As the chief executive officer of Catholic Charities Twin Cities, Jamie Verbrugge helps oversee 1,000 small apartments tied to voluntary services aimed at helping previously-homeless residents stay housed, such as “wrap-around” counseling support for those with addiction and mental health issues. Verbrugge said 90% of his tenants stick around, or seek new apartments on their own, rather than backsliding into the streets.

Of those units, 120 residences are largely funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which issued new conditions last week fundamentally altering access for permanent supportive housing dollars, if not cutting them in half.

The new requirements heavily cap what percentage of each federal housing grant can fund such services, which is poised to upend how some $48 million in housing dollars are distributed statewide.

For Catholic Charities, “it’s more than $1 million that is in jeopardy right now,” said Verbrugge, who fears the federal government’s new emphasis on temporary, transitional housing mandating work requirements and addiction treatment could leave families out on the street. “There’s the dollars impact, but we’re also concerned about the human impact.”

In a news release on the changes, HUD officials said, “Roughly 90% of the last four year’s (grants) funneled funding to support the failed ‘Housing First’ ideology, which encourages dependence on endless government handouts while neglecting to address the root causes of homelessness, including illicit drugs and mental illness.”

The changes also increase competition for grants, according to the HUD officials, while focusing on “self-sufficiency” and “personal accountability.”

Many housing providers say they’re incredulous chronically homeless residents will be able to make a lasting transition to stable housing that starts out heavy on expectations around work and treatment.

“You’re going to put people in encampments into housing with mandatory service requirements?” said Chris LaTondresse, president and chief executive officer of the Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative, one of the largest providers of permanent supportive housing statewide.

Housing groups, members of Congress, weigh in

More than 185 housing organizations from across Minnesota have come together in a letter to Congress asking federal lawmakers to walk back deep changes to $48 million in statewide housing assistance they say could double chronic homelessness, even as much of that funding is redirected toward two-year transitional housing.

Their alarm was echoed by 42 U.S. Senate Democrats — including both senators from Minnesota — as well as 22 Republican House members who recently circulated their own letter urging HUD to extend “Continuum of Care” funding expiring in 2026 by at least an additional year. The Republicans include U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber of Minnesota’s Duluth-based 8th District.

Politico last week reported that HUD expects to award roughly 7,000 housing grants totaling about $3.9 billion, a slight increase from the previous year’s funding and a reflection of rising rent prices. HUD’s “notice of funding opportunity” recommends that organizations prioritize projects that provide “treatment and services people need to recover and regain self-sufficiency.”

Nonprofit housing providers in Minnesota say the new HUD grant rules turn their “Housing First” strategy on its head.

$48 million in funding

For years, leaders of charitable housing organizations such as Catholic Charities and the Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative have embraced a “Housing First” and “Continuum of Care” model that seeks to set up deeply affordable housing at all stages of need, from emergency shelter and transitional housing to permanent supportive housing tied to voluntary services. They’ve prioritized getting the homeless housed even before steering them toward addiction and mental health treatment, on the premise that residents are unlikely to succeed at treatment without a roof over their head.

Minnesota’s 10 Continuums of Care received $48 million in HUD funding last year, with most of that money going toward deeply affordable housing and support services for more than 3,600 people, including seniors, veterans, youth, families and survivors of domestic violence. The new rules announced by HUD last week impose a 30% cap on funding for permanent supportive housing, which could cut existing dollars in half by redirecting housing dollars toward other uses.

“The Continuum of Care program is the largest source of federal grant funds for providing a wide range of housing and services for individuals … at risk of homelessness,” reads a letter to HUD Secretary Scott Turner, signed by U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar as well as 40 other Senate Democrats.

“HUD’s current path risks causing a dangerous spike in street homelessness … by forcing nearly 200,000 chronically homeless Americans with disabilities and families back onto the streets,” reads the letter, which was issued last Thursday.

Reducing permanent supportive housing investment

The cap is expected to reduce permanent supportive housing investment nationally from $2.3 billion to $1.2 billion.

Expressing fear that could leave 170,000 people who were previously homeless back on the streets, Beacon Interfaith’s LaTondresse called the changes “the most devastating housing cuts in modern U.S. history.”

“The scale and speed of HUD’s cuts and rule changes place Minnesotans who have overcome homelessness at immediate risk, leave communities with zero time to plan, and reverse decades of bipartisan progress on proven solutions to homelessness,” said LaTondresse, in a written statement last week. His organization in recent weeks had already lost access to two major federal grants totaling $5 million for permanent supportive housing in Richfield and Maplewood.

“Supportive housing works,” LaTondresse said. “It saves lives, saves taxpayer dollars, and reflects the best of who we are … Protect what works.”

Other changes to HUD funding, also announced last week, could pose additional barriers to homelessness prevention, according to housing providers. Base funding for housing interventions known as “Tier 1” support is dropping from 90% to 30% of each community’s annual allocation, freeing up more discretionary funds for the Trump administration’s pilot programs around housing while forcing providers to apply for dollars that comply with executive orders on immigration, public camping bans and gender-related policy compliance.

Calling on Congress and HUD to rethink its strategy, faith leaders plan to join residents and housing providers on Nov. 25 in a 12-hour overnight vigil dubbed “Losing Sleep, Losing Home” at a congregation in Minneapolis. Details are still being sorted, LaTondresse said.

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By JAIMIE DING

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Trump administration filed a lawsuit Monday over California’s new laws banning federal agents from wearing masks and requiring them to have identification while conducting operations in the state.

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The federal government has argued the laws threaten the safety of officers who are facing “unprecedented” harassment, doxing, and violence and said it will not comply with them.

California became the first state to ban most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from covering their faces while conducting official business under a bill that was signed in September by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law prohibits neck gaiters, ski masks and other facial coverings for local and federal officers, including immigration enforcement agents, while they conduct official business. It makes exceptions for undercover agents, protective equipment like N95 respirators or tactical gear, and it does not apply to state police.

Newsom also signed legislation requiring law enforcement to wear clear identification showing their agency and badge number while on the job. The laws require federal law enforcement agencies to issue a mask policy by July 1, 2026, and a visible identification policy by Jan. 1, 2026.

“California’s anti-law enforcement policies discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents. These laws cannot stand,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a press release.

The lawsuit said there have been multiple incidents where Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were followed and their families threatened. It cites a case of three women in Los Angeles who are being accused of livestreaming while following an ICE agent home and posting the address on Instagram.

“Given the personal threats and violence that agents face, federal law enforcement agencies allow their officers to choose whether to wear masks to protect their identities and provide an extra layer of security,” the lawsuit said.

Newsom has called the practice of masked federal agents arresting people across the state “dystopian.”

Critics have raised concerns about the increased role of federal agents in local policing and often unidentified agents conducting immigration enforcement activities.

FILE – A woman stands off with a law enforcement officer wearing a Houston Field Office Special Response Team patch outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs building during a protest in Portland, Ore., June 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

“If the Trump administration cared half as much about public safety as it does about pardoning cop-beaters, violating people’s rights, and detaining U.S. citizens and their kids, our communities would be much safer,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s office said in a statement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a memo in October to law enforcement agencies across the country advising officers to clearly identify themselves in the field. It cited several incidents where masked criminals posed as immigration officers robbed and kidnapped victims.

The federal government also said in its lawsuit that the laws violate the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits states from regulating the federal government. It said the law banning federal officers from wearing masks discriminates against the federal government because it exempts state police.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said it was reviewing the complaint.

“It’s problematic when Californians can’t tell the difference between a law enforcement officer who is charged with protecting them and a criminal who is attempting to cause them harm,” Bonta’s office said in a statement. “The FBI itself has warned that the practice of ICE agents obscuring their identity has led to a rise in copycats committing crimes, threatening public safety and eroding trust in law enforcement.”

Photos of Jackson Dallas Forster were shown in a Ramsey County courtroom Monday before his father was sentenced to prison for causing head injuries to the 8-week-old, who died less than two months later.

One photo showed Jackson in a romper that read, “Mommy’s Little Baby.” It was taken five days before he was injured at the hands of his father, who told police he could not remember what had happened because he was “blackout drunk.”

Mark Russell Forster (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Last month, Mark Russell Forster, 40, of White Bear Lake, entered a Norgaard plea to second-degree unintentional murder for his son’s March 2024 death, which an autopsy determined was from complications due to blunt force head trauma. Under a Norgaard plea, a defendant says they are unable to remember what happened due to drug use or mental health impairment at the time, but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a jury to convict beyond a reasonable doubt.

Forster received 128 months in prison, more than 10 years, a sentence that was negotiated between the defense and prosecution as part of a plea agreement. He received credit for 460 days he served after his arrest.

Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Saraswati Singh noted in court the term fell at the low end of state sentencing guidelines. “The state believes that this is a reasonable offer, because Mr. Forster pleaded guilty before trial, sparing the witnesses and family members from testifying,” Singh told Judge Sophia Vuelo.

Singh said Jackson’s mother provided the photos of her baby and was planning to be at the sentencing hearing, but “she ultimately decided to stay at home.” The mother attended the Oct. 9 plea hearing, Singh said, but stepped out twice and ultimately left “because it was very difficult for her to hear about the injuries that baby Jackson sustained.”

‘Abusive head trauma’

Jackson’s mother brought him to the hospital on Jan. 31, 2024. He remained hospitalized and died on March 22, 2024, at M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis from complications of bleeding between his brain and skull, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Child abuse specialists reported that Jackson’s injuries “were highly consistent with abusive head trauma,” according to the June 2024 criminal complaint.

Forster told police he arrived home from work on Jan. 31, 2024, about 1 a.m. and “kinda delved into liquor a little bit,” the complaint said.

He said he remembered putting the baby to bed, but not how or when he went to bed. He remembered waking up at 6 a.m. to feed Jackson, after which he said he put the baby in his swing. He said at some point they moved to the bed because that’s where they were when he woke up.

Forster later admitted to police that he had smoked marijuana when he got home from work and “drank more than typical that morning,” the complaint continued.

The baby’s mother told police she woke at 6 a.m. to prepare herself and her daughter for work and school, and she returned home about 1:30 p.m. She said Jackson was sleeping in a chair with Forster.

She noticed Jackson was napping longer than usual and then cried “a different cry,” the complaint said. He wouldn’t take a bottle, one of his arms was flailing, his face twitched and he had a spasm in one leg. She contacted Forster, who came home, and they called a nurse line and were told to bring Jackson to an emergency room.

Jackson’s mother told investigators that she confronted Forster about their baby’s injuries and he said “he may have done something to their son but he did not remember because he had been drinking,” according to the complaint.

Forster told investigators that the baby’s mother wasn’t responsible for their child’s severe injuries. He said “he could not rule himself out as the cause,” the complaint said.

Investigators found a text message that Forster sent to the baby’s mother, which said, “Yea. I’m just really upset with myself because I got so blackout drunk last night I don’t remember anything. This is all my fault,” according to the complaint.

‘We held him and rocked him’

Prosecutor Singh noted in court Monday that Forster had two DWI convictions in his prior home state of North Carolina. Singh said she was surprised to read in this month’s presentence investigation report that Forster stated he “borderline has an alcohol issue.”

“He crossed that line ages ago,” Singh said. “He has a serious issue, and it resulted in the death of baby Jackson.”

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Jackson was “showered with love” at the hospital, his mother’s aunt said in a victim impact statement read by Singh. “We held him and rocked him and baptized him,” the statement read.

For much of the hearing, Forster looked down while holding his head in his right hand. He wiped his eyes with tissues.

When given the chance to address the court, he read a statement. Through tears, he said he prays to God and has found repentance, “and I apologize with all my heart for the pain and sadness and the betrayal that I’ve caused.”

He said Jackson has been in his dreams, sometimes older with “dark hair, a terrific smile, (his mother’s) eyes and a sweet face.”

If nothing else, J.J. McCarthy has learned to hold himself accountable, and that’s a character trait that can’t necessarily be taught.

There are veteran NFL quarterbacks out there that still have a propensity to deflect following a rough performance, but McCarthy is at least comfortable owning up to his mistakes, as he did Sunday after spraying the ball all over the place in the Vikings’ 19-17 loss to the Chicago Bears.

McCarthy was his own harshest critic while recalling some of the incompletions that he wished he could have back. It wasn’t lost on him that he had completed 16 of 32 passes for 150 yards a touchdown with a pair of interceptions. He emphasized that his accuracy simply wasn’t good enough, and followed that up by vowing to do everything in his power to improve.

“I have to deliver,” he said. “I put that completely on me.”

It can’t be denied that McCarthy keeps saying the right things. His problem is that he keeps doing the wrong things.

Though there have certainly been flashes of brilliance along the way — a beautifully executed back shoulder fade here, a perfectly placed deep ball there — he has more often looked overwhelmed while trying to make the basic throws required to succeed at the highest level.

Channeling his inner Tim Tebow at the podium won’t mean much if he doesn’t also start to show steady growth in the very near future. You can only talk the talk so long. You also have to walk to walk at some point.

The biggest issue with McCarthy’s accuracy seems to be his footwork. When faced with pressure, he has shown a tendency to revert back to some bad habits in his lower half. Kevin O’Connell has worked at length with McCarthy to make sure that doesn’t happen in the heat of battle, but some of those intricacies have yet to become habit.

“There are some plays where he’s making it hard on himself,” O’Connell said. “I think that’s probably the most frustrating part for him.”

Whether it’s occasionally putting himself in a bad spot by stepping up too far in the pocket, or consistently getting himself out of rhythm by neglecting some mechanics, McCarthy’s shortcomings have made him the least accurate quarterback in the NFL this season with a 52.9% completion rate.

Is it fixable? The only way for the Vikings to find out is to continue to putting him out there and see if the instruction starts to take.

“You’re just trying to get him to understand that every single snap, his detail in his job is of the utmost importance,” O’Connell said. “Sometimes it’s not even reads and progressions; it’s simply just the fundamental foundation. We need to start seeing the concrete kind of dry a little bit on the work that’s put in.”

Now that the playoffs seem to be out of reach, the Vikings should use the rest of this season to determine how they want to move forward next season. Is this a small bump in the road for McCarthy, or larger hurdle that will be hard for him to overcome? That question needs to be answered over the next couple of months — starting Sunday in Green Bay.

The good news from McCarthy is he still seems to have the confidence of his teammates.

“He’s only going to get better and better,” veteran receiver Adam Thielen said. “He’s not lacking the skill set. He’s not lacking the competitiveness. He’s not lacking the confidence.”

Thielen’s faith is rooted in McCarthy’s intangibles as a leader. They have have shown up on a number of occasions this season, including on the 10-play, 85-yard drive that McCarthy led to give the Vikings a fleeting lead over the Bears with 50 seconds left.

“He’s made of the right stuff,” O’Connell said. “He’s going to keep working at it.”

Will it be hard to maintain that level of focus with so much going on around him?

“I don’t think it’s too hard for me,” McCarthy said. “Because I’m obsessed with the process.”

That’s another case of McCarty saying the right things. If he doesn’t start doing the right things, people will stop listening.

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