California should prioritize recovery before handing out taxpayer-funded housing, an expert told The Post.
Tom Wolf, who is leading calls to dramatically revamp the state’s broken homelessness system, said the only way to ensure people don’t end up back on the streets is to help get them off drugs and alcohol.
It comes as a shocking report found 40% of people placed into housing through a $300 million Los Angeles program ended up back on the streets within months.
At the center of the controversy is Housing First, an approach in California that doesn’t require sobriety, treatment or participation in services to get taxpayer funded housing.
“You’re basically warehousing people with addiction and mental illness and hoping they figure it out on their own,” Wolf, who has been a thorn in Gavin Newsom’s side for years, told The Post.
“Drug addiction and mental illness don’t get treated. It just happens behind a door instead of on the sidewalk.”
Wolf cycled through homelessness, arrests, and addiction, running out of options before finally hitting a turning point that wasn’t housing alone.
What changed his life, he said, was pressure, a forced choice between jail, the streets, or a structured treatment program.
“That’s what saved my life,” he said. “I had an incentive. Without that, I’d be dead.”
Now, he’s pushing for what he calls “recovery-based housing”, programs that combine shelter with structure, including sobriety requirements and participation in treatment.
Last year, a bill aligned with that approach, backed by Assemblymember Matt Haney, made it to the desk of Newsom before being vetoed.
“We’re not saying get rid of Housing First,” Wolf said. “We’re saying it can’t be the only option.”
Just last week, a federal judge dealt a blow to the Trump administration’s attempt to overhaul homelessness funding linked to housing first.
The ruling upheld a lower court’s preliminary injunction, marking the latest legal setback for a policy shift advocates warn could force as many as 170,000 people out of federally subsidized housing and back onto the streets.
Supporters of Housing First maintain that requiring sobriety can deter people from seeking help. But Wolf points to what he says is a growing counterexample.
In San Francisco, a clean-and-sober shelter funded by The Salvation Army requires sobriety and regular drug testing. The 60-bed facility is full and has a waiting list.
“If you incentivize people struggling with addiction, many will engage with services,” Wolf said. “But if there’s no incentive, the same behaviors continue.”
Meanwhile, the scale of spending continues to climb.
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Wolf estimates San Francisco spends roughly $450 million annually on housing programs for about 16,000 people. Los Angeles, he said, is likely spending closer to $700 million a year.
“I think it’s okay if you’re gonna spend three-quarters of a billion dollars a year on rent subsidies, that you have some requirements that go with that.”
Wolf was also selected as one of 50 people nationwide invited to a homelessness summit in Washington, D.C., next week, a sign his message is gaining traction beyond California.
He said he plans to use that platform to push hard for a shift in policy toward recovery-based solutions.
“I’m going there to make the case that what we’re doing right now isn’t working,” Wolf said. “We need to give people a real path out, not just a place to stay.”
The Post reached out to Bass for comment on the story.
