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Statement on D.C. Encampments: Destroying Communities Will Not Make D.C. Great
Hurting unhoused people with encampment clearings hurts our entire community and does nothing to end homelessness. Read more…
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D.C. Elected Leaders Are Failing Unhoused Residents, But That Can Change With Your Help!
On Monday, July 14, the D.C. Council will take its first vote on our local budget and many legal changes that will impact the lives of D.C. residents. As we discussed here, the mayor’s budget proposal was regressive and harmful, hardly befitting a city where the vast majority of residents support progressive and humane economic and […] Read more…
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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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| News
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 […] 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, […] Read more…
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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 […] 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, […] 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…
Media Inquiries
Reporters should email press@legalclinic.org with inquiries.
In the News
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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