DOJ will pursue guardianships in state courts for homeless veterans

The Trump administration announced a new effort to initiate legal guardianships for hundreds of veterans, including some who are homeless or “at risk of homelessness,” that could be used to force more of them into involuntary or institutional care, reported The New York Times.

Under the new arrangement, the Justice Department would give officials at the Veterans Affairs Department authority they currently lack to initiate guardianship proceedings in state courts for veterans who have no family and are “unable to make their own health care decisions.”

If a state court determines that a veteran is incapable of making health care decisions, it would appoint a third-party guardian not employed by the V.A., who would be charged to act in the veterans’ best interests, said Pete Kasperowicz, the V.A. press secretary.

The initiative comes amid a push by the Trump administration to compel more homeless people into institutional treatment for mental illness and drug addiction.

President Trump identified homelessness as a priority during the 2024 presidential campaign and promoted it last July in an executive order that called on agencies to use civil commitment to move homeless people into “long-term institutional settings.”

Critics say the policy shift raises significant civil liberties concerns, noting that in earlier generations, people with severe mental illness were routinely stripped of their legal rights and confined to state hospitals.

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