A federal appeals court has rejected the federal government's attempt to restrict grant funding for homeless housing assistance programs, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown announced. The ruling protects funding that keeps tens of thousands of formerly homeless people in stable housing across the country, including in Pierce County.
Pierce County receives approximately $4. 9 million per year through the federal Continuum of Care (CoC) program. That money is used primarily for Permanent Supportive Housing and Rapid Rehousing services. Washington State as a whole receives about $120 million annually in these grants, with the bulk going to King, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, and Clark counties.
Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello called the ruling a major victory. "Without it, unlawful federal overreach would have dismantled decades of progress," Mello said in a statement. "This ensures we can continue to prioritize effective policies over ideologically-driven politics and provide vulnerable residents with the stability they need to rebuild their lives."
Attorney General Brown co-led a multistate coalition that sued the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last November. The lawsuit came after HUD abruptly changed the CoC program rules, cutting available grant funds and adding conditions that required applicants to sign statements under penalty of perjury, subjecting them to potential False Claims Act violations.