New Orleans homelessness office says 1,422 housed; warns budget cuts could restart encampments
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Summary
The Office of Homelessness Strategies and Services reported it has housed 1,422 people toward a 1,500 goal, but warned proposed 2026 budget cuts and staffing shortfalls could reduce shelter throughput and lead to more street encampments. Officials urged state and philanthropic support.
The city27s Office of Homelessness Strategies and Services (OHSS) told the City Council it has placed 1,422 people into housing since the office began its current process, approaching a year-end goal of 1,500 people.
"We are at 1,422 individuals housed since we started this process," OHSS director Nate Fields said, adding the office is "95% of the way there." Fields told the council the office has expanded case teams and works closely with nonprofit partners such as Odyssey House and United Way to sustain people in housing and provide case management, mental-health and addiction services.
Fields described operational priorities for 2026: focused zone closures in the French Quarter and Central Business District to reduce street sleeping while offering shelter-to-housing pathways for people with complex needs; a protocol with the New Orleans Health Department to handle severe mental-health and addiction cases; building grant-writing capacity to diversify funding; and a continued push for state partnerships.
Fields warned that recent and proposed cuts to OHSS27s proposed 2026 budget — the office said its adopted 2025 budget was roughly $11 million and a proposed 2026 budget showed about $6 million, leaving a variance of around $4 million — put those pathways at risk. He said the office had originally requested 15 positions for outreach and complex-case work but could fund only 12 because of a hiring freeze and budget constraints.
The director said losing shelter space and not moving people from shelters into permanent housing would create a bottleneck that could lead to encampments reforming. "If we continue to go in that direction, the bottleneck will always be an issue, and then we go back towards encampments," Fields said.
Council members asked about operational responsibility for the low-barrier shelter and whether some locations are state property; staff clarified the CAO27s office manages the low-barrier shelter budget and that some encampment sites are on state property, prompting calls for greater state reimbursement. A staffer and several council members also raised the possibility of invoking Louisiana Revised Statute RS 28:53 as a billing mechanism for other parishes that send residents to New Orleans emergency facilities.
Nonprofit partners echoed the warning that cuts would have immediate impacts. Lonnie Grenier of Odyssey House asked the council to prioritize funding for OHSS and the low-barrier shelter. Grenier cited an economic-impact estimate that the low-barrier shelter provides $39.8 million in cost savings for chronic-homelessness responses to the city and state. Unity of Greater New Orleans reported its collaborative had housed 2,679 people in 25 months when non-family populations and program types were included.
OHSS and its partners urged the council to preserve staffing and critical rapid-rehousing and diversion dollars — either through general-fund dollars, philanthropic support or state allocations — to maintain throughput and prevent a return to larger, more dangerous encampments.
