It’s budget season at the DC Council, and Council committees are holding performance oversight hearings on DC government agencies through March 7th. What the Council members learn in these hearings will prepare them to respond to the mayor’s fiscal year 2026 budget with their own recommendations, which are then incorporated into the Council’s budget legislation.
The hearings also give us the chance to comment on agency performance and the District’s spending priorities.
For example, the public is invited to testify at the Human Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, March 5th on the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Interagency Council on Homelessness. Ward 3 Council member Matt Frumin is the committee chair.
DHS services include rent vouchers and caseworkers under its locally-funded Permanent Supportive Housing program, which is also its largest voucher program. We’ve reported on the growth of DHS vouchers since 2016.
The programs have helped thousands of formerly homeless people into stable housing, many in rent-stabilized buildings across the District. But some cases, things have gone terribly wrong.
Tenant leaders have told everyone who will listen about large increases in police calls for suspected drug dealing, prostitution, and assaults on building managers, workers and other residents. They’ve spoken of absent social workers. And they have been told that voucher renters can refuse behavioral health and other supportive services, if they’re provided in the first place. The problems persist to this day. Three young children have died in the past three months.
What needs to happen at the Department of Human Services to address these issues? Do the laws need to change to make intensive services mandatory? These questions could be raised and explored at the March 5th oversight hearing.
If you would like to testify in person, virtually or in writing, here’s more information about the hearing. The hearing is a hybrid format, so witnesses can register to testify either in person or via video. Or, you can submit written testimony.