By Jesse Fairbanks

Everyone deserves a safe, affordable home. Our federal government protects people from housing instability through its rental assistance programs that help more than 10 million people, including 3.2 million children, keep a roof over their heads.

The Trump Administration is drafting a rule that, reportedly, would allow more providers of rental assistance and other HUD-assisted housing to add work requirements and/or time limits to their programs. Under the draft rule, housing providers could:

• Require “work-eligible” adults to engage in work activities for up to 40 hours per week to continue receiving rental assistance
• Allow providers to establish term limits of no less than two years for non-elderly, non-disabled families

Implementing strict time limits or work requirements in rental assistance programs will put as many as 3 million people at risk of losing their homes without increasing employment opportunities or economic mobility. People who are able to work but lack reliable shelter struggle to find and maintain a job, care for loved ones, and develop their skills. Federal, state, and local policymakers must reject harmful policies like work requirements and time limits, which would ultimately deprive low income and working families of critically necessary housing stability.

You can learn more about what this proposal could mean for HUD-assisted housing programs and the communities who need them to thrive in this fact sheet written with national partners like the National Housing Law Project, Justice in Aging, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and Southern Poverty Law Center.

>>Download Here