States Return Millions In Homelessness Aid From Federal Government

States Return Millions In Homelessness Aid From Federal Government

• Bureaucratic ineptitude leads to waste—and more people on the streets.

ST. LOUIS—The problem, LaPlume tells me, isn't St. Lazare's, which by all measures is an exceptional success—offering stable housing to homeless St. Louisans, plus free mental health care and life coaching, all while maintaining nearly a 100 percent retention rate of its residents. 

Rather, the problem lies with the St. Louis office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which failed to process St. Lazare's grant renewal in time for its upcoming fiscal year, which started May 1, 2023...