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With space dwindling at D.C. General, the city will house homeless families in an additional 260 motel rooms.

D.C. is expecting a 16 percent increase in family homelessness this year, according to the Winter Plan prepared by the Interagency Council on Homelessness. Between November and March, the city is mandated to shelter the homeless on nights where the temperature falls below 32 degrees with wind chill. Once they enter, the city does not remove families from shelter when the hypothermia alert is deactivated.

At the third part of a roundtable on the plan, officials from the Department of Human Services said 200 families are already living at D.C. General, the city’s largest family shelter which can house up to 240 families. This week, D.C. finalized a contract to one vendor to provide 170 unit at the Days Inn on New York Avenue NE for families beginning December 1. A second vendor will provide 90 units, although DHS Interim Director Deborah Carroll was unable to publicly provide details on that contract Friday. A third vendor with additional units may be contracted if the need arises.

The city will pay $90 a night per motel room at the Days Inn. Unlike last year, the city will take control of the building and operate it as a shelter. Last year’s haphazard rental of motel rooms “wasn’t a good use of resources” and “wasn’t effective in moving families” out of shelter, Carroll said.

“By operating it as a shelter, we’re able to serve them on site,” she said, adding that operating the motel this way adds “a sense of urgency for exiting shelter as quickly as possible.” That time period is within 90 days ideally, Carroll said.

While supportive, Graham characterized the plan as “D.C. General, kind of, junior.”

“The success of this will depend on the services offered on site,” he said.

The exact amount of money needed for overflow shelter this winter is could run from $11.4 million to upwards of $20 million. An estimated $7 million to $8 million is needed to rent motel rooms this winter.

Carroll said the Dignity for Homeless Families Amendment Act, which defined “private room” as it applies to homeless family shelter and passed the Council earlier this week, could put extra spending pressure on DHS. But as Graham pointed out, the bill is subject to appropriations.

Still at issue, though, is a D.C. Superior Court ruling that requires apartment-style shelter or private rooms for homeless families. The city is appealing the ruling, but isn’t expected back in court until February 2015. Forty units at D.C. General are no longer usable under the ruling.

“I know it’s going to be a very difficult winter,” Carroll said.