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| NewsWe 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…
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| NewsPress 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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| Advocacy
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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| Advocacy
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…
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| AdvocacyOpen 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…
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| AdvocacyRapid 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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| AdvocacyThe FY25 Budget: Disappointments and Disinvestments
While there are a few noteworthy housing investments and D.C. Council made some progress in reducing the harm of the mayor’s original budget proposal, the final FY25 budget remains one of the most disappointing and regressive budgets for housing resources and housing justice in recent years. Read more…
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| Advocacy
There is a Better Way to Clear Encampments: Housing
The better—more humane and effective—way to respond to any concerns about encampments is to provide low barrier and accessible shelter and housing opportunities. Author: Joshua M. Drumming, Law Graduate, Policy and Advocacy Read more…
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| AdvocacyEnd the Cliff: We Must Prevent 2,200 Families from Losing Housing
Without significant investment in permanent housing resources and real reform to the broken rapid re-housing program, thousands of D.C. families will lose their housing support and likely face eviction or homelessness. Read more…
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| UpdateSupreme Court Debates Rights of Unhoused and Unsheltered People
Providing housing instead of handcuffs is not only the moral, effective, and humane choice, but also the Constitutional one. Read more…
Media Inquiries
Reporters should email press@legalclinic.org with inquiries.
In the News
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D.C. auditor report validates long-standing concerns about Rapid Rehousing, finding 79% of families exit without increasing income
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D.C. Council axes Mayor Bowser’s plans to put families back in congregate shelters
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D.C. prepares for family shelters to exceed capacity under budget proposal
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D.C. could put some unhoused families in communal shelters again, worrying advocates
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Nonprofit law firms claim D.C. broke the law by removing 816 families from Rapid Rehousing without due process
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Families sue D.C. for ending housing aid in unprecedented case
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D.C. increases homeless encampment clearings
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On The Record: Addressing Homelessness In D.C. In 2024
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PRESS RELEASE: Mayor Gray’s Budget Proposal would Shut Down DC’s Homeless Shelter System, Discovers Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless