February 20, 2026
Community Shelter Board (CSB) is monitoring federal funding and legal developments that affect housing and homelessness services in Columbus and Franklin County.
Recent federal action helps ensure that funding for local programs will continue. At the same time, a court case involving the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) may affect how and when future funding competitions are carried out.
Here is what is happening and what it means for our community.
The FY2026 federal budget includes funding for Continuum of Care (CoC) programs across the country. These programs support housing and services for people experiencing homelessness.
This means communities can continue operating their current programs while federal agencies work through implementation details.
HUD is currently involved in a federal court case that affects how it runs the national funding competition for Continuum of Care (CoC) programs.
In December 2025, a federal court issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily stopped HUD from moving forward with parts of its funding process.
In a recent filing in the case, HUD asked the court to dissolve (remove) that preliminary injunction. HUD argues that direction included in the FY2026 federal appropriations law changes the circumstances that led the court to issue the injunction.
If the court grants HUD’s request, HUD has indicated it would move forward with implementing the FY2025 Continuum of Care Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) released December 19, 2025. This funding competition would apply to projects whose grants expire later in 2026.
The court has been asked to consider HUD’s request, and the outcome remains pending.
You can view the case and filings here:
National Alliance to End Homelessness v. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1:25-cv-00636
HUD has indicated that:
These plans are based on current federal guidance and could change depending on court decisions.
The court has not yet decided whether to lift the preliminary injunction.
The groups that brought the lawsuit are expected to challenge HUD’s request. Because of this, timelines or processes could still change depending on the court’s decision.
The Columbus and Franklin County Continuum of Care receive about $27.4 million in federal renewal funding across all local programs.
All of our renewal grants run from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.
Because these grants fall within the second-quarter 2026 expiration period, they are expected to receive noncompetitive renewals under current HUD guidance, unless federal direction changes.
In practical terms, this means we expect local programs to continue operating without disruption based on what we know today.
CSB will continue to:
We will provide new information as soon as it becomes available.
If you have questions about federal developments or local funding, please contact CSB at:
info@csb.org.