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Trump upends bipartisan consensus on homelessness

CQ On Congress, Episode 170

Henry Palmer, a homeless man living in one of the tents near Union Station in Washington, sweeps his area as he waits for DC city workers to load his belongings into a truck in 2016. The city ordered the small tent city, just blocks from the U.S. Capitol, removed. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Henry Palmer, a homeless man living in one of the tents near Union Station in Washington, sweeps his area as he waits for DC city workers to load his belongings into a truck in 2016. The city ordered the small tent city, just blocks from the U.S. Capitol, removed. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)
By Micaela Rodríguez and Shawn Zeller
Posted September 20, 2019 at 10:53am

Donald Trump has challenged the idea, pioneered in George W. Bush’s administration, that the best, and most cost-effective way to end homelessness is to offer people living on the streets homes, no strings attached, and to service their needs in a home setting.

A new report from the president’s Council of Economic Advisers says that has neither reduced homelessness, nor lowered costs. Richard Cho, who served in top positions at the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness during the Obama administration and now heads the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, joins the program this week to discuss how “Housing First” has worked and how it hasn’t.

Show notes:

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