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--
I hope you're staying safe and warm this Friday! With the DCPS
delay this morning, I just came back inside from clearing our
sidewalks with Cora and Everett. A neighbor chipped in and we were
able to make quick work of clearing those icy sidewalks for several of
our older neighbors as well. Before the refreeze tonight, please take
a couple of minutes to clear the sidewalks to make it safer for
everyone. And if you can spare an additional 5 minutes, go ahead and
help out your neighbor!
It's been a big week on a lot of fronts, but before we dig in, I
want to highlight some key metrics on COVID-19 because there is some
good news but also some urgency. First the good news: we're seeing new
infections drop consistently not just in DC but across the region. And
we're also seeing an increase in the number of vaccines we're getting
from the federal government. On March 1st, appointments will open up
for residents with underlying health conditions (more on this below).
These are positive signs we haven't seen before and point to a new
phase in this crisis. But make no mistake, COVID-19 is still spreading
in the community and we're still losing lives to this disease. So
while there are many encouraging signs, I want to stress the urgency
of this moment. If we can keep at it -- sticking to the hard choices
and sacrifices you've been making -- we will see these trend lines
continue moving in the right direction. But if we get complacent and
relax too soon, we'll see the trends move the other way and delay the
re-openings many are hoping for. So hang in there! Stick with it! Stay
strong! Look after one another! We can do this.
Quick Links: Vaccine Update | Evictions Ban | Crime Victim
Help | Gun Violence Update | Schools | US Cap Fence | DC Jail | Car Thefts | Utility Help | Unemployment | A Shout Out! | Tax Help | DCRA Chat | Union
Station
COVID-19 Update: Expanded Eligibility for Vaccines, Eviction Ban
Saving Lives
 The District continues to work to improve the
distribution of vaccines for COVID-19, but demand remains much higher
than our available supply. It's going to be this way for a while, but
the good news is that we are seeing increases in the amount we receive
from the federal government (hence the expanded eligibility below) and
plenty of DC residents who want to get vaccinated. DCist published a
helpful round-up of the latest changes and information: https://dcist.com/story/21/02/18/vaccines-open-march-1-residents-with-qualifying-medical-conditions-in-march/
If you're interested in tracking total vaccination data, there are
some helpful displays here you can monitor weekly: https://coronavirus.dc.gov/data/vaccination
For all eligible groups, there are two main ways to reserve an
appointment when released each week through DC Health:
Call Center: 855-363-0333 (appointments are filling up
online much faster, so please remember to try the Call Center too!
There were still available appointments this morning when I
checked.)
Web Portal: https://coronavirus.dc.gov/vaccinatedc
(scroll down on the landing page)
Eligible residents are also encouraged to seek an appointment
through hospital health care providers and community health centers -
full
list here. Earlier this week, Howard University Hospital had open
appointments available. The slots are limited, but I've been able to
direct several Ward 6 neighbors to this option with success. If you're
looking for an appointment, be sure to check this option.
Understanding the Difference between Thursday and Friday
Appointment Releases:
- For all groups who are eligible, if
you live in a priority ZIP code, you can apply for vaccine
appointments every Thursday and Friday.
- Prioritizing these ZIP codes is an effort to increase vaccine
access in the neighborhoods that are hardest hit by the pandemic but
falling behind in receiving the vaccine, likely due to a number of
factors around accessibility and historic racial inequality. The
Council has spoken with a strong voice on this effort to achieve
greater equity, particularly racial equity, as we know health outcomes
and who bears the burden of this pandemic are not equal. That said,
I've also pushed on the fact that ZIP codes are too blunt a targeting
tool to best reach those who most need our help -- for example, within
ZIP code 20003 in Ward 6 (which is not listed as a priority area)
there is tremendous disparity in COVID impacts and vaccine access. I
will continue to advocate for a more refined way to target our equity
efforts.
- If you do not live in a priority ZIP code (this is the case for
about half of Ward 6), you can apply every Friday.
-
**Here's an important change to the process**: Moving
forward, for both Thursdays and Fridays, the release time will
alternate each week between 9 am and 6 pm. Today's release is
at 6 pm.
And here's the latest and newest information on eligibility:
Grocery Store,
Manufacturing, Frontline Social Workers, Food Packaging (Eligible
Now)
Beginning at 6 pm tonight (Friday, Feb
19), anyone who reports to work in-person in a grocery store or
similar food packaging job, frontline social workers, or works
in-person in manufacturing can begin reserving appointments to receive
the vaccine. This group will remain eligible moving forward, and can
also apply on Thursdays if the applicant lives in a priority ZIP code
or Fridays for all eligible residents and employees.
Seniors Age 65 and Older (Eligible Now)
DC continues to offer new appointments to
all DC residents 65 and older every Friday morning at 9 am. I know
many have asked for a waitlist rather than the frantic weekly
scramble. This is something that I and most on the Council have
pressed for and the Mayor's team has pledged to roll out a waitlist in
March. In addition to the DC Health phone and online portal, please
remember to check available appointments through the hospital and
health care providers mentioned above.
Related: In partnership with
Johns Hopkins, United Medical Center, and DC Housing Authority, senior
residents in several Ward 6 public housing buildings have had the
opportunity to receive their first dose of a vaccine. I want to shout
out the full team, including folks on my constituent services staff,
for working to get the word out in advance and help reach these
seniors.
DC Residents with Qualifying
Health Conditions 16 and Older (Eligible Beginning March
1)
 Much awaited by many residents, Mayor Bowser
and DC Health announced that the next eligibility tier will open March
1. This group includes all DC residents aged 16 and older who have a
qualifying medical condition (click the graphic to the right to see
the full list), which notably includes pregnant persons after I made
this a specific ask of DC Health. Anyone in this group can begin
applying on March 1 and should look for more specific guidance as we
get closer.
A Personal Note: I wanted to
share with Ward 6 residents that I have received my first dose of the
vaccine and will be receiving my second soon. Every Councilmember has
been offered the opportunity to receive the vaccine as part of our
continuity of government plan. I'll be honest: I felt conflicted about
receiving the vaccine while I know so many of my neighbors continue to
wait, including many who don't have the option to work remotely.
However, I am one of only 13 people who can pass laws, including
emergency laws that approve resources and create protections during
this pandemic. I am tasked with representing the interests of nearly
90,000 Ward 6 residents when we decide how to fund the government in
the coming months, not to mention leading oversight efforts for our
public safety and elections systems. While much of the Council's
official work has transitioned remotely, there are still many times I
am meeting in-person or around other people -- such as security
briefings for the inauguration or when
responding to a crisis. Finally, I want to lead by example for any
constituents who may be wary of taking the vaccine. My background and
training is in public health. I understand how vaccines work and I
know unequivocally they save lives. I've had members of my family
battle COVID and I know too many friends and neighbors we've lost to
this disease. I also understand why some people may be hesitant. It's
okay! If you have questions or concerns or want to hear how my
experience went, please just reply to this email. But with my public
health background, let me stress that if you have an opportunity to
get the vaccine, I recommend you do so. As Dr. Fauci has said, the
best way to stop the virus from mutating is to get on with
vaccinating.
The Evictions Moratorium is Saving Lives
Earlier in February, I teamed up with my council colleagues
Councilmembers Brianne Nadeau and Anita Bonds to host a tri-committee
roundtable examining the health impacts of the District's ban on
evictions. Among the witnesses who testified were authors of two
recent studies comparing health impacts of COVID in jurisdictions with
ongoing moratoriums on evictions with those who had ended them. The
studies were definitive in showing that preventing people from being
evicted is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and saving lives (you can
find links to both studies in
this tweet thread). You can watch the testimony and questioning
here, beginning around the 1:20:00 mark: https://www.facebook.com/CMcharlesallen/videos/740637950210693
There is obviously a larger conversation we will need to have on
transitioning out of the evictions ban, supporting landlords for whom
monthly rental payments are a critical part of their income, and more.
But we should take some measure of comfort knowing this is the right
step from a public health perspective. This is the kind of work I
intend to explore and continue as co-chair of the Special Committee on
COVID-19 Recovery. More on that to come.
Crime Victims Supports Expansion
Last week I introduced a bill aimed at expanding the District's
work supporting victims and survivors of crime. From the time
immediately after a violent crime through navigating the criminal
justice system, it can be an incredibly difficult experience for
victims and/or their family. I've pulled together a bill proposing a
series of improvements:
- Expand who is eligible to receive financial support from the Crime
Victims Compensation Fund, which can be used for a wide range of needs
from paying the rent or mortgage to therapy and counseling to burial
expenses.
- Create a new advocate to guide victims of violent crime through
the entire process in their pursuit of justice and recovery. The
position would be modeled on similar advocates already working with
sexual assault survivors and human trafficking survivors.
- Strengthen one of our most effective violence interruption
programs - hospital-based violence interruption - which works to break
the cycle of violence as soon as someone with a stab or gunshot wound
shows up at the emergency room. My bill proposes giving conversations
and information shared between victims and hospital-based violence
interrupters the legal protection of privileged communications, which
will help interrupters earn the trust of victims in time to take steps
to stop any cycle of retaliation.
The bill was endorsed by the Network
for Victim Recovery DC, one of the leading organizations working
on behalf of crime victims and survivors. The overall goal is to
understand that there are real challenges and trauma many victims
endure, and by providing the right tools to heal that trauma, we can
do enormous good in our community. There is an old axiom in the
criminal justice space that's been getting a lot more attention
lately: "Hurt people hurt people." It means unresolved trauma can lead
to bad outcomes like more violence, poor performance in school or the
workplace, and much more. When I say we need to treat violence, and
gun violence in particular, like a public health crisis, it is because
we have seen trauma and violence spread in the same way a disease
does. Treating trauma and supporting victims are two ways to stop that
disease from spreading hurt in the community.
DC Launches Emergency Operations Center for Gun Violence
 In that same spirit, I was pleased to join Mayor
Bowser and her team, as well as my Ward 8 colleague Councilmember
Trayon White, at a press conference announcing the city has created an
Emergency Operations Center (EOC) dedicated to eliminating gun
violence. This is a big deal, and let me explain why, because I know
it sounds a bit bureaucratic.
An EOC is a very focused effort to
provide high-level coordination, resources, monitoring, and rapid
response to achieve a clearly defined goal. As an example, the city
has had an EOC up and running for the COVID-19 pandemic for nearly a
year to coordinate everything from testing sites to vaccines to
emergency food supplies, with the goal of slowing the spread of
COVID-19 and protecting our residents. It brings all agencies under
one roof for a coordinated and urgent response.
The EOC for gun violence is focused on reducing the use of guns in
the District. It will focus on specific blocks (151 in total, or
around 2% of all city blocks), and will bring a more holistic approach
beyond a traditional law enforcement response. I fully support this
because it makes reducing gun violence a high priority for every
District agency.
Here's one way this EOC could have an
immediate impact: violence interrupters are often working to build
relationships with someone in the community who they know might be at
risk of gun violence, either as a victim or a perpetrator. As a VI
builds trust and establishes a relationship, they're trying to
understand what that person needs in order to avoid further violence.
It is at that moment - known as a hand-off -- that the VI needs to be
able to deliver on whatever the need is, often housing, employment,
income, food, or some form of counseling and personal support. Having
all of the relevant agencies in one room, focusing on the needs of a
high-risk individual on a high-risk block, can be the difference in a
gun being fired or not. It's just one small example, but I hope it
helps you get the picture.
The EOC will be launched and staffed by
Linda Harllee Harper, the first Gun Violence Prevention Director,
which I created in last year's budget as part of our response to
ongoing gun violence. And it will be publishing a dashboard of data,
similar to what residents can view for COVID-19. Here
are my remarks from the press conference.
A Note on Schools
I wanted to share that I’m going to focus much of my next
newsletter on my concerns about learning loss and what our school
system leaders are doing (or not doing) to focus on this with the
urgency I think is needed. At a recent hearing, I was extremely
frustrated with the lack of plans and action to target assistance for
kids struggling – especially with no strategies in place for this
summer and fall. I also believe OSSE needs to seek a waiver from
requiring schools to administer this year’s PARCC standardized tests.
We’re already losing enough teaching and learning time to
COVID-related challenges, that I think this test (which isn’t a
measure of a students’ growth or loss, but takes a massive amount of
time away from instruction) is not the best use of our academic time
in a year when any standardized test is hard to administer to begin
with, and likely carries a major asterisk next to it for this unique
year anyway. More to come in the next newsletter.
US Capitol Fence Update
Thanks to the many Ward 6 neighbors who joined Congresswoman
Eleanor Holmes Norton's town hall on the impact the fence around the
Capitol Complex is having on our neighborhoods. Trust me, I was as
disappointed and frustrated by the answers the US Capitol Police
provided as everyone else in attendance. The fence has to come down,
and it's a poor substitute for making actual, carefully considered
changes to improve the safety of everyone at the US Capitol, many of
whom are Ward 6 neighbors themselves. I will continue to press on this
and coordinate any efforts I can until the fence comes down. I spoke
with WAMU/
DCist recently about the issue.
Related: Washington City Paper has a very comprehensive
"51
Reasons to Support DC Statehood" article. While I'm sure most
readers of this newsletter are already firmly behind statehood, this
is a good round-up of many of some very compelling problems unique to
DC residents without statehood. Plus, there's a cool poster you can
print out at home!
Update on Increase in Carjackings and Car Theft
I wanted to quickly provide some information around the increase
the District is seeing in car thefts and carjackings. In general,
these are crimes of opportunity and are not limited to any specific
neighborhood or location -- though we have seen an uptick along
commercial corridors where you would expect to see delivery drivers
making shorter stops. It's also something we're seeing in cities
around the country. MPD has created a task force dedicated to solving
these crimes, and a few arrests have been announced in the past two
weeks. They have issued guidance that's generally good advice at all
times: don't leave a car idling or unattended; lock your car even
if it's a quick trip into the house or store; don't leave children
unattended in a car. The task force is made up of detectives with
a specialty in robberies and violent crimes and will be coordinating
with ATF.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG), who prosecutes crimes
when the defendant is a young person, has reported that while
relatively few of those arrested for car theft-related crimes so far
are young people, it is a growing trend. In understanding possible
motives for younger defendants, OAG reports that the reasons behind
the thefts vary from being engaged in other acts of violence, to using
the car as a warm place to stay. This is obviously only a limited
sample, but when I talk about understanding the root causes of crime,
this kind of context is helpful to understand both what justice should
look like and understanding how we can head it off for someone in a
similar situation -- i.e. people need housing and heat.
How Do We Improve the Next DC Jail?
One final update from my work on the Committee on the Judiciary and
Public Safety: the future of the DC Jail. It's an aging facility with
enormous ongoing challenges, from HVAC problems to being poorly
designed to foster any kind of rehabilitation. More than two years
ago, I set aside funds in the budget for a study on what our next jail
should look like. That study was just released -- the result of a lot
of hard work and conversations representing a wide range of community
members and public safety professionals including the Deputy Mayor of
Public Safety and Justice and the Director of DC's Department of
Corrections.
It seems obvious in hindsight, but any conversation about what a
new secured facility should look like quickly becomes a conversation
about our broader criminal justice system. What is the goal of our
system as it exists? Are we accomplishing that goal? What should it
be? Are we successfully rehabilitating people who will be returning
home after their time is served? Is our jail making us safer? As I see
it, the DC Jail that sits on the edge of Ward 6 is a relic from a time
when punishment was the main priority. Holding people accountable for
their actions will always be an important piece of our criminal
justice system, but our current facility is completely lacking as an
environment that fosters meaningful rehabilitation.
I invite you to spend some time with the fascinating report (available
here), or at least the media coverage: NPR,
Washington
Post.
Resources for Utility Assistance
My constituent services team wanted me to pass on some helpful
resources they use for neighbors who are falling behind in payments
for utilities. First, many of the ways to get help with utility bills
and improve your home to lower energy use are now located in one
place: https://here2helpdc.dc.gov/
Additionally, each utility offers assistance for residents who are
falling behind on payments - these funds exist to help customers, so
let's use them!
Unemployment Benefits Glitch
I also want to quickly share my office has received confirmation
that there was a glitch in the unemployment insurance system with some
folks not receiving their weekly benefits -- even if a claimant is
marked as paid in the system. As of hitting send on this newsletter,
DOES expects to get payment to everyone in 2 to 3 business days. If
you are missing your benefits and need more info, feel free to touch
base with my constituent services team here: https://www.charlesallenward6.com/contact
A Shout Out to the Ward 6 Constituent Services Team
It can be really difficult to share stories of the Ward 6 residents
my constituent services team has helped. This is, in part, because
people often come to us with very complicated situations and we want
to give them privacy. But I am really impressed by their compassion,
dedication, and innovation in helping residents navigate DC government
and I want to shout out a few samples of their work, because it often
goes unseen by the public. Back when we held our Ward 6 Job Fairs, we
would ring the bell whenever someone was hired or secured an
interview. In our office, we "ring the bell" anytime we help solve a
particularly tough constituent problem.
Here are just a few recent "ring the bell" moments from the past
two weeks thanks to the hard work of Jeanne, Kimberly, Naomi, and
Jen:
- Helped a visually-impaired Ward 6 senior secure a COVID-19 vaccine
appointment.
- Helped a man who was somehow marked as deceased (he is very much
alive) recover lost Social Security payments and medical coverage
after a year of trying to fix the error, to no avail.
- A senior called our office with questions about the DMV and left
with the needed information plus an appointment to get vaccinated at
Howard.
If you need help solving a problem as a Ward 6 resident, our team
is here to help. You can reach any of us right here: https://www.charlesallenward6.com/contact
Need Tax Filing Assistance? Call These Folks.
In the last newsletter, I included a link to a tax preparation
service with Catholic
Charities DC for filers earning less than $56,000 last year. A
Ward 6 neighbor reached out to share another resource I'm passing
along here: Community
Tax Aid, Inc
Likewise, the AARP
Foundation offers tax support for DC seniors who want to be sure
they're filing correctly and receiving the largest return possible.
Here's a helpful Facebook video from the DC office: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=426417545355650
Bend the Ear of the DCRA Director on Feb 23
The Director of DCRA will be holding one-on-one conversations with
DC residents on February 23. You
can sign-up here.
Finally, a Win on Union Station
Let's close out the newsletter with a little good news: be it the
new administration or lots and lots of pushback from Ward 6 and DC
neighbors, the Federal Rail Administration announced it would be
making revisions to its proposed redesign of Union Station, hopefully
to include far less parking and ensure it's a far more accessible
transit hub for the region and part of the surrounding neighborhood.
This is an issue I've been very outspoken about, since we only make
these kinds of decisions once every few generations, and we need to
plan for the future. The
Post's Editorial Board agrees with me. Thanks to everyone who took
time to submit comments or speak out.
Have a great weekend, everyone. Stay safe, wear two masks (seriously
it is CDC recommended), and I'll look forward to seeing you around
the Ward.
Charles
Allen
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