Baltimore City officials warn federal cuts and rising rents threaten homeless services

Ernestina Simmons, director of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services, told the Baltimore City Council that the office’s “mission is to make homelessness rare and brief for the Baltimore City” and warned that expiring federal and ARPA funds threaten services many residents rely on.

Simmons said the office served “over 21,000 households” in 2024 across emergency shelter, street outreach and permanent supportive housing and that “in fiscal year 2026, our goal is to serve 4,000 households.” She told council members the agency has restructured, added program compliance and accounting staff, and aligned outreach and emergency shelter funding in its operating budget.

The central issue raised at the hearing was funding risk. Simmons said much of the city’s rental-assistance capacity depended on federal and ARPA dollars. “We heavily relied on ARPA dollars for eviction prevention dollars,” she said, and warned that the expiration of those dollars “is going to have a tremendous impact.” Laura (the city budget director) told Councilman Gray that personnel costs still funded by ARPA will be evaluated as part of the fiscal 2027 budget process.

Counci…