The Trump administration is preparing to finalize a major shift in federal homelessness policy whose damaging effects will ripple through Dallas. Internal planning documents indicate that permanent supportive housing programs, considered the backbone of federal homelessness intervention, will get their funding heavily reduced in 2026. Much of that money will be redirected toward transitional housing with work or service requirements, which rarely ever provide the stability needed for people to exit homelessness permanently, meaning Dallas’ shelters will face higher strain than ever before. For Dallas and broader North Texas, a region already confronting rising homelessness and limited affordable housing, the effects of this decision will be grave.
For UTD students, this isn’t just government policy — it will directly influence the city we live, work, commute and study in.
For UTD students, this isn’t just government policy — it will directly influence the city we live, work, commute and study in.
Permanent supportive housing has decades of evidence behind it. It pairs long-term housing with voluntary services, allowing people with chronic health conditions, disabilities or long periods of homelessness to get themselves stabilized before going through treatment or finding employment. The idea of transitional housing, on the other hand, is to offer short-term shelter under stricter rules, offering far less certainty about long-term issues such as addiction care programs and counseling. Taking funding away from supportive housing toward transitional programs does not eliminate homelessness, it simply attempts to shuffle people through short term solutions without a guarantee of stability.
Many local providers in Dallas County and Collin County rely on Continuum of Care grants, which the federal reshuffling will cut, to plan staffing, maintain units and support long-term housing contracts. If these grants suddenly cease to exist or expire without renewal, these programs will not shut down, but struggle to maintain capacity. Hundreds of students volunteer with or study alongside local homelessness organizations, including Austin Street Center, the Dallas Street Choir, The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center and OurCalling. These groups form the skeletal structure of the Dallas shelter system, and often step in when federal support falls short.
Students in the social sciences like myself study housing insecurity, volunteer in shelters or participate in think tank internships. A lot of other university students experience housing precarity themselves, going through rising rents, constantly changing leases and a lack of affordable student housing. A cut to supportive housing may not show immediate effects on campus, but it will influence the environment we all live, work and learn in. For example, during the 2022 winter freeze, The Bridge and OurCalling both opened emergency warming places and took in hundreds of people who couldn’t be placed through city programs. Local reporting shows this happens every couple years, and this is a concrete example of how often shelters step in when official systems go wrong.
A lot of other university students experience housing precarity themselves, going through rising rents, constantly changing leases and a lack of affordable student housing.
Right now, the federal approach treats homelessness as a temporary issue to manage, not a problem to solve. Redirecting funds away from permanent supportive housing sends a bad message that short-term aid is “good enough,” rather than long-term stability. But because stable housing is the best model proven to help people exit homelessness for good, then the government’s responsibility should be to invest a lot of money in it, not take a step back from it. The logic is simple — housing gives people the stability required to address their mental health, seek employment and pursue long-term well-being. Replacing that with short term, conditional programs leaves cities with fragmented systems and a higher risk of individuals cycling between shelters, emergency rooms and homelessness. .
If the federal government withdraws support from interventions that have clearly worked in the past, then our community should be paying attention and constantly asking questions.
If the federal government withdraws support from interventions that have clearly worked in the past, then our community should be paying attention and constantly asking questions.
Students and community members cannot fix federal policy on their own, but they can contribute to how Dallas responds. One starting point is volunteering, reaching out to, donating to or working with the organizations that have been doing this work for decades. Austin Street Center accepts volunteers throughout the semester for efforts like meal service. The Bridge hosts campus groups for service days and regularly invites students to help staff resource fairs. OurCalling offers volunteer shifts in sorting centers and digital resource mapping programs. These organizations also welcome donations, from food to clothing to hygiene supplies, especially during periods of transition when federal funding becomes uncertain, like now.
Beyond local shelters, students can also contact regional representatives to express concern about the shift away from these housing programs. This includes members of Dallas City Council like Mayor Eric Johnson, and state legislators representing North Texas that ran on promises to make housing in Dallas more affordable, such as representatives John Bryant and Mihaela Plesa. This can be as simple as a short email expressing support for permanent supportive housing, inquiring about the role these programs play in stabilizing local communities, calling and asking elected officials to publicly oppose cuts or urging the federal housing department to maintain current funding levels.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2023 “Advocate Guide” breaks down multiple practical ways to effectively change housing policy. Even small quick constituent outreach helps representatives gauge which issues are important to an area’s voters. You don’t need to know how to write policy memos, you just need to write a few sentences about why the issue matters to you. Students who want to go further can support city-level advocacy efforts like the Dallas Housing Coalition, Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance and Texas Homeless Network, all of whom publish analyses of relevant regulations.
Most importantly, students should recognize that their attention has influence. Homelessness is often framed as an untouchable issue but is overwhelmingly driven by U.S. and local policy instead of some untreatable factors. Vitally, students at UTD are already part of these issues through their research, volunteer work and our everyday proximity to Dallas’ regular housing struggles. Engaging with organizations that focus on housing and supporting those in Dallas and signaling to policymakers that these issues matter will help ensure this federal shift doesn’t move forward without taking those it impacts into consideration.