Human Services director warns federal cuts could shrink homeless and senior services; committee hears shelter and tenant-fund gaps after tornado

Adam Pearson, director of the City of St. Louis Department of Human Services, told the Budget & Public Employees Committee on May 21 that the department is managing federal grants for seniors, homeless services and youth while preparing for storm-related needs and potential federal funding reductions.

Pearson and deputy director Valerie Russell described three priorities: preserving senior services, protecting HUD Continuum of Care (CoC)–funded programs for the unhoused, and pivoting youth services toward eviction prevention and tenant assistance.

Why it matters: DHS runs federally funded programs that the department says are at risk if federal funding is reduced or repackaged. The city is also responding to immediate needs after a recent tornado that displaced residents and increased shelter demand.

Homelessness and shelter capacity: Pearson said the city has roughly 700 emergency shelter beds, typically about 96% occupied. The point‑in‑time count of unsheltered people rose this year to 387 from 154 last year, he said. DHS asked the committee for an additional $500,000 for emergency shelter beds in the coming winter planning but reported that the requested increase was reduced by $250,000 in the current budget process; staff asked the committee to consider full funding of the request.

Pearson said outreach teams and contract partners provide weekly encampment engagement across all wards. On a specific encampment near an interstate (referred to as a private parcel), he said city departments and outreach partners “discuss that encampment almost each week” to coordinate services and referrals.

Senior services and federal changes: Pearson and Russell described the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging (SLAA) role in delivering senior services. They said roughly 45,000 St. Louis residents are over 65 and that their contracted network reached about 7,000 seniors through direct contact and delivered “almost 300,000” home-delivered meals (staff noted a delivery surge following the tornado). They flagged federal reorganizations and proposed cuts: a proposed reduction in HUD Office of Community Planning and Development staffing/operations and changes to the Administration for Community Living that could eliminate certain elder services such as fall prevention and ombudsman support.

Pearson and Russell said many SLAA staff are currently funded through federal grants (reported as 19 positions), and the department requested one client service coordinator position (unfunded) as higher priority than a clerk typist. Russell said converting 12 federally funded direct-service positions to a nonfederal funding source would cost about $635,000.

Impacted Tenants Fund and tornado aid: Committee members discussed the Impacted Tenants Fund created by ordinance. Russell explained the fund’s current design requires proof that tenants were displaced because of landlord code violations; as drafted, it may not cover tenants displaced by a natural disaster such as the tornado. The FY26 budget shows $160,000 in that fund; Pearson and Russell said Employment Connection holds a $100,000 contract to administer the program. Russell told the committee that altering the ordinance would require the Board of Aldermen to permit broader eligible uses to include storm displacement. Committee members discussed adding additional general-fund support and whether an allocation could be increased to $1 million if the board amended the ordinance.

Funding mechanics and special funds: The committee asked about a special fund referenced as 11/21 (public-safety sales/use tax fund) that carries emergency shelter line items. Budget staff explained that the use-tax allocation and ordinance structure put money in that 11/21 fund and that general-fund transfers could also supplement emergency shelter accounts if the board so directed.

Discussion versus decisions: The committee asked multiple clarifying questions; DHS requested full funding for the shelter increase and indicated the Impacted Tenants Fund rules limit using those dollars for storm-displaced tenants without a legislative change. No formal budget vote was recorded during the hearing.

Ending: Aldermen offered support for winter planning and disaster response coordination; DHS said it will continue outreach, monitor ARPA and HUD deadlines, compile storm-displacement data and follow up on a possible ordinance change to allow tenant assistance for tornado-displaced renters.