Human Services director warns federal cuts could shrink homelessness and senior supports while local storm raises immediate needs

Adam Pearson, director of the City of St. Louis Department of Human Services, told the Budget and Public Employees Committee on May 21 that his department is facing two near-term crises: the immediate needs caused by a recent tornado and proposed federal cuts that could reduce homelessness and senior supports.

Pearson said the department runs five divisions — Youth and Family, St. Louis Area Agency on Aging (SLAA or SLAY), Office on the Disabled, Fiscal, and Homeless Services — and manages federal and local contracts for programs ranging from senior meal delivery to shelter and outreach. He said SLAY has contact with roughly 7,000 seniors and delivered 2,000 home-delivered meals on each of the two days following the storm. The department also oversees HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) funding and is collaborative applicant for the CoC’s HUD grants.

Why it matters: Pearson warned that proposed federal budget changes — including a reported cut to the Office of Community Planning and Development staffing and a potential move away from ‘‘housing first’’ approaches — could shift funds away from long-term housing toward short-term shelter. He and staff said that shift would likely make it harder to secure long-term housing outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.

Federal and program risks: Pearson said a proposed White House reorganization could merge CoC funds with the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS program and convert support into shorter-term emergency solutions grants. That change, he warned, could shorten the length of support available to individuals and reduce mechanisms that emphasize permanent supportive housing. Pearson said the Administration for Community Living’s move of some programs into CMS and proposed eliminations (fall-prevention, chronic-disease programs and ombudsman funding) also risk reducing long-term supports for seniors; the city currently funds only one SLAY staff position from local dollars while most SLAY staff are federally funded.

Local impacts and immediate requests: Pearson and Deputy Director Valerie Russell described local consequences of the tornado: spike in shelter demand, more displaced renters and greater need for meal delivery. DHS requested an additional $500,000 in emergency-shelter funding for winter beds in the FY26 submission; the committee’s budget reduces that request by $200,000 to $300,000. Pearson said the department would like the full amount for winter planning and to respond to storm-related needs.

Impacted Tenants Fund: Russell described the Impacted Tenants Fund (an ordinance-created fund intended to assist tenants displaced by landlord code violations) and said $160,000 appears in the FY26 budget for it. She said that, under current ordinance language, that fund is limited to tenants displaced by landlord negligence or code enforcement actions and not explicitly for tenants displaced by a natural disaster, and the department will need a change in legislation to use the fund for tornado displacements. The department has a $100,000 contract with Employment Connection to administer the program once funds are appropriated; Russell said that administrators could scale the program quickly if the board authorizes broader eligible uses and provides additional money. DHS staff estimated that, depending on the number of displaced renters, a much larger pot (the deputy said a million dollars as an illustrative figure) would be required to meet demand from a major storm.

Shelter, ARPA and winter planning: Pearson and Russell said the city’s homelessness system currently has about 700 emergency shelter beds (roughly 96% occupied at typical times) and that point-in-time unsheltered counts rose to 387 this year from 154 last year. They said ARPA-funded temporary shelters and other grants have helped expand capacity but that some ARPA contracts are expiring and that the department asked the committee to preserve or replace expiring shelter funding.

Staffing and priorities: When asked by committee members which unfunded line items were most critical, Pearson and Russell prioritized maintaining direct-service staff in the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging (they said 19 SLAY positions are federally funded and asked the city to consider covering some of those roles locally to protect services if federal funding is cut). Russell estimated approximately $635,000 would be needed to fund 12 direct-service positions currently supported by federal grants.

The committee asked DHS to return details showing how its grants, special funds and ARPA awards can be flexed to respond to the storm and to identify near-term funding options to preserve shelter and supports.