Content categorized as Permanent Supportive Housing

Housing demands unmet in final Council budget vote

The D.C. Council took its final vote on next year’s budget, adding money for excluded workers but leaving housing demands unmet

Budget mark-ups feature small wins for housing advocates

D.C. Council committees proposed small increases to housing programs and social services during the markup process, but did not meet housing advocates’ demands.

Despite rule change, DCHA is not allowing identity self-certification

After passing a resolution to allow people applying for vouchers to self-certify their identity, DCHA released regulatory guidance that banned that practice.

My hopes for the new year

Aida Peery writes about her experiences in permanent supportive housing and how she thinks it could improve in the new year.

FAQ: How to apply for housing in DC and what to expect

How does a homeless person in Washington, D.C. find housing? Here’s what you should know about a house application & process for finding housing.

Families in rapid rehousing will be given a minimum 6 months’ notice before they will be asked to leave

When the public health emergency came to an end last month, families who stayed in rapid rehousing beyond the limit began to ask the question, “What happens next?” Now, the DHS has announced that all families in its rapid rehousing program will be given a minimum of six months’ notice before being told to move.

Behind the council vote to tax residents making more than $250K, and other budget amendments you might not have heard about

The D.C. Council debated several amendments to fiscal year 2022 budget legislation to include a measure to tax high-income earners at a higher rate to support a number of new initiatives, as well as a failed measure to allocate additional funds for hero’s pay — a financial incentive program for the city’s essential workers. The final votes are coming up in early August.

Bowser’s office announces Homeward D.C. 2.0 with revamped goals toward ending homelessness

Following the mayor’s 2015 strategy to “make homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring,” Homeward D.C. 2.0 expands on permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing proposals to focus on individual, unaccompanied homelessness. 

DC Council deliberates mayor’s proposed budget at last work session before their first draft is released

At a nearly nine-hour-long work session held on July 8, councilmembers deliberated over the mayor’s proposed budget, recommending a variety of changes intended to help bolster programs they feel are most needed.

Bowser’s $400M for housing could be a game changer, but the program struggles to produce for those most in need

The Mayor’s FY2022 request to increase the Housing Production Trust Fund is now being considered by the D.C. Council, but the fund has not met past targets to assist low-income residents.

Protests, occupations, and “takebacks” of unused public housing: Activists notch wins with militant tactics

Spurred by deepening housing, homelessness and gentrification crises, a nationwide wave of militant housing activism is growing as its successes go viral.

DC must spend its federal relief dollars on people who need housing security

Stephanie Sneed, the executive director of DC Fair Budget Coalition, offers perspective on how DC should utilize federal COVID relief funding.

Services with a personal touch ended chronic homelessness in Bakersfield

Reporting on the Built for Zero program, which has been utilized by Bakersfield to effectively eliminate chronic homelessness through its innovative personalized approach.

DC failed to spend $14 million reserved for housing vouchers last year

DC was too slow to spend money that could have paid for 520 permanent supportive housing vouchers. These losses are permanent because funds appropriated for housing vouchers largely do not roll over.

DC tells medically vulnerable people sheltering in hotels that permanent supportive housing vouchers have run out

DHS is holding town halls at its PEP-V sites to tell residents that PSH vouchers have run out, so most will need to find another plan for where to go before PEP-V closes in September.

Councilmember considers buying hotels to support PEP-V shelter and convert them to housing

Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau recently recommended DC government buy hotels to continue providing rooms for people experiencing homelessness who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19, and to turn them into more housing. The new federal pandemic-relief bill includes funds that can be used for just that.

Individual apartments or single-room occupancies?

Public housing programs fall far too short when it comes not just to housing the homeless in the first place, but at retaining housing once gotten

DHS matches hundreds to housing

During the holiday season, DHS ran its fourth annual A Home for the Holidays campaign and states they leased up 335 families and singles to housing.

PEP-V hovers around full capacity without enough housing options for vulnerable people

All three PEP-V sites have been at or near capacity for the past 5 weeks, stressing workers and residents who have to wait weeks to get their problems resolved.

Uptick in COVID-19 also reaches DC shelters

Thirteen people living in D.C. shelters have tested positive for COVID-19 cases since Nov. 18 according to data from the Department of Human Services, ending a 20-day streak of no new cases among shelter residents.