Critics say that President Trump’s order on homelessness negatively impacts homeless veterans
The White House issued an order aimed at removing homeless individuals from the streets and into institutions where they could get help. However, critics claim that President Donald Trump’s order would force homeless veterans into institutions without evaluating their available options. They argue that this move could prohibit these veterans from seeking help. Trump’s order would allow authorities to commit homeless veterans to drug treatment centers and other health institutions aimed at addressing these individuals’ needs.
From Military Times:
President Donald Trump’s executive order — “Ending crime and disorder on America’s streets” — would allow local officials to remove homeless individuals from public areas and permit those authorities to commit those Americans to drug treatment centers or other public health institutions.
“Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order,” the president’s order states. “Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens.”
The document also outlines ending support for “housing first” policies, which administration officials argue “deprioritize accountability and fail to promote treatment, recovery, and self-sufficiency.”
Homeless advocates have said that research shows the opposite. They insist that providing stable housing to individuals facing a host of mental health and financial problems gives them more security to clean up other aspects of their lives without worrying about where they will sleep at night.
“This deprives people of their basic rights and makes it harder to solve homelessness,” officials from the National Homelessness Law Center said in a statement shortly after the White House release. “This executive order is rooted in outdated, racist myths about homelessness and will undoubtedly make homelessness worse.”
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s annual point-in-time count conducted in early 2024 found roughly 33,000 veterans living on the street without stable housing, a reduction of about 2,700 individuals from the 2023 count.
Additional Reading:
Shane III, L. (2025, July 8). Advocates worry new White House order on homelessness could hurt vets. Military Times. Link.
Category: Veterans in the news, Veterans Issues
First off, it’s not like having ALL the “options” available has been working to date. I’d say the “options” work like the no guns signs do at schools / malls do.
Funny I never knew doing something to help homelessness was racist. It’s almost as if they don’t have any real reasons to object to the new plan so they dropped the race bomb on it.
So the old classic of which came first: The mental health issues and drug abuse because you don’t have stable housing or the destruction of your stable housing because you have unchecked mental issues and are self medicating!
My question is “why can’t we do both?
Get them off the street and into clinics to get them stable, provide halfway houses where you can still get help but you are re-entering society, and then affordable 9or free) housing now that you can demonstrate you can be responsible and need it to stay a productive member of society.
We have all heard and seen the “affordable housing” destroyed by those placed there with mental issues and self medicating, so we know that doesn’t work alone!
Exactly. People who have been homeless for a while go pretty feral quick. That’s how low income housing gets trashed.
They need to do it in steps.
1.Shelter services
2.Group home type assisted living where they learn to live like a human again. At this stage their level of functioning can be accessed.
3. Independent housing or inpatient psychiatric care for those who need it.
Well again, if they don’t want to live “normally” or can’t due to unresolvable mental issues there is nothing to do there. They will leave or escape at first opportunity.
Uh oh. People who don’t care about vets are suddenly trotting out the concern that something which could be beneficial will actually impact vets. Gun Crimes, drug crimes, homeless, all trace back to drug use. Looks to me like libs actually want to deny help to vets. Hmm.
Libs don’t actually want to “help” anyone. They want an infinite supply of bandaids to show that “they’re doing something” for the cause du jour. They don’t actually want to solve the problem, that would put them out of business.
Exactly, around here most of the homeless government monetary “help” ends up in the pockets of the NGO administrative types.
What racist myth relates to homelessness? How could putting homeless people into a home make homelessness worse? I don’t remember reading that homelessness (or mental illness/drug addiction) as a basic right. If Trump signed an executive order to increase funding to end cancer, I’m sure there would be wailing and gnashing of teeth with that too.
…
I don’t see a problem here. Just idiots complaining about a good solution.
I like the idea in theory. The problem is manyfold.
Firstly there isn’t the bed space to put anyone anywhere. Mental health beds simply don’t exist in numbers high enough to house every homeless person or even 10% of the homeless. If we started building stuff today we might have a licensed facilities up and running in a couple of years, maybe. However, just the NIMBY stuff takes years to work out.
Secondly, drug treatment programs, which have abysmal success rates, only have a chance of success if the person actually wants to get clean. Otherwise the chances drop to near zero.
Thirdly, who is paying for all this?
Fourthly, there will be all kinds of conflicts with state laws. This isn’t a law either it is an EO, and not a very clear one, or one that states can comply with, even if they wanted to.
Fifthly, most of the homeless vets I have run across have bad paper discharges of one kind or another and aren’t eligible for benefits, which rules out VA centers.
There are a lot more problems than this, but this is one of those times that not enough thought was out into an idea that has some merit.
You bring up excellent, practical points. And if we come up with effective solutions, they will be stopped by the NIMBYs.
To your first point: No argument against it here. That definitely sounds like a major pain.
To your second point: From what I found from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is that around 40 to 60 percent of all addicts who seek professional treatment will relapse within the first year. After that, the rate falls gradually. However, the risk of relapse will always be present for the rest of their lives. I wouldn’t really quantify those numbers as abysmal, just not good. Also, a buddy of mine in school used to be a homeless drug addict. He also stole cars and got himself in jail. He did a complete 180 and his drive to make something of himself is about the same as mine. So people can and do change their lives from those programs. I do agree with you that, to change your life for the better, you’ll have to personally want it, though.
On your third point: The taxpayers, probably. Given waste, fraud, and abuse are being cut from the government, I think we can probably fund these programs generously with the aim to fix the problem rather than to throw money at it or treat the homeless as cash cows (looking at you California). I speak only for myself, but I would gladly help pay for these so long as it solves the problem.
On your fourth point: No argument on that one either.
On your fifth point: Then they only get the help that gen pop gets. Better than having sprawling homeless encampments throughout the city.
I would like to say that I was mistaken in calling it a good solution (Early morning. Still tired), but a bad to so-so solution is better than ignoring the problem for years.
“Housing First” absent meaningful long term treatment to reverse their lifes path is a grift.
Lots of money flows through advocates hands and into bank accounts while the clients revolve from the streets into housing and then back out on the streets after they’ve trashed it with nothing accomplished except the cashing of checks.
Truth.
Well, first of all, the institutions for this plan don’t exist. Not enough beds at the inn, or more accurately, not enough inns. State hospitals are full. We gonna build new ones?
Second, what will likely happen is these individuals will get dropped off at the local ER, until space is found for them. Space that doesn’t exist. Once kept a patient in the ED for weeks, waiting on a long term psych facility to accept.
Third, who are the “local officials? ” Judges? Prosecutors? Law Enforcement? They already don’t know what to do with the people they already deal with. We already see way too many patients in the ER because a Cop gave them the option of “go to jail, or go to the ER.”
It’s a bad idea, brought forth from a misunerstanding of reality.
Jinx.
I guess we were typing at the same time. I disagree that trying to solve homelessness and addressing mental health issues and substance abuse problems is a bad idea, but this isn’t the solution.
Liberals don’t have any answers either, theirs are mostly about corruption schemes.
After having been a street cop for more than a decade I could write a book on this, but when I tell people the truth, they just shake their heads.
When I was a kid there was a place in the next town over
called the “poor farm”.
Now there’s a term you don’t hear much anymore.
I don’t recall racism having anything to do with it.
Poor is poor.
I cannot count how many times I have been accosted by “homeless vets.” I’ll just give a few examples here. A 20 something homeless Vietnam Vet, another poser who claimed he was a former member of the 335th Infantry Division and all his service was classified, or how about the individual who claimed he was former Navy yet didn’t know port from starboard. Or one that really got me going, a 20 something who somehow got ahold of a ribbon bar with a DSC, a Silver Star, and some WW 2 Campaign Medals, yep he was a homeless vet.
When I drive around Tulsa, Oklahoma, every other homeless individual has a sign claiming they are veterans. Yet every one of them I talk to lies through their teeth about their service, proving themselves to be liars. I am not saying there are not homeless veterans out there, but I have yet to meet one.
And further I don’t know about other areas, but here in NE Oklahoma, all a vet has to do is go to the VA, tell them they are homeless, and they will have a hotel room that day, and more importantly have a permanent place to stay within a couple of weeks. I have seen it happen. So, there is really little to no excuse for a veteran to be homeless.
I am really to the point where I hate all those posers, those so called “homeless veterans,” begging on the street. The public is being conditioned by them and the media to think all veterans are dirty, smelly, drug addled, street people, and frankly I resent that.
O well.
DC isn’t a state. It is 100% urban so of course the rate will be much higher.
Nuke it from orbit…it’s the only way to be sure.
This particular EO encourages federal agencies like HUD and others to provide grant funds to communities or organizations that take up the cause.
Probably looks good on paper – in theory – but everyone knows if it involves federal grant money, it will be siphoned into the pockets of opportunists and politicians.
Someone is going to benefit alright – but it sure isn’t going to be the homeless.