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WHA Blog

Learn about the latest news and upcoming events from the WHA and its member agencies.

Undermining The Federal Government’s Commitment to Correcting Racial and Social Inequities – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

Jessilyn Averill

Dismantling Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) practices and policies halts the progress on addressing historic and ongoing systemic racism and discrimination and worsens disparities for those already most impacted by homelessness. The same can be said about the consequences that will come if HUD’s renewed attempts to gut the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule succeed.

Though DEIA language and efforts have been removed at the federal agency level, at this time this erasure has not been passed down to grantees of federal funding. It is important we know what has NOT changed and to do our part in not complying in advance for “orders” that are not in effect. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), this can look like:

  1. Continuum of Care (CoC) leaders continuing to implement and sustain equity practices within their systems – including data analysis, human-centered policy and program design, and equitable hiring practices.

  2. CoC leaders also continuing to partner authentically with people with lived experience of homelessness, including through hiring and Board/leadership development opportunities. Read guidance on how to do this here.

Read more on the anti-DEIA Executive Orders in NAEH’s blog.

Separately, on March 3rd, 2025 the new HUD Secretary published in the Federal Register a new stripped-down “Interim Final Rule” of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH). PolicyLink offers an explainer on the new rule here.

The AFFH stems from Congress’ passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968. It makes sure that cities, counties, states, public housing authorities, and other entities it funds do not discriminate and instead take active steps to tackle segregation and housing inequality. In 2020 the AFFH protection was devastated when the Trump Administration gutted this vital framework.

A new AFFH rule was proposed by HUD in 2023, but the Biden Administration left office before finalizing that update. Since the new IFR was published there is a 60-day comment period for the public to submit their feedback. More information on this action is here.

According to the NLIHC, there are actions we all can take as housing advocates to create a society that is less discriminatory and more integrated:

  1. We must hold HUD accountable for enforcing fair housing policies by providing public comment on changes to their policies and bringing them to court if warranted.

  2. We must improve access to credit and fight for stronger consumer protections, especially for people of color and low-income individuals. It is unacceptable that in 2025 individuals still face discrimination when they try to get loans from banks or apply for housing.

  3. We must update the Fair Housing Act to provide legal protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, source of income, veteran status, domestic violence survivor status, or criminal record.

  4. We must continue to collect data and establish clear goals to determine if we are making progress in ending housing discrimination and segregation.

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