The administration proposed a return to allowing congregate sheltering for families – a practice that has been prohibited for years due to concerns about health and safety risks.

Mayor Muriel Bowser counted closing the D.C. General shelter as a key achievement of her second term in office, arguing its overcrowded, squalid conditions were unacceptable for the unhoused families living there. But advocates fear she’s now pushing a policy change that could reverse the city’s progress since its closure in 2018.

Three D.C. families are suing the city for ending their rental subsidies, potentially forcing them into homelessness. 

The city has sought to remove thousands of families from its rapid rehousing program. Officialls have blamed years of extensions for creating an unsustainable financial burden.

D.C. has increased its efforts against homeless encampments this year.

As 2023 closed out, D.C. landlords evicted close to 1,200 individuals and families, the D.C. Housing Authority’s public housing stock had 1,900-plus vacant units — and its occupied units continued to deteriorate. These numbers are just a few indicators that Washington, D.C., its government leaders, and the private sector are proactively forcing people from their homes and not using available resources to keep District residents from experiencing homelessness.