PITTSBURGH — A homeless shelter for battered spouses and their children sued the county’s Department of Human Services Tuesday for $530,000 in federal housing funding.

The 20-year-old shelter in Shaler Township is called HEARTH, short for Homelessness Ends with Advocacy, Resources, Training and Housing, and it caters to victims of domestic abuse. Officials there said Tuesday that Allegheny County officials have wrongly denied them a designation as a “victim service provider” under federal Housing and Urban Development funding rules.

HEARTH officials say the county is trying to make the shelter accept all homeless people, which undermines the special programs it maintains specifically for people fleeing domestic abuse.

“Their callous actions are jeopardizing the well-being of homeless families,” Judy Eakin, HEARTH’s executive director.