In The Press
Publications in San Diego Union Tribune
Does San Diego's Declining Homeless Count Reflect Real Progress?
By Dr. Mahdi Diab, Founder & Executive Director, SoCal Street Medicine
San Diego's 2025 homeless count showed a decrease to 9,905 people, but this apparent progress may mask a troubling reality. As a physician working directly with unhoused populations, I observe that criminalization doesn't solve homelessness—it just makes it less visible. With 36% of jail inmates reporting homelessness at arrest (up from 22% in 2014), we may be simply transferring people from streets to cells at a cost of $132,860 per prisoner annually—three times more than housing them.
The real crisis is affordability: 81% of San Diego's homeless first experienced homelessness locally, and for every 10 people housed, 14 more become homeless. With a shortage of 134,500 affordable homes and waiting lists of 3-6 years for subsidized senior housing, criminalization won't solve what housing scarcity created.
San Diego needs systemic solutions: expanded zoning reforms, eliminated parking minimums, rent stabilization, and increased affordable housing construction. True progress means housed people, not hidden or handcuffed people.
Street Sweeps Make San Diego's Homelessness Crisis Worse. They Must End.
By Dr. Mahdi Diab, Founder & Executive Director, SoCal Street Medicine
As a family physician treating San Diego's homeless population, I witness daily how street sweeps undermine efforts to end homelessness while creating preventable public health crises. I've watched patients lose critical medications during sweeps, leading to emergency hospitalizations. I've seen people lose IDs essential for accessing housing, phones needed for case manager contact, and irreplaceable personal items like family photographs.
The cruel irony: sweeps intended to address homelessness actually worsen it. Each displacement fragments the fragile support systems helping people move toward stability. Healthcare providers and case managers lose track of clients, forcing us to restart the resource-intensive process of rebuilding trust and care. Meanwhile, people are pushed to increasingly dangerous locations along freeways and riverbeds, further from the services they need.
The cycle costs millions in law enforcement and healthcare while achieving only temporary clearing of public spaces. As the U.S. Department of Justice states, "It is neither safe nor appropriate to put law enforcement on the front lines to resolve mental health, substance abuse, and housing crises when what people experiencing homelessness really need is housing and adequate services."
San Diego needs evidence-based solutions: basic sanitation infrastructure near encampments, increased access to healthcare providers and case managers, and continued affordable housing development. Only by treating our unhoused neighbors with dignity can we make meaningful progress.
