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    The Mayor’s Budget is a Regressive Proposal Beyond Any Reasonable Fear of Federal Intervention

    There is still time for D.C. Council to mitigate the harm of the mayor’s budget and ensure that the final budget “looks like” D.C. We must continue to urge D.C. government to prioritize the basic needs of its residents and elevate the policies, resources, and investments that keep people safe and protected in all aspects of their life. Read more…

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    Reflections on the Rule of Law and the Role of the Lawyer

    Lately, the “rule of law” has been in the news, prompting many of us to think more critically about the law’s role in our democracy, as well as a lawyer’s role in preserving the rule of law. On May 1, many of us at the Legal Clinic attended the DC Law Day rally at the Supreme Court organized by Lawyers for Good Government. It was a great rally, with inspirational speakers, creative signs, and hundreds of lawyers reciting their oath of office. It is a strange time to be a lawyer (or perhaps it is just a strange time to… Read more…

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    2025 Funding and Reform Priorities: D.C. Must Choose to Support Its People

    2025 Funding and Reform Priorities: D.C. Must Choose to Support Its People Over the years, we have seen two categories of harmful responses when D.C. elected leaders claim, rightfully or not, that there are not enough resources to meet the pressing needs in the community: 1) cuts or underfunding of housing and human services programs, and 2) tightening of eligibility or reduction in legal rights of participants in those programs. Both of those responses reduce the number of people served without reducing the number of people in need of services, causing harm to D.C. residents. This year and budget season,… Read more…

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    Joint Comment on President Trump’s “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful” Executive Order

    April 23, 2025 Honorable Muriel Bowser Mayor of the District of Columbia John A. Wilson Building 1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, D.C. 20004 Cc: D.C. Council RE: President Trump’s “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful” Executive Order Dear Mayor Bowser, As organizations dedicated to justice, civil rights, housing security, and the autonomy of Washington, D.C., we strongly oppose President Trump’s executive order, which threatens the District’s Home Rule, public safety, immigrant communities, housing rights, and civil liberties. This order is a thinly veiled attempt to impose federal control over the District of Columbia, disregarding the will of its… Read more…

  • We Give Thanks for Legal Clinic Volunteers
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    We Give Thanks for Legal Clinic Volunteers

    With their commitment to housing justice and the mission of our organization, each of our volunteers carries on the spirit that brought the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless into existence in the 1980s. Read more…

  • Press Release: Emergency Class Action Lawsuit Challenges Hundreds of Housing Assistance Terminations
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    Press Release: Emergency Class Action Lawsuit Challenges Hundreds of Housing Assistance Terminations

    Children’s Law Center, The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, and three prominent D.C. law firms filed a class action lawsuit this week with the D.C. Office of Administrative Hearings, requesting emergency relief for over 800 D.C. families facing an inevitable loss of housing due to the District’s unlawful mass terminations in the rapid re-housing program. Read more…

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    DC Council’s Proposed “Fix” Will Increase Rent Arrears and Evictions

    We urge DC Council to vote no on the Emergency Rental Assistance Reform Emergency Act of 2024 to be voted on Tuesday, October 1. The bill is bad for tenants and landlords. If passed, it will increase evictions and housing insecurity and make it harder for tenants to pay, and landlords to collect, rent. The Emergency Rental Assistance Reform Emergency Act of 2024 does not: 1. Help tenants pay rent. 2. Help landlords pay their mortgages or operating costs. 3. Remedy, or even acknowledge, the rising cost of living in D.C.—most critically that rents have increased 10.7% since 2019. (Not… Read more…

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    Action Alert: Oppose Emergency Bill that Narrows Access to ERAP and Increases Evictions, Harming Both DC Tenants and Landlords

    Chairman Mendelson circulated an emergency bill, to be voted on on Tuesday, October 1, that will do nothing to address the affordability crisis that both landlords and tenants are asking for assistance with. Instead, the bill will narrow eligibility for emergency rental assistance (ERAP), lengthen the amount of time it takes to process ERAP applications, and allow evictions to happen even when the landlord or the government agency is at fault for delays in ERAP payments. This bill will harm both landlords and tenants and increase evictions. Passing this bill on an emergency basis, with no hearing and no real… Read more…

  • Open Letter to Mayor Bowser: Keep Families Housed Until They Transfer to Permanent Housing Programs
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    Open Letter to Mayor Bowser: Keep Families Housed Until They Transfer to Permanent Housing Programs

    We are writing to ask you to halt the exits of families in rapid re-housing until the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) can complete the housing voucher eligibility and lease-up process for the significant number of vouchers that are available now or by October 1. Read more…

  • Rapid Rehousing: What Happened and What’s Next?
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    Rapid Rehousing: What Happened and What’s Next?

    We want to take a moment to update you on what has happened with rapid re-housing over the last few months and what the families being terminated for reaching a time limit are facing in the next few months Read more…

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