This Week in Social Impact: The Battle Over Housing First Heats Up | Week of May 12, 2026
- Giovanne Schachere
- May 12
- 4 min read
This week, the debate over how we end homelessness in America reached a critical inflection point. While HUD doubles down on its shift away from Housing First, new research from Hawai’i tells a completely different story — one backed by data, not ideology. Meanwhile, criminal justice reform is proving that real progress doesn’t belong to any single political party, even as vital reentry programs face devastating budget cuts. As someone who has spent years serving individuals experiencing homelessness, navigating reentry, and rebuilding their lives through Mysti’s Adult & Family Services, I can tell you: this week’s headlines aren’t just news. They’re the daily reality for the communities I serve.
HUD Continues Its Shift Away from Housing First — And the Stakes Are Enormous
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that its 2026 Continuum of Care funding will prioritize transitional housing, street outreach, childcare, job training, and addiction treatment over Housing First and harm reduction approaches. The new Notice of Funding Opportunity is set for publication on June 1. HUD Secretary Scott Turner stated the department will “abandon the failed ‘Housing First’ policies” in favor of promoting “treatment, recovery, and self-sufficiency.” (Multifamily Dive)
Here’s what concerns me most: the National Alliance to End Homelessness warns this shift could push as many as 200,000 individuals into homelessness by pulling support from programs that are currently keeping people housed. As a CEO, a father of seven, and someone who works on the front lines every day, I know that the solution to homelessness isn’t an either/or proposition. People need housing and they need wraparound services. The question should never be which comes first — it should be how we deliver both effectively.
New Study: Housing First in Hawai’i Could Generate $39 Million More in Economic Benefits
In a timely counter-narrative to HUD’s policy shift, a new analysis from Scioto Analysis found that a Housing First program in Hawai’i would generate $39 million more in net economic benefits than a treatment-first program of similar size. The study compared rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing approaches against treatment-first models that prioritize services over housing and sometimes condition housing on treatment compliance. (NLIHC)
This is exactly the kind of evidence-based research we need more of in this conversation. When I talk about housing solutions on The Giovanne Show, I always come back to the same point: the data is clear. Getting people into stable housing first creates a foundation for everything else — recovery, employment, family reunification. You can’t heal what you can’t stabilize.
Prison Reform Has Become a Bipartisan Movement — With Conservatives Leading
A compelling Forbes analysis highlights something many people miss: criminal justice reform is thriving at the state level, driven in large part by conservative leadership. According to Princeton Professor Udi Ofer’s research, 35 states enacted at least one criminal justice reform bill in 2025, and more than 634 pro-reform bills were passed between 2021 and 2025. Texas — hardly a liberal stronghold — has reduced its prison population by nearly 20% while closing multiple facilities and maintaining falling crime rates. (Forbes)
This matters because real reform shouldn’t be partisan. Whether you frame it as fiscal responsibility, public safety, or human dignity, the goal is the same: a system that actually works. When I see the individuals we serve at Mysti’s — men and women rebuilding their lives after incarceration — I see the proof that second chances aren’t just moral imperatives. They’re smart policy.
Massachusetts Reentry Programs Face the Chopping Block
In Massachusetts, the Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant (CERG) program — which supports 66 community organizations providing reentry services, job training, housing stabilization, and youth violence prevention — faces elimination under the next state budget. Neither the governor’s proposal nor the House-passed budget includes funding for the $15 million program. A Senate amendment from Sen. Liz Miranda would restore the funding. (GBH News)
As Jamal Gooding of People Affecting Community Change put it: people returning from incarceration “need more than a job.” They need transportation, IDs, clothing, mental health support. This story is a sobering reminder that even proven programs are never safe from budget cuts — and that advocacy must be relentless.
Quick Hits: More Stories Worth Your Attention
Chattanooga Wins National Affordable Housing Award. The city received the Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability from the University of Utah for its innovative tax abatement program that incentivizes developers to build mixed-income housing. Since the program’s redesign in 2024, at least seven developments have used it. Harvard’s Chris Herbert called it a model that “can be easily replicated and scaled.” This is what local housing leadership looks like. (Times Free Press)
Norfolk City Jail’s Reentry Programs Are Changing Lives. Norfolk’s Sheriff’s Office offers more than 15 programs including literacy, substance abuse treatment, and parenting classes. Former inmate Peggy Boddie used the programs to earn a college degree and now runs her own nonprofit. Stories like these — of transformation, not just incarceration — are what drive our work every single day. (WAVY)
What This Means for Our Communities
If there’s one thread connecting every story this week, it’s this: the systems we build determine the lives people lead. When we invest in housing, reentry, and wraparound services, communities get stronger. When we defund those programs or let ideology override evidence, real people fall through the cracks — mothers, fathers, young people who just need someone to invest in their potential.
At Mysti’s Adult & Family Services, we see both sides of this equation every day. We see what happens when Enhanced Care Management connects a chronically homeless individual with stable housing and behavioral health support. We see what happens when a father coming home from prison gets job training, mentorship, and a genuine second chance. And we know — from lived experience, not just policy papers — that these investments pay for themselves many times over.
The question isn’t whether these programs work. The question is whether we have the leadership and the will to protect them.
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