Residents and business owners have raised concerns at community meetings about the concentration of encampments, putting pressure on the Mayor's Office of Homeless Services to expand outreach and enforcement alternatives. Critics argue that without adequate shelter options and basic sanitation infrastructure, enforcement-only responses simply relocate the problem without resolving it. MOHS has pointed to its $73.7 million FY2026 budget — a 19% increase — as evidence of its commitment to expanding housing and service capacity.

MOHS conducted this year's count on January 25–26, but a snow and ice storm limited the reach of volunteer teams, meaning the unsheltered portion of the count — about 188 people found sleeping outside — likely understates the true total. Even with the overall decline, the 7% rise in chronic homelessness (people who have been homeless over a year with a disabling condition) signals that the hardest-to-house population continues to grow even as overall numbers improve.

The $24 million renovation converted an aging apartment building into permanent supportive housing with on-site services, adding to a small but growing pipeline of projects — including Sojourner Place at Park and a new Park Heights mixed-use development — aimed at expanding Baltimore's permanent supportive housing stock.

The Transit and Housing Opportunity Act eliminates minimum parking requirements near rail stations and allows mixed-use development within a half-mile of transit stops, unlocking an estimated 7,000 housing units in the Baltimore region with $1.4 billion in projected tax revenue. The Housing Certainty Act converts Maryland to an "early vesting" state, meaning approved housing projects are only subject to regulations in effect at the time of application — reducing regulatory uncertainty for developers. The accompanying FY2027 budget appropriates $73.4 million for the Division of Homeless Solutions, including $5 million specifically for permanent supportive housing.

Under the act, background checks must be postponed until a conditional offer of housing is made, and are limited to specific conviction types within defined timeframes. Applicants have the right to present evidence of growth and rehabilitation before a tenancy is denied. Effective October 1, 2026, the law directly addresses one of the most significant barriers to housing stability for people returning from incarceration — a population at elevated risk of homelessness. The Vera Institute and NAACP Legal Defense Fund both celebrated the signing as a national model.

The funding round supports new construction and preservation projects across the state, complementing the Transit and Housing Opportunity Act's zoning changes and the Housing Certainty Act's streamlined approval process. DHCD officials say sustained capital investment alongside regulatory reform is necessary to meaningfully close Maryland's affordable housing gap in the years ahead.

The $4.04 billion NOFO includes a $1.3 billion Tier 2 set-aside that gives explicit priority to transitional housing and time-limited supportive service projects, continuing the administration's effort to rebalance CoC funding away from permanent housing. However, the 60% Tier 1 minimum — a congressional requirement — provides a floor of protection for existing PSH renewals. HUD expects to announce awards by December 1, 2026.

The administration's core goal remains reducing the share of CoC funding for permanent supportive housing from roughly 90% to no more than 30% — a shift that advocates warn would jeopardize housing for approximately 170,000 people currently in PSH units. Congress rejected HUD's new approach in the FY2026 Transportation-HUD appropriations law, which provides CoC funding on traditional terms. However, HUD is pursuing the overhaul through administrative channels, and the legal and policy battle is expected to continue through the remainder of 2026.

Justice in Aging and allied organizations have submitted formal comments and mobilized CoC providers nationwide to document outcomes for older and disabled clients, arguing that HUD's proposed "cost-effectiveness" benchmarks fail to account for populations who need permanent, not transitional, housing to remain stably housed.

Twenty-two states and D.C. saw declines between 2024 and 2025, with New York and Illinois posting the largest drops. Still, the report counted 155,750 chronically homeless individuals in 2025 — up from a low of 77,486 in 2016 — underscoring that the population requiring permanent supportive housing continues to grow even as overall numbers improve. The data predates HUD's 2026 CoC funding shift, and advocates caution the gains may not hold in next year's count.

The Atlanta metro's rapid population growth and rising construction costs have deepened a housing shortage that community organizations say is pushing more working families into homelessness for the first time. Local CoC administrators note that uncertainty around federal CoC renewals has caused several rapid rehousing programs to reduce intake while awaiting clarity on awards. Advocates are calling on the Georgia legislature to establish a state-level housing stabilization fund — similar to Maryland's Housing Stability Act — to buffer against federal funding volatility.

California's 2026-27 budget already reduces state HHAP homelessness funding to $500 million — roughly half of prior-year levels — while directing more of what remains toward temporary and institutional responses rather than permanent housing. Layered on top of HUD's proposed CoC changes, researchers estimate more than 32,000 Californians currently in permanent supportive housing could lose their housing stability without a change in course at either level of government.