Regina Laack calls the Offentsive camp for homeless women off Fairfield Drive home on Monday, February 3, 2025, but a recent Escambia County code violation order may jeopardize that.
San Jose, California – San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is drawing national attention—and controversy—with a bold new proposal aimed at combating homelessness in his city: jail individuals experiencing homelessness who refuse housing services three times.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Mahan, a Democrat, said the measure is a response to the growing crisis of addiction and mental illness among the homeless population. “There’s an extremely vulnerable subset of folks who refuse those options, no matter how nicely designed they are,” he said. “We’re sentencing people to die on the streets.”
Mahan’s proposal is part of a broader attempt to address California’s worsening homelessness crisis. The state holds nearly half of the nation’s unsheltered homeless population, despite billions in spending and statewide adoption of the “Housing First” model since 2016. That policy offers housing without preconditions such as sobriety or treatment—an approach critics argue enables addiction and drives up costs, with some housing units in San Francisco costing as much as $1.2 million to build.
San Jose currently has about 6,000 homeless individuals. Mahan believes many are caught in cycles of addiction and mental health struggles that prevent them from accepting help. A recent study from UCSF’s Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative found that 37% of California’s homeless regularly use illicit drugs, and nearly half suffer from complex behavioral health needs.
The mayor’s plan comes as California Gov. Gavin Newsom pushes local governments to clean up encampments. Mahan argues that accountability is essential. “Camping can’t be a choice when we’re offering housing,” he said. “It’s the threat of consequence, it’s the intervention, it’s disrupting the pattern.”
While critics say jailing the homeless criminalizes poverty, a recent Politico/UC Berkeley poll found that 37% of voters support arresting individuals who refuse shelter. Meanwhile, cities like San Francisco and Sacramento have already seen increased arrests tied to illegal encampments following a Supreme Court ruling allowing municipalities to ban public camping.
Mahan, who campaigned on reducing homelessness before taking office in 2023, insists his proposal isn’t about politics. “The status quo is failing,” he said. “The sooner we acknowledge that, the sooner we can embrace solutions that actually get people indoors and connected to services.”
He added that while low-barrier housing should remain an option, the public sector must also invest in sober living environments to help those who truly want recovery.
