overhaul the federal government’s approach to homelessness.

Here are the key points from the article:

1. Shift Away from “Housing First”: The author argues that the “Housing First” framework, implemented during the Obama administration in 2013which focused on placing individuals directly into permanent housing without requiring sobriety, treatment, or preconditionshas failed. Despite large increases in federal spending and taxpayer-funded beds, chronic homelessness rose significantly rather than disappearing as promised.

2. Refocusing on Recovery and Self-Sufficiency: Under the approved reforms, HUD will shift funding priorities toward programs that measure success based on personal recovery, mental health and addiction treatment, employment, and long-term self-sufficiency rather than solely on housing placement and system expansion.

3. Criticism of Past Statistical Accounting: The article argues that past policies masked the true scale of the problem through definition changes and reporting quirks:

   • People moved into rapid rehousing or government-funded permanent housing were removed from official Point-in-Time homeless counts, even though they still relied on homelessness resources.

   • Counting methods excluded many families and children (such as those couch-surfing or staying in self-funded motels) who are counted as homeless under Department of Education standards but excluded from HUD’s narrower metrics.

4. Overall Message: The author concludes that homelessness policy must end reliance on bureaucratic metrics and statistical reporting changes, arguing instead that real progress should be defined by helping individuals recover their lives, health, and independence.