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Housing First: The Proven Path from Right to Housing

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  Published in House and Home on Wednesday, December 3rd 2025 at 16:44 GMT by The Nation

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Housing First, History, and Trump: A Summary of the Nation’s Homeless‑Housing Narrative

The Nation’s article “Housing First, History, Trump” offers a concise yet comprehensive look at the evolution of the Housing First model, how it has reshaped America’s response to homelessness, and the ways in which the Trump administration’s policies intersected with—and in some respects undermined—the momentum of the movement. The piece weaves together archival policy history, empirical research, and recent political developments, drawing on a series of secondary sources that deepen our understanding of the stakes at play.

What Is Housing First?

At its core, Housing First is a philosophy that places permanent, stable housing at the center of the solution to homelessness. Rather than requiring residents to first satisfy prerequisites—such as sobriety, employment, or psychiatric treatment—Housing First offers immediate, permanent housing, and then provides supportive services as needed. The model emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Scandinavian countries, where social democratic policies allowed municipalities to experiment with rapid rehousing. In the United States, the approach gained traction in the 1990s as a response to the growing visibility of chronic homelessness, particularly in urban centers like New York and Los Angeles.

The article points out that Housing First is rooted in a broader shift from a “safety‑net” to a “social‑support” framework. By providing housing as a human right rather than a conditional benefit, the model counters the punitive narratives that have long governed many federal policies on homelessness. Empirical evidence cited in the article shows that Housing First can dramatically reduce health costs, improve quality of life, and increase housing stability, with some studies reporting up to a 70% reduction in emergency department visits for participants.

A Brief Policy Timeline

The article traces the policy lineage of Housing First back to the 1930s, when the federal government first introduced public housing as a way to address the housing crisis. After World War II, the Social Security Act and the Housing Act of 1949 laid the groundwork for a social‑security system that included housing assistance. Yet the early decades of the Cold War saw a shift toward market‑driven solutions, and many public‑housing projects were dismantled or relegated to the “low‑budget” category.

The 1980s brought the Reagan administration’s “public‑sector retrenchment” ethos, which dramatically cut funding for housing assistance. This retrenchment made the Housing First approach a political rallying point for advocates who argued that housing was a basic right, not a luxury. The 1994 “Housing First” bill, championed by a bipartisan coalition, codified the concept into federal policy, though it never became fully implemented.

The article references the 2009 Housing First policy introduced under the Obama administration, which sought to increase federal funding for rapid rehousing and support services. The Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program, the most significant federal housing subsidy program, was expanded in 2011 to include a “Housing First” component. By the mid‑2010s, a growing body of research had shown that the model worked, leading to an increasing number of cities adopting Housing First as the default strategy for addressing chronic homelessness.

Trump’s Homelessness Agenda

When the Nation piece dives into the Trump era, it frames the administration’s policy as a mix of rhetoric and partial action. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign promised to “fix the broken system” for homeless people by cutting the cost of shelters and “building more homes.” However, the policy proposals that emerged during his term were largely incremental, with a strong focus on public‑sector “shelters” and a relatively modest commitment to permanent housing.

The article highlights a few key policy moves:

1. HUD Funding Adjustments – In 2019, the Trump administration announced a 2% cut to the Housing Choice Voucher program, a move that would have directly impacted the funding stream that supports Housing First initiatives in many cities. Critics argued that the reduction would strain the already thin margins of non‑profits and local agencies that deliver rapid rehousing services.

2. The “Affordable Housing” Bill – A proposed piece of legislation aimed at reducing “red tape” for the construction of affordable units was pitched as a win for the private sector. The article notes that the bill did not include any specific provisions for permanent supportive housing, which is essential for Housing First success.

3. The Homelessness “Task Force” – Trump appointed a Homelessness Task Force chaired by former U.S. Attorney General William Barr. The task force’s recommendations, released in 2018, emphasized “public safety” and “decentralized solutions.” While the recommendations did not explicitly oppose Housing First, they left the policy open to local interpretation, effectively shifting the burden onto municipalities that already lacked the resources to implement the model.

The article uses data from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) to illustrate the effects of these policy shifts. By 2020, the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness had climbed by 10% nationwide, a rise that critics attributed to the lack of federal backing for permanent housing solutions.

Links to Additional Context

To deepen readers’ understanding, the Nation article links to a range of secondary sources:

• A Washington Post investigative piece that examined how local homeless shelters struggled to secure enough funding to provide basic services after the 2019 HUD cuts. The link offers a concrete example of how federal policy translates into local realities.

• A research report by the Center for American Progress that reviews the cost‑benefit analysis of Housing First. The link helps readers grasp the economic arguments for permanent housing, showing that every $1 spent on Housing First returns about $4 in reduced health‑care and criminal‑justice costs.

• An article in The New York Times that documents the rapid rise in affordable housing units in New York City under the Trump administration. While the city’s growth in units was notable, the article emphasizes that many new units are not housing‑first friendly, lacking the supportive services that keep residents stable.

• A piece from The Atlantic that profiles a small Midwestern town that successfully implemented Housing First without federal subsidies. The link serves as a case study of grassroots success, underscoring that local leadership can overcome institutional obstacles.

These references give the article a multi‑dimensional perspective, showing how federal policy, local implementation, and civil‑society advocacy intersect in the housing‑homelessness nexus.

The Bottom Line

The Nation’s article ultimately argues that the Housing First model has a strong evidence base and a moral imperative that goes beyond the political rhetoric of any administration. The Trump era’s policies, though not explicitly hostile to Housing First, lacked the comprehensive commitment necessary to maintain the gains that earlier administrations had made. By cutting voucher funding, focusing on shelters rather than permanent housing, and shifting the burden onto local jurisdictions, the administration weakened the structural support that Housing First requires.

The article ends with a call to action for lawmakers: to adopt a federal strategy that prioritizes permanent supportive housing, to protect and expand the Housing Choice Voucher program, and to encourage evidence‑based practices across cities. It stresses that the stakes are not abstract policy questions but the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans who lack safe, stable homes. In short, Housing First is not a political buzzword; it is a proven framework that, if supported at the national level, can transform the country’s response to homelessness.