Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday sharply criticized Los Angeles' homelessness system, labeling it a taxpayer-funded failure and warning that federal funding could be withheld if programs do not demonstrably move individuals off the streets. The Trump administration is threatening to cut off approximately $240 million in federal homelessness funding to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA).
"We cannot solve homelessness by funding systems that perpetuate it," Kennedy stated at the LA Dream Center. "We will fund programs that get people off the streets, into treatment and recovery, and back to self-sufficiency."
Housing Secretary Scott Turner, who appeared alongside Kennedy, added, "Our aim is that LAHSA does not receive another dollar until it has accountability." The administration has suspended LAHSA from submitting applications for the $240 million in federal funding designated for service providers across the region, directing them instead to apply directly to the federal government.
Kennedy also accused former Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra of dismantling federal oversight mechanisms, which he claimed opened the door to widespread fraud. Kennedy alleged that Becerra transferred 76 out of 80 oversight workers responsible for monitoring trillions of dollars in annual HHS payments, calling it "an invitation for the fraudsters to come in and steal everything."
According to Kennedy, this lack of oversight allowed scammers to bill the government tens of billions of dollars in Los Angeles through fraudulent autism services, fake medical equipment, and phony hospice accounts. "He let the people steal the money" and "looked the other way while fraud, waste, and abuse exploded," Kennedy said of Becerra.
The administration intends to shift federal homelessness spending towards recovery-focused transitional housing and away from the "housing first" model, which prioritizes permanent subsidized housing without mandatory treatment or conditions. The LA Dream Center, a faith-based residential treatment center, was presented as an example of the recovery-focused approach the administration supports.
Turner criticized the current approach, displaying a brown lunch bag he claimed was being given to homeless individuals with taxpayer money, which he said contained "drug paraphernalia." He also cited a federal indictment accusing a homeless-services provider of fraudulently billing $23 million.
LAHSA is reportedly challenging the funding suspension before U.S. District Judge David O. Carter. A separate court hurdle exists for the administration's funding shift, as a federal judge in Rhode Island has temporarily blocked the proposed change, ruling that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) altered its 2025 funding offer without a required review process. The judge also set aside HUD's 2026 funding offer.