January comes, and our thoughts at DCFPI turn to — what else? — the DC budget.
We wish Mayor Bowser and the DC Council well this year as they take on the awesome responsibility of crafting a budget that meets the most important needs of DC residents, from children to seniors. Like many others, we are concerned that our new President and Congress may reduce access to health insurance and cut funding for many other services that help DC residents.
We also wish that the District can make progress, amidst this uncertainty, on these urgent challenges facing many residents:
Protecting DC’s Poorest Children: More than 10,000 children could be pushed deeper into poverty this year by a rigid time limit in DC’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Mayor Bowser and the DC Council should work to adopt the recommendations of a Working Group convened by the DC government, which called for guaranteeing most of a family’s TANF benefit to ensure resources are always there to meet children’s needs.
Ending Homelessness: The District has made enormous efforts to reduce chronic homelessness, but keeping up with DC’s growing affordable housing crisis is hard, and many DC residents still lack a home. The District government has a goal of ending chronic homelessness by 2020, and that will require more resources in the upcoming budget.
Strengthening Access to Health Insurance: With federal health insurance coverage and protections at risk, the District should take steps to strengthen its health care infrastructure. In particular, we should reduce barriers to getting care through DC’s health safety net program, the Healthcare Alliance.
Improving Resources to High-Poverty Schools: Schools with students who are low-income or otherwise at risk of academic failure get extra resources to address these students’ needs, but currently half of those “at risk” resources are going to fund basic positions that all schools have. The mayor and DC Council should ensure that all schools have adequate base funding, and that all at-risk funds are available to provide additional services.
Expanding Housing Resources for Those Who Need the Most Help: A growing share of low-income renters face extremely high rent burdens, with devastating ripple effects on family finances and stability. The District is investing heavily in affordable housing, but only a fraction of the resources serve the lowest-income families. The District should expand its housing programs in ways to better reach those families.
Improving Early Education: Many of the District’s families rely on the city’s child care subsidy program to access quality child care while they go to work or pursue education. However, many early care and education providers struggle to make ends meet because of a large gap between the costs of providing quality care and resources available from the city through its subsidy program. The District should take devote more resources to the child care program to help ensure that all children get high-quality care.
Despite the uncertainty our country is currently facing, we are confident that DC can continue to improve the lives of residents by ensuring that the next budget takes these urgent needs into account.
