TOMS RIVER, NJ — Help might be coming from the White House to tackle New Jersey’s gorwing homeless and mental health crisis. This week, an exective order was signed that will bolster resources and shift the way America deals with the homeless crisis.
In New Jersey, the homeless epidemic under Governor Phil Murphy was put on display in Toms River, as dozens of homeless people were drawn to the Ocean County seat after the Ocean County Board of Commissioners opened a soup kitchen operated by Jon Bon Jovi.
That battle ended when Toms River Mayor Dan Rodrick, along with other relief agencies placed those individuals into programs and housing, but is starting again as new homeless individuals began appearing again downtown last weekend.
President Donald J. Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directing sweeping changes to federal homelessness policy, prioritizing civil commitment, institutional treatment, and increased law enforcement involvement in addressing public disorder on city streets.
The order, titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,” cites rising homelessness and links it to mental illness, drug addiction, and public safety concerns. It directs the Attorney General, the Department of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation to take immediate steps that encourage states to institutionalize individuals deemed unable to care for themselves due to mental illness or substance use.
“Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order,” the order states.
According to the administration, 274,224 people were living on the streets on a single night during the final year of the previous administration, the highest number ever recorded. The order asserts that most of them suffer from addiction or mental illness.
Key provisions of the directive include:
- Encouraging federal legal challenges to judicial precedents and consent decrees that restrict involuntary commitment policies
- Directing grant preferences to states and cities that enforce laws against urban camping, loitering, drug use, and squatting
- Requiring federal housing programs to disqualify recipients operating “safe consumption sites” or distributing drug paraphernalia
- Expanding efforts to assess arrested homeless individuals for sexual dangerousness under federal civil commitment statutes
- Instructing federal agencies to support the expansion of drug and mental health courts, rather than housing-first initiatives
- Allowing federal housing programs to segregate housing by sex and exclude sex offenders from facilities housing children
The order also mandates the collection and possible sharing of health data from individuals receiving federal homelessness assistance with law enforcement, subject to legal limitations.
Federal funds will be directed away from harm-reduction programs and toward treatment-focused models. The order calls for increased regulation of federal grantees, including the possibility of freezing assistance to programs found in violation of federal drug laws.
Trump’s executive order marks a significant federal shift away from “housing first” approaches, emphasizing coercive treatment and law enforcement as central tools in combating homelessness.