2026-09-22 · housing
State proposal would shift homeless housing assistance funds to open 200-bed shelter in Baton Rouge
The Louisiana Housing Corp. submitted applications to the greater New Orleans and Louisiana Balance of State continuums of care requesting $42.4 million and $38 million respectively — most of each region's federal homeless services funds, now largely spent on permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing — to establish a 200-bed transitional shelter on Airline Highway in Baton Rouge with a mandatory 20-to-40-hour-per-week services requirement. The Balance of State council rejected the application; a National Housing Law Project attorney said the state could appeal a rejection to HUD and seek to become a solo applicant for the funding. Approximately 3,500 formerly homeless people in the greater New Orleans area rely on the federally funded assistance.
A federal appeals court stayed the Rhode Island district court's August order against HUD's FY2026 funding notice on September 16, restarting the local application processes that order had paused.