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And because it's May, the 2023 budget season is in full swing. We're not done yet, but I'm happy to share some details about what we have and what I'm still working on.
BUDGET OVERSIGHT HEARINGS
Committee on Human Services
This Council’s budget work session took place this week, and as Chair of the Human Services Committee, I can speak to a number of items I'm excited to include in this year's budget. Nothing is final until the budget is adopted, but at this stage in the process, we're very close.
The 2023 budget restores funding to the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children to add oversight and accountability to the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) and other agencies that help children in their care. Regular readers of this newsletter know what a fight it's been to establish this office, and I'm happy to say we have a shortlist of qualified finalists for the Ombudsperson position. I'm grateful to my colleagues on the Council for their support in creating this position to improve child and family welfare in the District.
I also worked to bump funding for service providers for unhoused youth in next year's budget. At a time when costs are increasing everywhere, funding for these services has been flat for two years. I learned that some providers were forced to fundraise to continue their work, taking time away from their core work for District residents. I made this funding a priority in my committee allocations.
Next year's budget also has additional funding for the Grandparent Caregiver Program, which provides subsidies to low-income kinship caregivers and has been 100% successful at keeping children out of the foster care system.
And as budget work continues, I'm pushing my colleagues on the Council and the Mayor to help me fund these and other vital needs:
- $27 million for Targeted Affordable Housing vouchers to rescue families in the Rapid Rehousing program who face an eviction "cliff." Once the pandemic eviction protections were removed last year, families faced the choice of paying market rate for their units or eviction at an unknown date.
- $187 million for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, an increase over the Mayor's proposal, which I believe greatly underestimates the need in the District.
- $160 million for excluded workers who were not eligible for unemployment benefits or federal stimulus funds during the pandemic, similar to measures in prior budgets.
Homelessness is a central part of our work on the Committee on Human Services. We work to fund the services that address homelessness here in the District, offering the only things that can truly end it—housing and supportive services for anyone that needs them. This is an area where my work as Chair and my work as Councilmember overlap. There's real need in our ward and across the District.
So I'm greatly encouraged by the most recent Point in Time Count, the Mayor's annual census of people in the District experiencing homelessness. They're reporting that the number of people experiencing homelessness here is down 13% from last year. It's the sixth year of decline, and the lowest such number since 2005.
What's in the Budget for Ward 1?
Glad you asked! There's a lot to like about the 2023 budget as it stands. Again, nothing's final until the budget is adopted, but at this stage, we have a lot to show for our work. These are just some of the highlights of investments to Ward 1 I want to share:
$300,000 towards a 4:1 matched savings program for residents of the Park Morton community—the first program of its kind in the District for residents of public housing—that will create a resident cooperative and provide technical support for homeownership and entrepreneurship $21 million for an all-new Rita Bright Community Center $13.5 million for an all-new Park View Recreation Center $500,000 to establish and improve Amigos Park in Mount Pleasant A new curbside composting pilot for 10,000 District households $250,000 to design the next phase of the crosstown protected bicycle lanes on Kenyon Street, extending them to 14th Street and beyond $99 million to modernize Tubman Elementary School $110 million for a new Center City Middle School at the site of the old Banneker High building on Euclid Street $12 million for streetscape and safety improvements on U Street between 14th and 18th Streets $9.8 million for sidewalk widening and safety improvements to S Street between 4th and 7th Streets
COMMUNITY UPDATES
Public Safety Town Hall
It was great to see so many people at the annual Public Safety Town Hall on April 21, especially the high school students, and I'm grateful to Attorney General Karl Racine for taking time to join us.
It comes at an important time. I've said it before, but there's no "acceptable" level of violent crime in our communities, and everyone here deserves to feel and be safe—it's something I work on every day with neighbors and the Metropolitan Police Department alike.
In coordination with all of our public safety partners, we now have multiple strategies working together across the ward to prevent violence and address it as the public health problem that it is. Our approach looks like this:
Before a violent crime occurs, we invest in individuals whose communities have had a great deal of neighborhood violence. We offer a different path—an alternative to picking up a gun in the first place. We hire trained personnel with lived experience to mediate conflicts before they become violent. This work is going on 24/7. When a violent crime occurs, we work together as a government and a community to identify shooters, prosecute them and recover their weapons so they cannot be used again. We ensure that victims receive the support they need to heal, to prevent retaliation and further harm to them, their friends and their families.
I've consistently voted to invest in community-based violence prevention programs and resources for our ward and across the District. In the coming weeks, the full Council will vote on the 2023 budget including more funds for victims services and supports, programs to prevent violent crime and additional police officers and financial incentives to hire and retain them. We've got to fully fund every approach to public safety in the District. Here's my summary.
Survey: Equitable Development for Lower Georgia Avenue
Weigh in! District Bridges is conducting a survey about lower Georgia Avenue as we work towards a comprehensive equitable development plan for the corridor. Live, work, or spend time near Lower Georgia, I encourage you to fill out the survey. We launched this initiative in 2019 to help shape an inclusive future of Lower Georgia Avenue, and to establish a network of community involvement.
The DCHA Waitlist Is Getting Shorter
The DC Housing Authority is currently working to fill a few hundred available public housing units, starting with individuals and families on their waitlist. Anyone on DCHA's waitlist for housing should update household and contact information in the next 60 days—please pass this along to anyone waiting for public housing! Information can be updated at www.dchousing.org or by calling (844) 306-0531.
Tuition-Free Classes for Adults
Our neighbors at the Carlos Rosario Public Charter School are offering free classes to District adults in English as a Second Language (ESL), a GED course, career training, and prep for the citizenship test. Select classes are open to Maryland and Virginia residents, too. Add your name to their registration list at this link.
Metro Seeks New Accessibility Advisory Committee Members
WMATA is seeking new members to fill vacancies on their Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC), a group representing senior citizens and persons with disabilities—some of Metro's most transit-reliant riders. There are subcommittees for Bus/Rail and for MetroAccess. The application is available here and is due by 5:00 PM on May 13.
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