The Trump administration is putting Los Angeles’ homeless industrial complex on notice.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and HUD Secretary Scott Turner came to Los Angeles Tuesday, blasting the way billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent fighting homelessness.
HUD says federal homeless funding to Los Angeles nearly tripled over the past decade — while homelessness doubled.
And LAHSA alone has received more than one billion dollars in federal taxpayer money since 2013.
Turner froze LAHSA’s access to HUD funding in June, citing mismanagement, fraud and abuse.
Now, about 240 million dollars in upcoming federal homeless funding is caught in the fight.
Turner even held up a brown bag containing drug paraphernalia he said was being distributed to homeless people using taxpayer money.
Kennedy says the administration wants money instead going to programs that move people off the streets, into treatment and recovery, and back toward self-sufficiency.
The two held their news conference at the faith-based L.A. Dream Center — the kind of recovery program the administration says it wants to support.
After years of spending more while homelessness grew, Washington’s message to Los Angeles is simple:
Show results — or don’t expect another blank check.
