The following post is part of a blog series exploring the harmful impacts of President Trump’s recent Executive Order on homelessness. In each post, Alliance staff will discuss one component of the Executive Order, and what the implications will be on homeless services. Please note, the Alliance cannot and does not provide legal guidance. Please consult a lawyer for legal interpretations.
Read more from this series:
What the Executive Order Says about Sobriety Mandates
“The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall, as appropriate, take steps to require recipients of Federal housing and homelessness assistance to increase requirements that persons participating in the recipients’ programs who suffer from substance use disorder or serious mental illness use substance abuse treatment or mental health services as a condition of participation.”
Why This is a Problem
Under the guise of “increasing accountability in the provision of, and grants awarded for, homelessness assistance and transitional living programs,” the Trump Administration seeks to prevent people who live with a substance use disorder, alcoholism, or co-occurring disorders from accessing lifesaving assistance without total abstinence.
Decades of disinvestment in housing, healthcare, and other systems have created conditions where millions of Americans cannot access the supports or services they need to survive and thrive; behavioral health treatment is no exception. Mandating sobriety does not produce sobriety.
Providers across the country know how tough it is to find and get into treatment, no matter the size of their community. This Executive Order does nothing to change that. Without more resources, many communities will turn to punitive and ineffective approaches. These tactics do nothing to solve homelessness, but instead cause trauma and create more barriers to finding a home.
What’s the Alternative?
Sobriety does not automatically end a person’s homelessness. In fact, housing is often the first step toward recovery, not the reward for it.
People overwhelmingly engage with services when offered ones that meet their needs – not simply blanket approaches or mandates. Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), harm reduction approaches, access to peer support (such as 12-step programs), and other evidence-based treatment options – paired with low-barrier emergency shelter and housing – are the solution.
Our communities are safer when everyone has a place to live, and when everyone has the behavioral healthcare support they need to flourish. That is where we need our leaders focused, rather than punishing people under the pretense of compassion.
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