Cambridge, Other Local Governments and Nonprofit Groups Challenge Unlawful Restrictions That Threaten Proven Solutions to Homelessness

A broad coalition of local governments, including the City of Cambridge, and nonprofit organizations is taking legal action to stop the Trump-Vance administration from creating unlawful and unreasonable restrictions that seek to shift funding away from proven solutions to homelessness, threatening to push hundreds of thousands of people onto the street as cold winter months arrive. 

For years and through multiple administrations, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Continuum of Care (CoC) Program has helped provide the necessary resources for local governments and organizations to fund permanent housing projects for veterans, seniors, people with disabilities, and individuals and families with children experiencing homelessness. On November 13, 2025, however, without explanation, HUD rescinded a necessary program notice, replacing it with one that threatens existing services. This move, which could push hundreds of thousands of Americans into homelessness, is being done on a compressed timeline, and throwing the entire program, meant to ensure stability for programs and the people who rely on them, into chaos.

“These changes threaten not only the stability of our residents, but the integrity of a proven, data-driven system that helps people off the streets and into positions where they can succeed long-term,” said Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting the resources that allow our most vulnerable neighbors to live with dignity, while accessing essential care, and building lasting stability. Cambridge will continue to stand with our local, regional, and national partners to defend these life-saving supports and ensure that compassion, evidence, and common sense—not politics—guide our housing policies.”

After more than a decade of prioritizing evidence-based approaches that reduce homelessness, as the complaint explains, the new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for FY 2025 upends the stability of the program required by law, will have devastating impacts for plaintiffs, and cause hundreds of thousands of children, youth, adults, and families to become homeless. The NOFO makes drastic changes at every step of the process—by changing the types of projects eligible for funding, the criteria for selecting awardees, and the conditions grantees will be required to accept in order to receive funding.

The coalition behind the new legal challenge includes the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), Crossroads Rhode Island, Youth Pride, Inc., as well as Cambridge, Mass., Boston, Mass., the County of Santa Clara, Calif., San Francisco, Calif., King County, Wash., Nashville, Tenn., and Tucson, Ariz.

The Public Rights Project represents Cambridge and the cities of Boston, Nashville and Tucson. The Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island, and the ACLU Foundation of RI represent all plaintiffs.

Plaintiff and co-counsel quotes regarding the new filing are available here. 

Read the full complaint here and the motion for a preliminary injunction here.