Rachel Sadon
Photo by Devin Smith.
Mayor Muriel Bowser outlined an ambitious plan today to end homelessness in the region, which includes offering year-round shelter to homeless families, expanding services, and moving toward the closure of D.C. General.
Homelessness in D.C. is up 11 percent since 2011, with families hit particularly hard; family homelessness rose 29 percent in that four-year period. Advocates say the city’s response to the crisis has been uneven at best.
By law, the District guarantees shelter to the homeless on freezing nights. So when the mercury drops, the city sees a surge of homeless families that it has struggled to house. But beginning in the spring, the administration quietly began offering shelter to families who previously would have had to wait for hypothermia season.
The move to year-round shelter should lessen the backlog when winter comes and enable families to get immediate help.
“Families turned away during the summer may spend months couch surfing, or worse, living in dangerous or unhealthy situations … By the time they return, their situations have often deteriorated, making it much more difficult to help them stabilize,” write the authors of Homeward DC, the District of Columbia Interagency Council on Homelessness’s five-year strategic plan.
Pending legislation, Bowser’s proposal includes creating “interim eligibility,” allowing short-term placements for families whose eligibility for shelter or homeless services can’t be determined immediately.
The mayor also reiterated her commitment to closing the dilapidated family shelter on the site of the old D.C. General hospital. “Together we will close DC General and implement an all eight wards strategy to end homelessness,” she said. The ICH report lays out a timetable for replacing the shelter with smaller facilities by 2017.
Via ICH.
“We are taking much needed steps towards ending homelessness in the District and closing DC General for good,” said Director of DC Department of Human Services Laura Zeilinger. “Changes to the District’s crisis response system have already begun improving the safety, security and solutions of families experiencing homelessness in the District.”
