Survey of Homelessness Service Providers Highlights Concerns about Threats to Funding and the Criminalization of Homelessness

By Nada Hussein, NLIHC State and Local Research Analyst  

A Pulse Check survey by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) highlights how threats to federal funding and state and local-level efforts to criminalize homelessness have impacted homelessness service providers, Continuums of Care (CoCs), and their clients. The survey found that the threat to critical funding has had destabilizing effects for organizations providing homelessness services. Nearly three-quarters of service providers had either reduced core services (23%) or were anticipating needing to do so (50%). The survey also found that efforts to criminalize homelessness have resulted in greater levels of fear, stress, and distrust among people experiencing homelessness and displacement from areas where outreach and services are provided. 

NAEH distributed their survey to leaders of homelessness service providers and CoCs between November and December 2025. NAEH received responses from homelessness services leaders representing 39 states, as well as the District of Columbia, and from CoC leaders in 27 states. The survey included questions related to funding cuts, the criminalization of homelessness, imposition of new Medicaid work and recertification requirements, and impacts of the current administration’s policy proposals.  

Ninety percent of CoC leaders and 87% of service provider leaders responded that they were very concerned about cuts to federal programs. Twenty-three percent of homelessness service providers had reduced or eliminated core services like housing or behavioral health due to funding uncertainty and another 50% anticipated having to do so.  

When asked about efforts to criminalize homelessness since 2024, 74% of homelessness service providers observed increases in the breaking up of homeless encampments, 59% observed the introduction or expansion of camping bans, 56% noted an increase in the movement of unhoused people to other neighborhoods, and 55% saw an increase in police presence in areas where unhoused people are sheltering. 

When respondents were asked about their clients’ experiences while measures to criminalize homelessness increase, 72% of service provider leaders reported their clients were expressing increased levels of fear, stress, or distrust with law enforcement; 54% said they had clients displaced from areas where outreach services are provided, making it difficult to reach these individuals; and 50% said that enforcement policies have resulted in a negative shift in the relationship between unhoused people and communities.  

In a July 2025 executive order, President Trump proposed committing unhoused people to long-term institutional settings such as mental health hospitals, substance use treatment centers, and prisons. Seventy-seven percent of homelessness service providers noted that these facilities are not appropriate or very inappropriate for the clients they serve. The majority of service providers also noted that beds in these facilities were unavailable or rarely available. The survey also asked about the impacts of a policy proposal that would require service providers to verify individuals’ immigration status. Seventy-eight percent of service providers noted that this requirement would lead to delays or reduced access to services and 74% said this would lead to reduced trust of service providers.  

NAEH’s full Pulse Check survey report is available here.