The Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless and our partners advanced key legislative priorities this session, focused on preventing and ending homelessness across Minnesota. Together, we secured critical investments and policy solutions that strengthen housing stability for children, youth, adults, and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Check out the 2026 legislative priorities and outcomes below.
Family Housing Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP)
- 2026 OUTCOME: $40M for Family Homeless Prevention Assistance. As a reminder, FHPAP is designed to provide flexible financial assistance and supportive services to families, youth, and single adults who are homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless, to lead towards housing stability. It can be used for, but not limited to, financial support, such as rental costs, utility payments, transportation, and propane. In addition to financial assistance, it provides support services, including housing search assistance, referrals, employment resources, system navigation, and more.
- Priority led by MCH Advocacy Fellow: Vonn Grayson
Local Homeless Prevention Aid (LHPA)
- 2026 OUTCOME: The sunset for Local Homeless Prevention Aid (LHPA) was successfully extended from 2028 to 2032; a major victory for homelessness prevention efforts across Minnesota. LHPA provides flexible funding to counties and Tribal Nations to address housing instability before it escalates into homelessness, particularly for youth and families connected to school systems. Funding can be used for rental assistance, utility support, and other locally driven prevention strategies that help keep people safely housed while reducing the need for more costly emergency interventions.
- Priority led by MCH Advocacy Fellow: Ash Littles
Sustain the Gain: Supportive Housing and services to address homelessness
- 2026 OUTCOME: $13M for supportive housing and the homeless response system. Due to federal priority shifts and changes to state funding, Sustain the Gain addresses the urgent need for sustained investments in supportive housing and services across Minnesota. While Supportive Housing is the backbone of long-term stability for people with the highest needs, this funding also safeguards the emergency response, transitional services, outreach, coordinated entry, and data systems that keep communities functioning effectively. No single provider, county, Continuum of Care (CoC), or funding partner can do this alone; this investment preserves system capacity and ensures vulnerable Minnesotans remain housed.
- Priority led by MCH Advocacy Fellow: Randi Wickham
Our fourth MCH Advocacy Fellow, DaKota Morgan, was instrumental in helping us with the Our Future Starts at Home legislation. Check that out here.
We’ll be in touch later with additional updates!
Thank you to all of our partners, lobbyists, advocates, MCH Advocacy Fellows, Alumni of the Fellowship, and lawmakers who prioritized housing stability and homelessness prevention during this legislative session.
