Trump Administration Revamps Mental Health Rules for 146,000 Homeless as States Gain New Housing Options
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 19
Trump Administration Revamps Mental Health Rules for 146,000 Homeless as States Gain New Housing Options
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 19
Summary
A June Justice Department legal opinion would let states use small-scale supportive housing and court-ordered treatment for an estimated 146,000 homeless people with serious mental illness or substance abuse disorders.
The shift narrows decades of broad federal interpretation of the 1999 Olmstead ruling, which critics say pushed states toward voluntary community-based care even for people too ill to live independently.
States have struggled to build intermediate care between hospitals and single-unit housing because of litigation risk and regulations prioritizing autonomy over clinical need, leaving many severely ill people on the streets or in jail.
By 2016, the U.S. had fewer than 38,000 psychiatric beds left nationwide—a 96% drop from the 1950s—even as the population grew 110%, a decline the new framework argues helped worsen homeless mental illness.
Activist groups say the policy could reopen the door to institutional warehousing, but the administration says it is not reviving large state hospitals, which average about $1,400 per patient per day and remain a last resort.