New DC Homeless Shelter Law Will Hurt Those It's Designed to Protect

The fear of many homeless advocates in our nation's capital just got one step closer to becoming reality.

For the second time, the DC Council voted to require those seeking shelter to provide proof of DC residency. If congress doesn't vote the bill down this month, it will become law and go into effect shortly thereafter.

Low-barrier shelters, as well as victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and human trafficking, are exempt from the new law.

But many are up in arms about the new act, and for good reason.

The law was designed to ensure that homeless families from DC were sheltered before families that come from elsewhere - sometimes having been sent by city officials in Maryland and Virginia. There are also accusations that Maryland and Virginia are denying services to homeless people from DC even as they send their homeless to the capital.

But at the hearing, a number of homeless advocates were visibly upset and pointed out that the bill is hurting the very people that it is designed to protect. An employee of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless led the charge as they told Councilman Tommy Wells and others that families who were actually from Washington, DC were being denied shelter.

I suggested that the DC Government work with other local governments to standardize homeless services so that homeless people need not inundate DC in order to receive the level of service that should exist everywhere. Councilman Marion Barry replied that he tried this approach when he was mayor but the surrounding jurisdictions weren't willing to put any additional money into homeless services, leaving the onus of caring for the entire region's homeless on Washington, DC.

There is now a federal case law which says that a person who is in the country legally has the right to move to any jurisdiction for the purpose of obtaining better public services. One case in particular was discussed: a woman who supposedly moved to California to take advantage of its good public benefits system was denied and prevailed in federal court. The woman's case has been touted to argue that the DC bill defies federal case law and will eventually be overturned. That may happen, but only after the tax dollars that the council wants to save are wasted on pointless litigation.

The hearing ended with two feasible options being presented and no councilmember resolving to implement either. The first idea was for the DC government to sue the governments of Maryland and Virginia to make them pay their fair share toward caring for the homeless residents that come from their states and/or to stop social services in each state from sending their homeless to DC. The other option was to create federal legislation that standardizes best practices so that the homeless don't need to relocate in order to obtain sufficient services.

It's high time we stopped playing politics with poor people's lives. Join hundreds of other Change.org members in calling on Congress to standardize best practices for sheltering people and ending homelessness.

Photo credit: Valerie Everett