A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from upending support programs for people experiencing homelessness.
Maine was one of about 20 states that sued the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development over a new policy that would have gutted federal funding for permanent and rapid rehousing services.
State officials had said as a result, at least 1,200 people in Maine risked losing their permanent housing and becoming homeless.
But on Friday, a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the Trump administration cannot implement its proposed policy changes and directed HUD to begin releasing homelessness grants under the original terms of the program established by Congress.
"With the court ordering the federal government to simply follow the law and release critical housing program grant funds as Congress directed, stability and the rule of law are being advanced over the chaos and ideological whims of this administration," Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a statement.
Under HUD's new policy, released last month, federal funding would have been shifted away from programs that have provided long-term, supportive housing for chronically unhoused people. The policy also included new conditions that could have made it more difficult for Maine and other states to apply for what funding was available. States, for example, had to demonstrate a track record of complying with federal law and immigration enforcement, or those that prohibit homeless encampments or have an anti-camping ban.
