Please see below for all email updates sent in Oct. 2025. Feel free to reach out to Katie at kmeyerscott at homelesslaw.org with any questions or to be added to the email list!

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10/17/2025

Hello all,

I am thinking of this extended community more than ever these days. I know some of you will likely be out protesting and marching this weekend – I wish you good weather and sturdy walking shoes…and safety.

And welcome to a few new people recently added to this email list (by request and by my realization that they should be on here) – for newcomers, please know that this list is invitation only and carefully vetted! Please reach out directly to me if you know someone who would like to be added. And PLEASE do not hesitate to reply and ask to be removed at any time – no hard feelings. For previous updates, going back to February 2025, please visit: https://youthhomelessnessindex.org/blog/ (do not share this link without permission).

There are a few things on my mind as we head into the weekend and several weeks of government shutdown.

The first is the increasing rhetoric (moving towards action?) accusing homelessness services of terrorism and radical extremism:

1. I hate to give this report any attention at all but the people behind it have the president’s ear: https://capitalresearch.org/app/uploads/Infiltrated-Report.pdf. They recently participated in his roundtable on “antifa” – see this article for what was said about homelessness.
2. And they are (as promised) making moves to weaponize the IRS against non-profit groups: https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-irs-investigations-left-leaning-groups-democratic-donors-612a095e?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

At this point, my opinion is that nonprofit homelessness services providers are probably not big enough fish to be immediate targets. I don’t know if the same can be said for funders. Regardless, please ensure that your organization has access to legal counsel (let me know if you need help with this), that legal counsel are aware of these threats, and that you take the opportunity now to assess and manage any risks, while continuing to provide services to all youth.

Another issue I’m concerned about is this administration’s mass firing of Office of Elementary and Secondary Education staff—including those running the Education for Homeless Children and Youth program. Schoolhouse Connection has a helpful summary of the implications and what you can do: https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/trump-administration-fires-oese-staff-including-homeless-education-office

And for more general information about the shutdown and its effect on youth homelessness programs, please check out these resources from SchoolHouse Connection and National Network for Youth:

• https://schoolhouseconnection.org/article/government-shutdown-potential-impact-on-programs-serving-children-youth-and-families-experiencing-homelessness
• https://nn4youth.org/2025/10/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-federal-government-shutdown/

One thing to note from the last update: The general Continuum of Care (CoC) NOFO is still not released due to the government shutdown. We are working behind the scenes to be ready with guidance for when it does come out.

And finally, I wanted to elevate an issue from some of our friends in Alaska – you may have heard about the devastation left by Typhoon Halong. This story does not seem to be getting enough national attention and the storm is affecting many homeless young people, and making many young people homeless. Please share this link with ways to help far and wide: https://alaskapublic.org/news/environment/2025-10-14/heres-how-you-can-help-survivors-of-the-western-alaska-storm. I also want to float the possibility of convening around the issue of climate change, extreme weather, and youth homelessness sometime in 2026. If this is something you are interested in, please let me know. Or if you know of spaces where these conversations are already happening, I would love to share those with our network.

We will NOT be holding office hours this Tues, Oct. 21^st. We will resume them on Tues, Nov. 4^th from 3:30-5:00 ET. A registration link will be circulated a few days before!

Thank you all – talk soon,

Katie