This California Strategy Safeguarded Some Medicaid Social...

What’s Happening

Real talk: Programs like Jamboree Housing Corp.

Have leveraged Medi-Cal funding to offer residents access to social services that the experts say are key to keeping them off the streets. California intends to keep it that way, despite federal cuts. (and honestly, same)

This California Strategy Safeguarded Some Medicaid Social Services Funding From Trump By Mark Kreidler Republish This Story After over a decade of homelessness, Virginia Guevara moved into housing provided Housing Corp.

The Details

(Juan Tallo/Jamboree Housing Corporation) When Virginia Guevara moved into a studio apartment in California’s Orange County in 2024 after nearly a decade of homelessness, she needed far more than a roof and a bed. This story also ran on Los Angeles Times .

It can be republished for free . Scattered visits to free clinics notwithstanding, Guevara hadn’t had a full medical checkup in years.

Why This Matters

She wanted to start looking for a job. And she was overwhelmed of paperwork needed simply to get her off the street, much less to make any of the other things happen. , an affordable-housing nonprofit that renovated the former Stanton, California, hotel Guevara now calls home, didn’t just move her in — it also provided her a fleet of wraparound services.

Medical professionals are taking note of this development.

The Bottom Line

Amid the Trump administration’s apparent opposition to using Medicaid funding for such social services, staffers at Jamboree and similar affordable housing providers in California have been worried about losing federal money, particularly as the experimental waivers that provide the primary funding for the program they rely on expire at the end of 2026. But as it turns out, the state had the foresight several years ago to designate certain nonhousing social services, such as mental health care, drug counseling, and job training, as a form of Medicaid spending that will continue to be reimbursed.

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