Twelve Years Later, Obama’s Homelessness Policy Is a Proven Disaster

Twelve years after President Barack Obama promised to end homelessness with his “Housing First” strategy, the results are in and they’re devastating. Despite billions in federal spending, the United States is now facing the highest levels of homelessness in its history, with urban centers collapsing under the weight of failed liberal policy.

“It’s been a disaster on every level,” says Michele Steeb, senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and author of Answers Behind the Red Door. Battling the Homeless Epidemic.

Originally introduced in 2008 under the Bush administration for a small, specific subset of the homeless primarily those with severe mental illness and chronic addiction the “Housing First” model was massively expanded by Obama in 2013, becoming the federal government’s one-size-fits-all policy.

And the consequences have been catastrophic:

• A 35% increase in national homelessness over the past decade, reversing previous declines

• Nearly 50% of the nation’s unsheltered population now lives in California, the state that most aggressively implemented the policy

• A 40% spike in California’s homeless numbers since 2017, when it fully adopted Housing First at the state level

The model requires providers to offer unconditional housing no treatment for addiction, no requirement to seek employment, no mental health counseling. Obama-era policy stripped funding from shelters, transitional housing, and support services, instead directing everything toward permanent subsidized housing without accountability.

“We are not going to fund mental health treatment or drug and alcohol treatment or employment training,” Steeb said. “And we’re going to offer this housing to the homeless, subsidized housing for life with no conditions, none whatsoever.”

The result? Tents, needles, and open-air drug use have replaced functional pathways out of homelessness.

Just look at California, the poster child for progressive governance. Cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland are experiencing unprecedented public health and safety breakdowns. Streets are overrun with addicts. Crime is up. Women are trafficked in plain sight. Even pets are overdosing on fentanyl in some encampments.

“Encampments have become so dangerous,” Steeb added. “There’s spillover effects to the general public that have been devastating.”

Contrast that with President Trump’s approach, which called for a return to accountability and treatment. Trump’s team moved to restore funding for mental health and drug treatment programs, encouraged local efforts to clear dangerous encampments, and prioritized rehabilitation alongside housing because true compassion means helping people get back on their feet, not enabling their decline.

A 2022 report from the Cicero Institute found that jurisdictions relying exclusively on Housing First saw nearly 25% more homelessness than those using a mixed-model approach. The data is clear: Obama’s policy didn’t just fail it made things worse.

Worse yet, the Biden administration has doubled down on the same broken model, ensuring that cities under progressive control continue to sink further into chaos.

It’s time for a complete reset. Homelessness cannot be solved with housing alone especially when the housing comes with zero expectations and no pathway to recovery. America must return to policies that treat root causes, enforce law and order, and put the well-being of both the homeless and their communities first.

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