Montgomery County, Maryland, leaders are bracing for a possible increase in homeless residents, as President Donald Trump orders law enforcement agencies to crack down on homeless encampments across D.C.
During a weekly news briefing, County Executive Marc Elrich said while it’s unclear exactly how the emphasis on D.C.’s homeless population will play out, he’s concerned more homeless people flowing into the county would put “further stress on our existing resources without the federal government providing the funding we would need to handle this addition.”
He noted that, regardless, shelters and drop-in centers are preparing as if there will be an increase.
The concerns come a day after Trump announced plans to take federal control of the D.C. police department by invoking the Home Rule Act. Trump signed an executive order declaring crime in the city as a public emergency.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the National Park Service has cleared 70 homeless encampments from parks it oversees, adding that people living in homeless encampments will be offered treatment for addiction or space in a shelter.
Those who don’t comply, Leavitt said, will face jail time or fines. Making D.C. safe and beautiful, she told reporters, involves removing “mentally disturbed individuals.”
Meanwhile, Earl Stoddard, director of Montgomery County’s Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, said it’s still unclear what the clearing of homeless encampments will actually look like.
“Would this be more focused on the core of the District, and therefore they’d be pushing people to the outer limits of the District itself? Or would they be pushing them entirely out of the District of Columbia?” Stoddard said.
The county has a large shelter at the D.C. line, in Silver Spring, and Elrich said shelter spaces are full, they serve a lot of meals, have long lines and there are still people living in encampments on Montgomery County streets.
“This is just going to magnify the problems we have to deal with, whether it’s providing additional housing or it’s feeding people,” Elrich said of a possible flow of homeless people from D.C. “We’re not going to let people starve. The nature of who we are means this is going to add additional burden to what we need to do.”
Providers who offer outreach services, drop-in centers and other county resources are preparing for a possible increase in the number of people in need of services, according to Christine Hong, chief at the county’s Services to End and Prevent Homeless agency.
Hong said she has asked providers to track the number of people coming from D.C., “so we can have a sense of the need and assess that, so that Montgomery County can be prepared with a response.”
Separately, Stoddard said Montgomery County is part of regional task forces to address stolen cars and crime.
Initially, leaders were concerned they’d be “altered dramatically” as a result of the federal takeover of D.C. police, but so far, “We have not seen dramatic shifts that have us hyper-concerned about whether we are going to be able to maintain our ongoing day-to-day operational working relationships at this state,” Stoddard said.
“So far, what we’re hearing and seeing is not a dramatic shift in policy and procedure,” he said. “That may come. I don’t want to say we’re optimistic. We’re just sort of watching with intensity what actually happens.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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