Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took aim at Los Angeles’ homeless-services system Tuesday, warning at the LA Dream Center that federal dollars will be pulled from programs that do not move people off the streets and into treatment. The message from the Trump administration was blunt: the era of automatic support for homelessness programs that fail to show results is over.
Kennedy said the government should back efforts that lead to recovery and self-sufficiency, not systems that simply manage long-term street homelessness. He told the audience that if a program’s performance shows it is keeping people on the streets rather than addressing addiction or other underlying problems, federal funding would stop. Housing Secretary Scott Turner stood with him as the administration escalated its fight with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
The administration has threatened to cut off about $240 million in federal homelessness funding tied to LAHSA, and Turner said the goal is for the agency not to receive another dollar until accountability improves. HUD has suspended LAHSA from submitting applications due August 26 for the money, which is meant for service providers across the region. Instead, those providers have been directed to apply directly to the federal government.
Kennedy also used the appearance to accuse former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra of weakening federal oversight and opening the door to fraud. He said Becerra moved 76 of the 80 workers responsible for oversight of $2.2 trillion in annual HHS payments, calling that a setup for abuse. Kennedy argued that the loss of oversight allowed scammers to siphon off tens of billions of dollars in Los Angeles through fraudulent autism services, fake medical equipment and phony hospice accounts.
Turner echoed the criticism and said the administration is moving away from what he called the business-as-usual model that treats homelessness as a permanent industry. He held up a brown lunch bag he said was being handed out to homeless people with taxpayer money and claimed it included drug paraphernalia. Turner also pointed to a federal indictment involving a homeless-services provider accused of fraudulently billing $23 million.
