Maine Governor Janet Mills urged the Trump administration to reverse a new directive from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that she says could jeopardize stable housing for more than 1,200 state residents.

The guidance, issued late last week, sharply reduces federal support for Continuum of Care programs by capping Maine’s allotment at under seven million dollars, compared with the current twenty point five million dollars.

These programs currently provide long-term housing for more than 1,800 people across the state, including families with children, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, and survivors of domestic violence.

Service providers warn that the abrupt shift away from permanent supportive housing toward short-term shelters would push vulnerable residents back into homelessness and strain local budgets already stretched by emergency housing demands.

Local officials have voiced alarm at the projected impact.

In Bangor, more than 350 residents could lose their homes, while over 200 Portland residents face similar risks.

Leaders from organizations supporting survivors of human trafficking, young people experiencing homelessness, and families newly displaced from housing say the cuts would erode years of progress.

The changes follow a July executive order from the Trump administration that sought to tie federal homelessness funding to more institutional responses, including involuntary commitment.

Maine officials say the new directive expands that approach by redirecting funds that have proven effective at stabilizing households.

Governor Mills emphasized that she would continue pushing the federal government to reconsider the caps and safeguard the state’s long-term housing programs, which she described as essential to public health, community safety, and the stability of Maine families.