In Connecticut, more than 161,000 people are facing housing insecurity, as the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) threatens to cut half of all employees and scale back funding for critical housing programs.
Connecticut’s HUD field office is on a list of offices being considered for closure. However, the department has not confirmed whether it will close.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he contacted the federal office four times regarding the status of Connecticut’s HUD office and what programs may be cut, without response.
“They may not know at this point, because when I say dumb is the word to describe what they're doing, it is careless, reckless, inept,” Blumenthal said of the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) planned cuts. “They fire people first and plan if they're going to plan at all.”
HUD is in charge of the Section 8 housing voucher program. It is also responsible for administering funding for new affordable housing construction.
One half of HUD employees, and two-thirds of the nation’s HUD field offices may be cut, Blumenthal said. Additionally, $260 million in already appropriated funding was canceled.
“Incredibly inexplicably, inexcusably, the federal government is backing away from an obligation that it has to provide for housing in states like Connecticut and across the country,” Blumenthal said.
Homelessness has increased in Connecticut by about 30% since 2021. More than 60% of Connecticut residents receiving federal rental assistance are disabled, elderly or children, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
HUD is also a critical source of funding for homeless services, including the state’s various Coordinated Access Networks, that connect unhoused people to shelter and housing options.
Potential HUD cuts would not only impact housing vouchers, but the employees working to keep people housed, Sarah Fox, Executive Director of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness said.
“That means the people doing work on homelessness that provide our vital services are losing their critical positions for HUD Connecticut,” Fox said. “We have worked so closely with HUD at the state level. They have helped us to build an effective system. They have been partners in every single piece of the work that we have done. We have relied on their expertise. Their support has been fundamental.”
With the uncertainty surrounding HUD funding and what programs may be affected, housing advocates and politicians are grappling with the potential for a state without federal housing aid.
Brittany Ignace works with many low income renters and Section 8 recipients, who are already feeling the stress of impending HUD changes.
“We do think it's too early to tell,” Ignace said. “What we expect is that a lot of people are going to lose the public housing or vouchers, and that's going to be available for so many less people than it currently is.”
