A caseworker at a housing site for formerly homeless people in San Jose has been arrested for possessing drugs with an intent to sell — months after former workers repeatedly raised concerns to managers of suspected drug dealing between the caseworker and residents.
Police arrested Yasmin Wright, 46, on Monday outside the Branham Lane temporary housing site at the intersection of Branham Lane and Monterey Road. Wright had roughly 3.4 ounces of suspected methamphetamine individually wrapped for potential sales, according to the San Jose Police Department.
Wright is facing two felony counts for possessing drugs with an intent to sell, and for transporting, selling or giving away drugs. She also faces a misdemeanor for possessing drug paraphernalia. She has multiple counts of felony on her record, including a 2014 arrest for possessing firearms, according to court records.
The arrest follows an investigation conducted by this news outlet, where current and former workers told San José Spotlight of dysfunction at the three-story modular housing site with 168 apartments operated by nonprofit LifeMoves.
Workers who flagged Wright for behavior they thought was suspicious — including handing items off to residents and walking offsite with residents multiple times a day — were eventually terminated. One case manager was fired for recording what they believed to be a drug transaction between Wright and a resident on a surveillance camera.
“It was hard to take a harm reduction approach when management told me to look the other way and not ‘gossip’ about what I knew was happening,” the former case manager, who asked for anonymity for privacy concerns, told San José Spotlight. “This harmed not only the staff that wanted to speak up and have a better working environment, but also enabled the clients and their addiction.”
Former workers who raised these concerns to human resources were told their claims were “unfounded” after LifeMoves apparently conducted an investigation. The former case manager said the human resources manager refused to provide a copy of their complaint.
Sources said Wright has worked at Branham Lane since it opened February 2025.
LifeMoves spokesperson Maria Prato said actions by one worker don’t reflect the nonprofit or other employees at Branham Lane who are working to support people experiencing homelessness.
“We are aware of the recent report and are deeply disheartened by the situation,” Prato told San José Spotlight. “As a matter of policy, we do not comment publicly on specific personnel matters. LifeMoves remains prepared to fully cooperate with any investigations related to public safety and work with the city to address any outstanding concerns.”
A San Jose Housing Department spokesperson said the city shares in the community’s concerns of treatment of residents at the site, as well as health and safety concerns of the surrounding neighborhood.
“As the city focuses on raising the operational standards across all sites, further exploration of the hiring practices and procedures by site operators will be prioritized,” spokesperson Sarah Fields told San José Spotlight.
Margie, a former Branham Lane resident who asked to withhold her last name for privacy reasons, said she talked to people who were under Wright’s care. They told her when they gave Wright their EBT card to help them get food, she would keep the card. Some even allegedly exchanged their EBT cards with Wright for drugs.
“She told (her clients), ‘You’re never gonna find (permanent) housing, so get used to selling drugs for me,’” Margie told San José Spotlight. “You’re a (caseworker), you’re supposed to help us, build us up, not break us down.”
The Branham Lane modular temporary housing site cost roughly $60 million to build and about $6 million a year to operate. It’s funded with nearly $52 million from the state through the Project Homekey program, $4 million from Santa Clara County, $5 million from the Sobrato Foundation and nearly $39 million from the city, spread out over seven years.
The modular housing model has been heralded by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan as an innovative homelessness solution because it can be built quicker and at a lower cost than traditional apartments. It was part of his plan to build 1,000 shelter beds across the city last year.
Mahan previously told San José Spotlight that criminal behavior is unacceptable, but should not be used to discredit the entire shelter system. Since Wright’s arrest, Mahan has indicated he’s open to putting a new operator at Branham Lane.
“These sites exist to help vulnerable residents get back on a better path. If someone entrusted with their care took advantage of them like this, it is an egregious violation of trust,” Mahan said in a statement. “We will fully investigate what happened, hold anyone involved accountable, and if necessary transfer operations of this site to a provider capable of meeting the standards our residents and neighbors deserve.”
Homeless advocate Todd Langton, founder of nonprofit Agape Silicon Valley, said these incidents are not isolated to Branham Lane. He said there are widespread allegations of crime throughout temporary housing facilities in Santa Clara County.
“We need to hold the city of San Jose and Santa Clara County accountable for their ‘set it and forget it’ funding of these providers,” Langton told San José Spotlight. “Investigations and audits have proven that San Jose has not followed up with the money they’re doling out to these huge nonprofits. We don’t need more money trying to solve the homeless crisis. We need to make sure our tax dollars are spent appropriately with accountability. The Branham facility clearly points out the lack of accountability and transparency regarding crime inside our interim facilities.”
Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.