D.C. has established a timetable to clear about a dozen homeless encampments across the city. The city’s Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services maintains a website explaining the process and providing a timeline for clearing the camps.
President Donald Trump recently demanded on social media that D.C. move faster to clean up the encampments. Mayor Muriel Bowser said a White House staffer called about a specific encampment near the State Department, which the president was particularly concerned about.
That small camp was cleared out in 24 hours.
“The existing protocol permits an immediate clean up in the event of a public health or safety risk. The District previously planned to close this site, but the earlier engagement was postponed due to weather,” DHHS Deputy Mayor Wayne Turnage said in a statement.
At that site, only assorted trash and empty soda cans remain. District officials said they are now challenged to keep up with other encampments that may pop up.
“The safest place for people is in a shelter or permanent housing. D.C.’s case management teams continue to engage individuals and families experiencing homelessness and work to match them to housing resources and wraparound services such as behavioral health services and case management. Our primary focus is always working to move people experiencing homelessness into safer shelters or housing,” Turnage said.
Several more clearings are scheduled in the coming weeks, according to D.C.’s website:
- March 11, 1899 Ninth St. NE
- March 12, 901 26th St. NW
- March 12, 27th and K streets NW
- March 13, 2nd and D streets NW
- March 18, 3100 Mt. Pleasant St. NW
- March 19, 1425 New York Ave. NW
- March 20, North Capitol Street and Massachusetts Avenue NW
See the full timetable online.
“Over the past two years, we have cut the number of tents in half while opening new shelters, expanding housing vouchers and continuing our work to make homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring,” Turnage said.
The city has engaged with the nonprofit Friendship Place to help assess the sites and connect homeless individuals with housing units.
“Someone is safest in housing in some sort of facility,” said Chris Rutledge, vice president of external relations for Friendship Place. “We connect them through case management to potential landlords and to whatever services they may need.”
Many homeless people suffer from mental health issues or other disabilities that can keep them from fully participating in society, which Friendship Place works to address.
Rutledge said D.C. is headed in the right direction.
“The city, in the last few years, has really been able to cut the number of tent encampments in half, and opening facilities such as ours so we can help make that a reality,” Rutledge said.
Friendship Place helps approximately 5,400 people in the D.C. area each year transition into programs that will get them back on their feet.
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