SPRINGFIELD — Permanent supportive housing in Hamden County gives 304 people — each homeless for at least a year but likely longer — not just a roof over their head, but a person to talk with.

Aid workers check in at least once a week, offering mental health care, alcohol or drug treatment, and job search help, said Olivia Bernstein, vice president of supportive housing services for the Mental Health Association in Chicopee.

But maybe not for too much longer.

The Trump administration, in a major policy shift in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is capping the money that grant recipients around the country can spend “housing first” programs, like permanent supportive housing, and instead emphasizing shelters. In housing first sites, sobriety is not a prerequisite, a

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