In the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression, when more people are looking for assistance from the government, some DC Council members have proposed placing new residency verification rules on those seeking homeless services in the District. We, too, are frustrated by stories of neighboring jurisdictions directing homeless individuals to the District for services, although there is little hard evidence to suggest it is a common practice.
This phenomenon could be handled through dialogue at the administrative level between DC and those jurisdictions. Instead, the Homeless Services Reform Amendment Act of 2010 would create a number of hurdles to accessing homeless service, which could put vulnerable homeless individuals in the middle. The bill also would remove a long-standing ban on communal sheltering for homeless families with minor children
Under B18-1059, homeless individuals would have to provide immediate verification of residency when seeking homeless services, including hypothermia shelter, crisis intervention, meals, or outreach.
Yet we can think of many instances in which someone living in DC could be in urgent need of shelter or services but unable to prove residency right away. A few that come to mind: a long-term homeless resident is robbed of backpack containing her ID; a DC resident loses all of his belongings and housing in a building fire; a woman quickly flees an abusive situation without packing a bag of documents. A man moves in with his sister in the District and the family is evicted before the man obtains any DC identification. Under B18-1059, all of these people living in DC would be unable to prove residency and thus unable to access homeless services
Instead, why not grant access to emergency services and establish a short timeline for determining residency? A case worker could assist the client in proving residency through a short interview and a few quick phone calls. The goal would be to identify those who have had little connection to the District in recent months and who have no plans to stay in the city. In those cases, the homeless provider could be required to establish a connection to an agency in the client’s home jurisdiction to transfer responsibility. This kind of process makes sense given that the goal is not to punish the homeless, but to minimize the cost to DC of serving out-of-District residents.
We understand the desire to stretch scarce human services dollars farther, but rules that could leave DC residents literally in the cold defeat the underlying purpose. Any system designed to screen out those sent to DC by other jurisdictions needs to be designed so that those living in DC can prove it easily. DC’s ongoing revenue crisis is forcing the city’s leaders to look far and wide for budget savings, but it should not lead us to decisions that place residents at risk of harm.
