RFK Jr. unveils 'treatment first' homelessness guidelines in visit to National City

Trevor Morgan, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Aug 12, 2026

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Three members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced homelessness policy guidelines for local governments at a news conference in National City on Wednesday.

The Trump administration’s “Best Practices Toolkit” suggests leaders steer away from housing-first and housing-only models, which Kennedy called “perversions” that have “stolen hundreds of billions from us over the past four years.”

Instead, the guidelines suggest local governments put funding toward treatment-first programs that prioritize faith-based organizations such as the South County Lighthouse, which Kennedy said “are doing it right.”

“Today we are announcing a toolkit that will allow local municipalities and states that are receiving federal money, and then paying out to contractors, to actually evaluate whether those contractors are doing the things we need them to do,” he said.

The event was held at the San Diego Rescue Mission’s South County Lighthouse, which opened in 2024 and was the first homeless shelter in National City.

Kennedy’s announcement comes amid the Trump administration’s continued attempts to block federal grants from being dispersed to programs it deems to be part diversity, equity and inclusion or housing-first models.

In May 2025, the city of San Diego joined a lawsuit with nearly 70 other cities, counties and regional authorities asking the courts to allow them to continue to use previously approved grants from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department.

A federal judge placed an injunction on the Trump administration’s new conditions for releasing funds a month after the lawsuit was filed. It’s currently under appeal in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court.

“The City understands that addressing homelessness is not a one-size fits all approach. At the same time, housing remains a critical part of addressing homelessness,” San Diego spokesperson Matt Hoffman said in a statement. “We believe communities need a full range of tools — including housing, shelter, treatment, outreach and supportive services that promote stability and self-sufficiency.”

Housing-first vs. treatment-first programs have been at the center of debates around homelessness for years, but have regained prominence recently. In June, Encinitas declined to request $3.9 million in funding from the state over concerns “strings attached” related to housing-first mandates.

El Cajon also rejected state funding for its HomeStart program. It had previously received about $1 million a year from California’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation Program. The city instead opted to spend more than $700,000 of its own money on treatment-first programs, including San Diego Rescue Mission’s South County Lighthouse.

“We encourage everybody, state, regional authorities, special-use districts, counties, cities, continuing care agencies, doesn’t matter what level, to prioritize treatment first or treatment with housing,” said HUD adviser Robert Marbut Jr. after the news conference.

Marbut added that he would encourage communities to accept state funding, but not if it includes a mandate to fund housing-first programs.