A man who identifies as homeless reads a book under the shade of a tree during high 90-degree temperatures last month in Boulder, Colo.
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Mark Makela/Getty Images
Fulfilling a campaign promise, President Trump has signed an executive order that seeks to overhaul the way the U.S. manages homelessness.
It calls for changes to make it easier for states and cities to remove outdoor encampments and get people into mental health or addiction treatment if they “pose risks to themselves or the public or are living on the streets and cannot care for themselves in appropriate facilities for appropriate periods of time.” That includes civil commitment if they don’t want to go voluntarily.
The White House action also seeks to shift federal funding away from longtime policies that sought to get unhoused people into housing first, and then offer treatment. Instead, it calls for prioritizing money for programs that require sobriety and treatment, and for cities that enforce homeless camping bans.
The White House order builds on a landmark Supreme Court ruling last year that said it’s OK to punish people for sleeping outside even if they have nowhere else to go.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
This story originally appeared on NPR
