President Trump has come out swinging on homelessness. After taking small steps to peel back the homelessness bureaucracy early in his term, he issued a far-reaching executive order in July intent on getting homeless people off the streets and into treatment. Over the past couple weeks the administration has taken direct action in Washington, DC to clear homeless encampments and take on crime. The question is whether these high-profile moves will translate into durable national results.

They can—if the administration follows through with deliberate changes to federal policy.

For better or worse, the federal government has taken a leading role in society’s response to homelessness. What was traditionally viewed as a local issue under the purview of individual churches and nonprofit organizations has evolved into a top-down system. The federal government allocates billions of dollars to communities each year to support local programs serving the homeless, in return for adhering to federally determined criteria on how that money is spent.

Ever since the late 2000s, that has meant an expansion of supportive housing for the homeless with no requirements for engaging with mental health or substance abuse treatment. This approach is known among supporters as “Housing First” but in reality, treatment for the underlying problems faced by the homeless does not necessarily come “second” or perhaps ever—because services are purely optional. At the same time, the federal criteria have attempted to dissuade communities from “criminalizing” homelessness, which in practice means failing to enforce ordinances that prevent people from sleeping in public spaces.

Embracing Housing First and the “decriminalization” of homelessness has not been a recipe for success. The number of homeless people in shelters increased by 43 percent in the past two years and reached nearly half a million in 2024, though this was largely due to the surge in migrants and will likely fall with the reduction in border crossings. The more concerning problem is that unsheltered homelessness has increased every year for the past decade, reaching a record 274,224 people sleeping outside on a single night in January in 2024. If our policies are not preventing people from sleeping on the streets, then they are not working.

The Biden Administration’s last funding notice issued in 2024—which is in effect today and puts close to $4 billion annually on the line—went all in on these priorities in spite of their track record. It asks communities receiving federal funding to “commit to following a Housing First approach” and to “implement specific strategies to prevent the criminalization of homelessness.”

The Trump Administration has an opportunity to strike a new course on homelessness policy.

For starters, it can end federal prioritization of Housing First. Despite claims from advocates, there is surprisingly scant evidence that the approach sustainably reduces the number of people who are homeless. What we do know is that Housing First is expensive, providing indefinite housing and optional services to individuals without focusing on trying to help them overcome their underlying problems so they can move on with their lives and free up resources for others in need. Communities should be provided the flexibility to implement locally crafted solutions that focus on getting people off the street and into recovery.

The Trump Administration should also stop discouraging communities from protecting public order. Permitting homeless encampments in public spaces benefits neither the homeless nor other community members. Bringing homeless people inside where they can get real help should be the ultimate goal. Localities themselves are the best equipped to make that happen without interference from the federal government.

The reality though is that effective services and public order can only go so far in bringing the most troubled individuals inside. The administration must follow through on its calls to relax barriers to civil commitment so that individuals with severe mental illness are not left to cause havoc and die on the streets. President Trump’s executive order is a good start but must be followed up with sustained executive action, and ultimately, sufficient resources.

Homelessness has reached unacceptable levels. President Trump has the opportunity to break us out of the status quo but the clock is ticking to follow through on a new direction. Done right, the administration could help the hundreds of thousands of people suffering on our streets and simultaneously make American cities more safe and orderly.