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Clients and staff testify at Roundtable on Family Homelessness 

On February 3rd, the DC Council Committee on Human Services held a Public Oversight Roundtable on the Winter Protection of Homeless Families. Chairman Jim Graham began the hearing by laying out the troubling statistics of homelessness in the District this year, stating that as of February 2nd, DC General Family Shelter was approaching 1000 residents, with an additional 469 families staying in hotels. At the time of the hearing, the Department of Human Services had begun to place families in DC recreation centers, on cots separated from other families by flimsy dividers, in violation of the law requiring that families be sheltered in apartment-style units, or if such units are unavailable, in private rooms.

Legal Clinic attorney Marta Beresin kicked off the testimony, discussing the current housing crisis and setting forth recommendations to the Council. Marta emphasized the need to: invest in 1000 new Local Rent Supplement Program tenant-based vouchers in fiscal year 2015; ensure year-round access to shelter and other resources for priority one families; increase TANF benefits; and find alternative placements for families housed communally in recreation centers. As the hearing continued, several families currently living in DC General described the shelter's lack of heat and hot water, the presence of rodents, and the insufficient supply of juice, snacks, and diapers for their children. Families also spoke of the difficulty accessing shelter and the importance of providing enough time for people to get back on their feet while living in temporary housing, especially for survivors of domestic violence. Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Tommy Wells joined Chairman Graham at the hearing.

District government considers emergency legislation

In response to the large number of families applying for emergency shelter this winter, the Gray Administration submitted to the DC Council emergency legislation to establish "provisional placements" in family shelter. Under this proposed change to the Homeless Services Reform Act, families would have up to 14 days of placement in emergency shelter while staff tried to identify alternate placements for them, most likely doubled or tripled up with family members or friends. The proposal lacks adequate due process protections to assure that families are not sent into unsafe or unlawful situations, and it fails to afford families a right to return to shelter if the alternative placement falls through. A more detailed explanation of our concerns can be found here. The Gray Administration pulled back from asking for an emergency vote on the proposal at the Council's March Legislative Session, but has not withdrawn these measures.

Meanwhile, the Office of Administrative Hearings issued a decision on February 24th holding that the then-existing recreation center placements were unlawful, but this decision applied only to the parties to the OAH case. A suit challenging the legality of the rec centers and seeking class-wide relief is now pending in DC Superior Court.

The Washington Post covers the crisis

There has been a lot of media buzz around the numbers of families seeking shelter this year and the various responses to this crisis. We've linked below to several Washington Post articles for anyone interested in reading more.

DC homeless crisis puts in play Gray's record as city steward (February 9)

How to Help the District's Homeless Families (February 14)

DC mayor asks for emergency legislation to deal with surge of homeless into shelters (February 19)

Don't give DC Mayor Vincent Gray the power to turn away the homeless (February 20)

Gray steps back on unpopular DC homeless legislation (February 25)

Also, you can watch Executive Director Patty Mullahy Fugere speak about family homelessness and the city's response on Channel 8 NewsTalk. 

Miriam's Kitchen staff members Catherine Crum and Kierstin Quinsland spoke to a group of volunteers at The Saloon on February 20th, covering topics such as "what our clients face," social service resources, and tricks of the trade in working with clients experiencing mental health issues. If you weren't able to make February's gathering, we've written up a few helpful practice tips from the event.

1) There are a thousand ways into homelessness and few ways out. Although mental health and substance abuse issues do contribute to some of our clients losing their homes, myriad reasons can lead to a particular individual or family becoming homeless. Especially in an expensive rental market like DC's, folks with limited education and few job prospects can easily go from a doubled-up situation to the streets. Many folks also fall into bad luck: for instance, medical issues can max out a person's bank account and force that person to quit her job, leading her to lose her housing. Many people experience brief, isolated periods of homelessness, but a segment of the homeless population is chronically homeless (homeless for at least a year or multiple times over several years, while living with mental or physical illness).

2) We don't challenge delusions. Sometimes clients will come to an intake with a condition such as schizophrenia, which causes a person to hold a fixed belief not grounded in reality. Catherine explained that case management staff do not challenge that delusion; rather, it is easier to build trust with the client if you accept delusions that do no harm (i.e. a client claiming that he is the President of the United States) and empathize with delusions that cause the client distress (e.g. if he believes his mind has been bugged, volunteers could state something like "that must be really difficult to deal with"). In the end, the delusion may have nothing to do with the real legal issue the client presents, and to challenge a delusion creates a barrier to assisting the client with that issue.

3) People with paranoia and delusions still have legitimate legal issues. Staff attorney Nassim Moshiree pointed out that attorneys may sometimes let delusional beliefs held by the client taint the other concerns the client brings to the table. It's good to remember that even if a client does hold delusions, that doesn't mean conditions at a shelter, for instance, aren't as concerning as the client states.

4) You can try to refocus clients on the legal issue at hand. When clients come to intake who could take the entire intake time talking around the issues or sharing every detail, it is useful to redirect them. One helpful phrase, which you may need to repeat multiple times during an intake, is "I hear what you are saying right now, but I have limited time to speak with you, so I'm going to refocus on the legal issue for now." Clients are also usually very sensitive to others' needs, so if you remind clients that you have limited time with them because you need to see multiple people, often the client will attempt to shorten his or her account. If all else fails, setting a time limit and sticking with it is a good tactic. Remind clients that you will listen for five minutes, then three minutes, then one more minute, etc.

5) You can't help everyone. We all occasionally have "bad days." If a client comes to intake on such a day and is not redirectable, it is okay to ask her to come back to another intake session once she is able to engage productively. As Catherine stated, it is never okay for a client to be verbally abusive.

6) Case managers at the intake site are great resources. If a client needs assistance obtaining a birth certificate or ID, if a client has mental health problems but is not connected to mental health resources, or if a client comes to intake with an issue that is not a legal issue, the case management staff at each intake site can be great resources. You can always ask a staff member at the site if he or she has time to be introduced to a client to hear his concerns.

7) Ending chronic homelessness is possible. Two US cities (Phoenix and Salt Lake City) have already ended chronic homelessness among veterans through Housing First, which is a program in which the most vulnerable of our neighbors living outside or in emergency shelter are provided with permanent supportive housing. To learn more, visit The Way Home Campaign website.

On January 24th and 25th, more than 260 individuals, involved in many different ways with the social services sector in the District, gathered to talk about the systemic and policy issues at the heart of service work. The Service to Justice Conference, of which the Legal Clinic was a sponsor, aspired to energize service providers and other community members to prioritize justice-focused initiatives within their own organizations and to embrace the notion that providers of service should also be advocates for justice.

No one should be homeless. No one should be homeless for years.

(January 8) Read about The Campaign to End Chronic Homelessness and how a growing group of DC residents plans to end chronic homelessness in the District by 2017.

Revamped Website, Same Great Blog

(January 14) Our revamped website holds great new content and hosts our blog, "...With Housing and Justice for All." We urge you to subscribe to receive our posts on a regular basis.

The DC Council Wants to Know

(February 2) Read more about the oversight and budget hearings taking place this month and through the spring.

There is a Family Homelessness Crisis and Provisional Placement is Not the Answer

(February 20) From the article: "The crisis isn't that too many families are in DC's shelters; the crisis is that so many families need shelter. That is the crisis the Mayor should be addressing, and which the legislation he plans to present to the Council will do nothing to resolve."

Each winter, the DC Council holds Oversight Hearings for all District government agencies. Of particular importance to Legal Clinic clients are the Department of Human Services and the DC Housing Authority. The hearings give the DC Council a chance to hear testimony from individuals about the positive or negative performance of agencies that serve District residents. The DC Housing Authority hearing took place February 19th and the DC Department of Human Services hearing took place February 26th.

Legal Clinic staff members testified at these hearings. Marta Beresin spoke at the DHS hearing about the lack of safety for families placed in recreation centers since the District determined that no more hotel rooms were available, while Will Merrifield took a broader approach to explain that the root of the family homelessness spike is the lack of affordable housing available to low wage workers. At the DCHA hearing, Misty Thomas testified to the importance of monitoring the Section 8 and public housing waitlist to determine how District departments can work together to address the need for affordable housing. Will Merrifield, also part of WLCH's Affordable Housing Initiative, spoke about the weaknesses of the New Communities Initiative.

To view Marta's testimony from the DHS hearing, follow this link and skip to 1:14.30. For Will's testimony, skip to 3:40.28. You can read Misty's testimony on DCHA here.

If you haven't heard from staff attorney Amber Harding lately, it's because she has been at home with the Legal Clinic's newest advocate for justice. Amber's daughter Clara was born early in the morning on December 31,  2013. Congratulations, Amber! We look forward to seeing you back at the Legal Clinic in May.