Project ID + Spread The Vote

Mail-in voters who haven't returned ballots yet: Check your state's deadline to make sure your vote gets counted.

If your ballot must be received by Election Day, consider stopping by a ballot drop box or early voting site. It may be too late for the U.S. Postal Service to deliver it by Nov. 4...

In Utah, Trump’s Vision for Homelessness Begins to Take Shape

Under Trump, the draconian future of homelessness policy is coming into focus: mass internment. Utah is building a 16-acre site to detain up to 1,300 homeless people inside locked "accountability centers." This is profoundly alarming.

Vital reporting from @ellenbarry.bsky.social and Jason DeParle:

U.S. Postal Service Cuts Funding for a Phoenix Mail Room Assisting Homeless People The loss of support comes at a time of uncertainty for one of Arizona’s largest homeless services providers as the Trump administration calls for reducing and restructuring homelessness assistance grants.

NEW: For years, the Phoenix nonprofit Keys to Change has run a mail room for thousands of homeless people.

Now the U.S. Postal Service is cutting its $24,000 investment, leaving the organization to raise the extra money to keep it open.

Hi! Sorry for any confusion regarding our website(s) but happy to help. Please feel free to DM here or send an email to hello@spreadthevote.org.

In Seattle Mayoral Race, Tensions Between Crackdown and Compassion on Homelessness - Bolts Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has ramped up sweeps of homeless encampments in his first term. In his reelection bid, he faces a progressive challenger who wants to curb them.

NEW: In the hotly contested Seattle mayoral race, homelessness has become a fault line. Challenger Katie Wilson criticizes incumbent Bruce Harrell’s record, which includes carrying out more than 6,000 sweeps of homeless encampments.
Read my full article in @boltsmag.org:
boltsmag.org/seattle-mayo...

Register Now for "The U.S. Street Medicine Agenda: A Living Roadmap" Webinar on Oct. 15th Street medicine is at a turning point in the U.S. In May 2025, more than 75 leaders from across the country came together to chart a shared vision for the field. The result is the

In May 2025, more than 75 leaders in street medicine came together to chart a shared vision for the field. Join us Oct. 15 to explore that vision. Register here:
https://nhchc.org/register-now-for-the-u-s-street-medicine-agenda-a-living-roadmap-webinar-on-oct-15th/

Report: Criminalization of Homelessness and Mental Health in the US This report examines the current policies which enable the criminalization of homelessness and mental health, violations of international human rights standards, and potential evidence-based alternatives to provide mental health support to unhoused individuals.

NEW REPORT: The Criminalization of Homelessness & Mental Health Conditions in the US, published in collaboration with the UMiami Law Human Rights Clinic, examines how forced institutionalization is increasingly used to criminalize unhoused individuals with mental health conditions.

buff.ly/4tB8mQG

Street Sense and our partners put out four stories yesterday for the second day of the Homeless Crisis Reporting Project, in honor of World Homeless Day this Friday. Read them all at bit.ly/DCHCRP.

140,000 N.Y.C. Students Are Homeless. Can the Next Mayor Change That?

"140,000 N.Y.C. Students Are Homeless. Can the Next Mayor Change That? The city’s housing crisis has contributed to an education crisis, with more children than ever living in temporary housing. They face dismal outcomes"

Fixing housing crisis is a moral imperative: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/n...

The Big Beautiful Bill has a SNAP Poison Pill How states will get the blame for massive cuts to food stamps

New from @pamherd.bsky.social at Can We Still Govern?

Some states are threatening to end SNAP. Why? Trump is setting state governments up for failure, cutting resources, adding administrative burdens while imposing massive financial penalties for errors.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-big-be...

Ever felt like your ballot is written in another language? You’re not alone. That’s why we’re launching Encyclopedia Politica, a resource to make govt understandable & connect people to the power they already hold.

Learn more at an upcoming Lunch & Learn!
10/10: bit.ly/epOct10
10/14: bit.ly/epOct14

An ID should never stand between someone and their right to vote.

When a person loses their ID, they often lose access — to housing, healthcare, and the ballot box.

We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen. #IDsForLife

donorbox.org/support-spre...

This is an important investigation and the context I’d add as a sociologist is how hard-to-use these programs already are for many—from years-long waiting lines for section 8 or housing, to lack of landlords willing to rent to Section 8 households, and ongoing loss of public housing units

Lucas County to launch Enhanced Library ID Program to expand access to services The ID will have a person's picture, address, date of birth, library patron number, and expiration date.

"The initiative is designed to support residents who may lack traditional forms of identification, including unhoused individuals, new Americans, senior citizens and youth. The card can be used to verify identity at food pantries, shelters, senior centers and other service providers."

The Cost of a Single Trump Tax Break Would Bring 3.2 Million Individuals Out of Poverty. SSI Reform Could Change Lives. During the debate on the 2025 GOP reconciliation bill, Republican lawmakers argued that cutting aid for able-bodied adults would free resources for “those that truly need it.” Yet, that money has neve...

New from me at @rooseveltforward.org Building economic security will require major upgrades to our forgotten and threadbare programs for people with disabilities. I describe the decade of neglect that have left millions on SSI languishing in poverty...1/3

www.firesidestacks.com/p/ssi-reform...

Private health insurers use AI to approve or deny care. Soon Medicare will, too. A pilot program testing the use of artificial intelligence to expand prior authorization decisions in Medicare has providers, politicians and researchers asking questions.

For @nbcnews.com/ @kffhealthnews.org, Lauren Sausser and I looked at the government’s confusing two-step:

Simplify prior authorization for private insurance

Add AI-powered prior authorization for Medicare: www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcn...

💬 Viewpoint: Homelessness is shaped by federal policies, and addressing it requires evidence-based solutions centered on affordable housing and community support rather than prioritizing public safety measures.

ja.ma/4gwFbbs

NYC issuing more housing vouchers for homeless residents than ever before The city says 37,500 people moved out of shelters via rental assistance programs last fiscal year. But the mayor is blocking further expansion.

"Vouchers have proven effective at keeping low-income households from becoming homeless again. The vast majority of those who use the aid to pay their rent stay in their apartments for at least a year, while nearly 1 in 5 single adults who exit shelters without assistance return within 12 months."

States Grapple With Fundamental Change in Food Stamps

“States warn that the entire program is at risk of being eliminated if legislatures cannot come up with their share. Weighing whether to impose additional state taxes or cut costs elsewhere. Considering imposing barriers that will all but certainly reduce the number of recipients on their rolls.”

New York City turns to data sharing to help the formerly incarcerated reenter society A six-month pilot program aims to expedite the process for people leaving a carceral setting to obtain a government-issued ID, the lack of which often stymies their ability to get assistive services, ...

"Driver’s licenses or other forms of ID expire during their time in custody...having no valid ID often becomes a barrier to reintegrating into society."

"Leaving [prison] w/o a valid ID can delay someone’s effort to, for instance, open a bank account, obtain housing or apply for public benefits."

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Work Requirements after HR 1: Leverage Points in Light of Rapid Implementation. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the w... In this webinar, national experts will explain the work requirements under SNAP and Medicaid created by the recently passed Republican megabill, and who will be impacted. They will discuss strategies ...

HR 1 greatly expanded work requirements for both SNAP and Medicaid. Join me and other experts at a webinar next week on policy implications, operational strategies, and ways to reduce burden and protect access.
September 25 at 1 pm ET / 10 am PT
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Asphalt Burns and Heatstroke: Homeless in America’s Hottest City

Without shelter, people are highly vulnerable to dehydration and heatstroke. They get third-degree burns from sleeping on the asphalt. They get itchy from sweat and scratch themselves, causing infections. Their hearts and kidneys struggle. The heat affects their mood and behavior.

I've got some extra copies of There Is No Place for Us, and I'd love to give away 5 signed books.

Just repost, like, or comment to signal your interest. I'll pick names at random on Friday.

Totally optional: feel free to share how the struggle for stable housing shows up in your life or community.

SF Streamlined Its Street Teams. Now, Fewer People Are Getting the Help They Need Street medicine outreach workers describe a new, expensive, and disorganized program that lacks clear objectives.

SF’s street medicine teams are forced to focus on “the list” — a small number of homeless folks who’ve caught the eye of politicians or angry neighbors.

This means that every day they’re driving past people in urgent need of medical care — and they can’t stop to help. tinyurl.com/2eh8vrp3

An HIV Outbreak in Maine Shows the Risk of Trump’s Crackdown on Homelessness and Drug Use - KFF Health News Public health experts and advocates say the outbreak has been fueled by a confluence of local factors, including the sweeping of a homeless encampment and shuttering of a sterile-syringe program. But…

A New England state is battling the largest HIV outbreak in its history. The local factors that shaped it can shed light on what to expect from Trump’s policies on homelessness and drug use. @kffhealthnews.org
kffhealthnews.org/news/article... kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Despite Trump’s attacks on the homeless, Oregon law holds up Grants Pass, Oregon won a Supreme Court case allowing cities to punish homeless people. But its latest legal settlement reiterates cities must act reasonably, despite federal provocations.

In the Grants Pass v. Johnson case last year, the US Supreme Court ruled it was constitutional to punish people for being homeless. But an Oregon law requires cities to maintain basic standards regulating homelessness, and the law appears to be working as intended — even in Grants Pass.