(The Center Square) — Colorado experts and policy groups have had mixed reactions to President Donald Trump’s executive order that signals a stark departure from “Housing First” homelessness initiatives.

On Thursday, Trump signed the “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” executive order.

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“Endemic vagrancy, disorderly behavior, sudden confrontations, and violent attacks have made our cities unsafe,” it stated. “The Federal Government and the States have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats.”

Those root causes include drug use and mental health issues, with the order saying that the “overwhelming majority” of homeless “are addicted to drugs, have a mental health condition, or both.”

It cited the 2024 point-in-time count, which found 274,224 individuals living on the streets. That is the highest number ever recorded.

Because of this, the order said it is time for a new approach across the country.

Colorado homelessness

Homelessness in Colorado is an ever-growing problem.

While Denver recently applauded its achievement of the “largest ever reduction in U.S. street homelessness,” the stats actually show that the total number of homeless, including those in shelters, continues to grow in the metro area.

In 2025, Denver’s point-in-time count found 10,774 homeless people in the metro area, which consists of seven counties. That is up from 9,977 in 2024 and 46% from 2019, when there were only 5,755 homeless reported.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston admitted in his recent State of the City address that more needs to be done.

In his speech, he emphasized his continued prioritization of affordable housing, an end to homelessness and a revitalization of Denver’s downtown.

“We will continue to dream big and deliver big things and do so in a way that preserves and protects the identity of those neighborhoods and the people that built them,” he said.

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, a Denver-based nonprofit, also emphasized the importance of affordable housing to address the homelessness problem.

“Colorado is the 10th least affordable state in the country,” it said in a recent press release.

That release dug into a recent report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which found that full-time workers need to earn $36.79 per hour to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent in Colorado.

Executive order

The executive order represents a forceful shift in the federal government approach to homelessness. Once focused on Housing First methods, the new approach has different priorities. Some of those are as follows:

• It orders that the homeless be moved into “long-term institutional settings for humane treatment” of drug and mental health issues.

• Reasserts the right of the state to impose involuntary commitment on individuals “with mental illness who pose risks to themselves or the public or are living on the streets and cannot care for themselves.”

• Enforces prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting.

• Ends federal funding for drug injection sites or programs that allow illicit drug use or provide drug paraphernalia.

• Prohibits funding to go to programs that provide housing assistance without mandated participation in mental health or substance use treatment.

• Prevents sex offenders receiving homelessness assistance from being housed with children and permits age or gender‑specific housing. 

To enforce the order, it ties grant funding from the Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation to state and municipality compliance with the regulations.

Response to the executive order

Cathy Alderman is the chief communications and public policy officer for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. She told The Center Square in an exclusive interview that the coalition is very disappointed in the order.

“We are very disappointed to see that the administration intends to take this very enforcement-driven, criminalization-focused, punitive approach to homelessness, which we know from decades of experience does nothing to actually solve homelessness,” she said. “We know that forced recovery very rarely works for individuals. Recovery is a journey that people need to go on, and if they do it voluntarily, it is much more likely they’ll succeed.”

Dustin Zvonek, the homelessness policy fellow for Common Sense Institute, also spoke with The Center Square. He said he is happy with the order, especially since it opens up the possibility for federal resources to now go to programs that take a different approach than Housing First.

“With the president’s executive order, there is the opportunity for an expansion in the types of programs that can receive funding, removing the preference towards housing first,” he said. “It’s less about ending support for Housing First, as opposed to opening it up … for treatment first or work-first programs to have the same access to federal resources to try to address this growing problem.”

That would then allow a true comparison of what programs can best address the issue, Zvonek said.

Many Coloradans agree with Zvonek. Do Better Denver is a public social media account documenting crime and homelessness in Denver with nearly 17,000 followers. It posted in response to Trump’s order, calling it a “no-nonsense fix for messes like Denver’s.”

“It’s a lifeline to drag this city out of its rut with real solutions, not housing only and harm ‘reduction,’” it said, addressing Johnston. “Denver’s tired of excuses and stagnation. Get on board, lead with guts, and deliver a safer, stronger city — or watch it sink further on your watch.”

Alderman disagreed.

“This enforcement-driven criminalization route is taking the country steps backwards in homelessness resolution,” she said. “I would encourage this administration to think a little more holistically about solving the problem, instead of just trying to make it go away.”

She added that the coalition is concerned with the prospect that Housing First programs might now be deprioritized for funding, pointing to the lack of affordable housing as playing a key role in homelessness nationwide.

“We know that model works,” Alderman said. “What if instead of criminalizing individuals or trying to institutionalize them for their experience of homelessness, what if we made investments in housing vouchers and the development of deeply affordable housing?”

Zvonek said the preference for Housing First has been a “recipe for failure.”

“It’s shown in the big cities that have adopted it. They’ve seen more spending and more homelessness,” he said.

THE END OF THE HOMELESS INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

He said the executive order is a good first step, but added legislative action is needed.

“I’m happy that the administration has taken this action, and I think it will spur movement in the short term,” Zvonek said. “But I do think in order to really make this stick, that congressional action is necessary to reaffirm what’s in the order.”