The Homeless Services Reform Act (HSRA) of 2005 underwent its third session for feedback and revision on August 11. The HSRA defines the responsibilities of city-funded homeless services providers and consumers of those services — including the right to shelter in extreme cold.
This was the first in-depth discussion, following two general interest meetings held in July. Government and private service agencies discussed clarity of language, measures to be taken with non-compliant clients and how to better transition clients to long-term housing programs.
The Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH), a group created by the original HSRA, hosted the session and focused on issues raised in more than 500 written comments submitted in July. ICH funneled the comments down to nine topics of discussion:
- Emergency termination and imminent threat
- Program exits
- Suspension
- Termination when client abandons unit/placement
- Presumptive eligibility
- Definition of resident of the District
- Making terminations more meaningful/effective
- Definition of “family”
- Definition of “resident”
Attendees included members of the Department of Human Services (DHS), Catholic Charities, Sasha Bruce Youthwork, Pathways to Housing, The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness, Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, Coalition for the Homeless and D.C. Alliance of Youth Advocates. Questions were raised about how to effectively enforce client compliance, but no official conclusions were reached. Significant time was spent discussing how to keep services and facilities safe for all clients and how to resolve the fact that suspension from programs could mean taking away essential services from the violator.
ICH will host two additional feedback sessions, one at 10:00 a.m. August 25 and another at 9:00 a.m. September 8. Both sessions will be at the DHS building at 64 New York Avenue, NE. More information can be found on the ICH event calendar.
The draft HSRA “modernization” suggestions that are developed at these meetings will be introduced to D.C. Council later this year.
