Changes to Homeless Law are Subject of Hearing

Three proposed changes to the law that governs the District’s homeless services system will be the subject of a June 3 public hearing.
Under the amendments, clients in some city shelters and transitional housing programs would be required to place a portion of their incomes into savings or escrow accounts;
Families refusing to accept two offers of rapid-rehousing assistance could be terminated from shelter or supportive housing programs; and Shelter placements for families would be offered on a “provisional” basis only to those with no other options, such as staying with relatives or friends. Parents would work with city human services staff to find alternatives to a long-term stay in a hotel or in the city’s overwhelmed family shelter at the former D.C. General Hospital.
The amendments were originally proposed by Mayor Vincent Gray and placed in the city’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Support Act. City human services officials say the measures would help ease crowding at shelters, move homeless people toward independence and save the city $5.3 million that could be spent on other homeless programs. But advocates for the homeless, concerned about their potential impact upon vulnerable people, asked for more time for discussion of the changes.
Members of the city council’s human services committee agreed and voted 5-0 to pull the amendments from the Budget Support Act and consider them as separate legislation.
The hearing on the amendments is scheduled for 11 am in Room 500 of the District’s John A. Wilson Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW.
Those who wish to testify should contact Malcolm Cameron of the council’s Committee on Human Services by email at [email protected] or by telephone at 202-724-8191.