Mayor Bowser announces new pilot plan to assist homeless families in DC
The plan seeks to provide 600 families with $10,000, housing support and a $200 monthly incentive.
By Casey Bacot for COMM-425 at American University
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser released a pilot plan on Sept. 19 to assist families exiting the homeless service system but who still need time and support to get back on their feet.
The $25 million Career Mobility Action Plan is a five-year program that will help 600 families struggling with homelessness and financial emergencies. Mayor Bowser described the program as a “fair shot to the middle class.” Each family will receive $10,000 in cash assistance, career and housing support, and a $200 monthly deposit into a savings account if the family successfully pays their portion of rent every month.
Eligibility for this program requires that applicants must currently participate in the Family Rehousing Stabilization Program. Families must be connected to another Department of Human Services (DHS) program and be assessed and determined eligible by the Virginia Williams Family Resource Center.
One of Bowser’s promises to Washingtonians during her first campaign in 2015 was to reduce homelessness through the Homeward DC Plan. She created the updated Homeward DC 2.0 in 2021, following the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this plan was “for making homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring.” According to the updated plan, through the construction of new shelters and the voucher program, DC has seen its lowest number of people living on the street in 17 years.
“That transformation has led us since 2016 to be able to drive family homelessness down by 78%,” said Bowser at the Career MAP launch. According to the Continuums of Care to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as of January 2020, there was an estimated 767 families experiencing homelessness on any given day.
Bowser pledged that this program will help solve the issue of the benefits cliff. This issue creates hurdles surrounding employment because a slight increase in income can limit access to public benefits such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, health care, and housing. Several unemployed individuals choose the benefits over employment. Career MAP will be put in place to supply families with certain government benefits while encouraging employment and career advancement.
“With career MAP we’re telling families that we’ve got your back but we want you to continue earning, learning, and growing,” Bowser said.
Not everyone in the homeless and advocacy community is convinced the plan can work, and some see it as a political ploy by the major to get reelected.
“She got the job and now she’s doing something with the job,” said Michael, a resident of a homeless encampment located in DuPont Circle. “She’s in a position to get the money, but there is still a problem.”
Many are completely unaware of the resources available to them. Several are beginning to feel hopeless.
“Now, it’s not up to Mayor Bowser, it’s not up to you, it’s not up to me. It’s up to God,” Michael said.
“I don’t have any communication,” another DuPont encampment resident said regarding his connection to the media. “I don’t even know the issues.”
The DuPont Circle homeless encampment has been an area of contention between advocates for homeless peoples’ rights and the DC government.
Other Washingtonians are confused by the selection process of these families.
“If 1,500 people applied but they are only accepting 600, how do they decide who gets to be enrolled in the program if all applicants are living below the poverty line?” said Lilliana Silver, a student at American University studying justice and law. “How are they supporting the hundreds of other people who do not get accepted?”
Career MAP will be randomly selecting these families, leaving more than half of the applicants without the support they need.
According to the Department of Education, in the 2018-2019 school year, 6,858 DC public school students experienced homelessness over the course of the year. The Career MAP will assist in decreasing these numbers, the mayor said.
This is not the first initiative Bowser has created to support families throughout the district. Bowser recently hosted her fifth annual National Maternal and Infant Health Summit which focuses on the health of women, babies, and families. She also created a $500,000 scholarship program to assist families in covering enrollment fees for educational extracurriculars.
“We’re very excited about this next step to help our families gain more economic independence,” said Bowser.
