Government of the District of Columbia

Department of Human Services

Testimony of
CLARENCE H. CARTER
Director

Public Oversight Roundtable on "The Status of the

Winter of 2010-2011 Winter Plan”

Committee on Human Services

Tommy Wells, Chair
Council of the District of Columbia

October 6, 2010

John A. Wilson Building

Room 500
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20004
1:00 P.M.
Good morning Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee on Human Services, I am
Clarence H. Carter, Director of the Department of Human Services (DHS). I am pleased to
present testimony on the District’s activities to protect the lives of people who experience
homelessness during the 2010-2011 winter season, as outlined in the District’s 2010-2011
Winter Plan (Winter Plan). The 2010-2011 Winter Plan will ensure the safety and care of our
neighbors who are homeless while continuing the District’s efforts to find more permanent
solutions to homelessness: prevention, re-housing and permanent supportive housing.

I will begin with a description of the overall objective of the Winter Plan, and the process by
which we developed the 2010-2011 Plan. Next, I will detail the planned activities and services
for the coming winter season, and, because homelessness prevention and permanent supportive
housing activities influence the demand for winter shelter, I will also provide a brief overview of
these activities. Finally, I will discuss the allocation of resources toward the successful
fulfillment of the Winter Plan.

Purpose of the Winter Plan

The purpose of the Winter Plan is to protect persons who are homeless from injury and death
caused by exposure to severe weather. The Winter Plan describes the range of services that the
District puts in place to ensure the safety and well being of our neighbors who are homeless and
the coordination of activities across agencies to fulfill the mandate in the Winter Plan.

During the 2010-2011 hypothermia season, the District will continue to protect the rights to
shelter of those experiencing homelessness. The Winter Plan implements provisions of the
Homeless Services Reform Act (HSRA) of 2005: ensuring that persons who are homeless are
protected from injury and death caused by hypothermia through the provision of shelter and
services during the winter season. The District of Columbia provides hypothermia assistance
whenever the actual or forecasted temperature and/or wind chill falls at or below 32 degrees
Fahrenheit.

The District will continue to protect the rights of consumers to shelter during the 2010-2011
hypothermia season.

Process for Plan Development

The Operations and Logistics Committee of the Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH)
develops the Winter Plan. DHS works collaboratively with sister agencies, service providers,
advocates, homeless and formerly homeless individuals on the development of the Winter Plan.
I would like to commend the tireless efforts of the entire ICH Operations and Logistics
Committee, headed by Chapman Todd, on their hard work and partnership in developing the
2010-2011 Winter Plan.

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The development of the 2010-2011 Winter Plan commenced at the conclusion of the 2009 –
2010 winter season. On April 20, 2010, the Operations and Logistics Committee held a meeting
to debrief the implementation of the 2009-2010 season’s Winter Plan. At that session, we noted
successes and areas for improvement for the coming year. As the committee set to work over the
summer to develop the plan for the upcoming winter season we started with this information.

The 2010-2011 Winter Plan includes a description of transportation, outreach, public information
and shelter services for the season. The ICH Operations and Logistics Committee focused much
of their efforts on analyzing last year's shelter usage data to project needed capacity. On
August 19, 2010, an initial draft of the 2010 – 2011 Winter Plan was made available for public
review and comment. The comment period ended on August 27, 2010 and the revised Winter
Plan was given to ICH on September 17, 2010, for their review. In that version of the plan,
aspects of family shelter capacity were still undetermined. During the September 23, 2010
meeting of the ICH, the council discussed the plan and delayed a vote to allow for additional
work by the committee on family shelter and men’s capacity.

Planned Activities

a. Communications

The success of the Winter Plan depends upon open and constant communication between
government agencies, service providers, consumers and constituents. Essential
components of the communications effort are the Hypothermia Hotline and Emergency
Assistance telephone numbers, as well as an information campaign that informs the public
of the availability of services. To ensure continuous feedback, DHS holds regular
conference calls among stakeholders, and the ICH Operations and Logistics committee
meets regularly during the season to review operations and make adjustments as needed.

The District administers an emergency assistance hotline that those needing services may
reach directly by dialing 1-800-535-7252, or by simply dialing the unified call center at
311. The hotline responds to requests for shelter and transportation to shelter. In addition,
DHS administers a Hypothermia Campaign, urging persons in the community to call the
hotline when they see a person who is out in the cold and may be in need of services.

The Hypothermia Campaign advertises the hotline information and publicizes services
offered during the season. This media campaign consists of metro advertisements, public
service announcements on radio and television, newspaper ads and information cards for
distribution.

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b. Transportation

Transportation services will be provided 24 hours a day, seven (7) days a week during the
hypothermia season. There will be both scheduled and unscheduled transportation. The
scheduled transportation is designed to provide general transportation in the mornings and
evenings from and to specific locations for groups of individuals who are homeless.
Learning from successful practices implemented last year, transportation schedules will be
published and printed on cards for distribution. Unscheduled transportation will be
provided 24 hours per day during alerts to shelters based on individual requests.

c. Outreach

The District contracts with a number of agencies to offer outreach services during
hypothermia season and in extreme weather conditions. These agencies provide an array of
services that may include street outreach, crisis intervention, transportation, referrals to
hypothermia shelter and services. In addition, agencies distribute sleeping bags, blankets,
food, water and other essential items to guard against the effects of the cold. In addition,
items such as hats, gloves, scarves, socks and thermal underwear are distributed directly to
those who are homeless.

d. Shelters for unaccompanied adults

In addition to the year-round facilities, there are two (2) types of shelters that are available
to serve those who are homeless during the winter season: hypothermia shelters and
seasonal shelters. Hypothermia shelters will open from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. during
severe weather alerts only, since they will be located in buildings that are used for other
purposes during the day. Seasonal shelters will also be available 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.,
but they will open at the time of the first hypothermia alert of the season and remain open
every day of the season.

On days when the temperature remains at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, a hypothermia

alert is in effect, and single adults using shelters will be allowed to remain in their facilities
with the exception of those who are in church-based hypothermia shelters and at the
Banneker Recreation Center shelter. The church-based hypothermia shelters and the
Banneker Recreation Center shelter close at 7 a.m., and transportation will be provided on
alert days to sites that are open.

The Winter Plan includes 1,446 beds for men and 431 beds for women before any overflow
beds are brought online.

e. Family Capacity

As you are well aware, Mr. Chairman, the demand for shelter over the last year has been
exceedingly high. This is the case not only in the District of Columbia but in cities across

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 the country. In an effort to meet the demand for shelter the D.C. General Emergency
Family Shelter (D.C. General) has remained open since last year. Currently D.C. General is
at capacity. D.C. General will be able to accommodate a total of 135 families this coming
season.

We recognize that there is the potential for high demand for shelter among families this
winter. While we accept that, homeless shelters need to be available to meet a short-term
emergent need. Shelters are not desirable places for long-term stays, especially for families.
Therefore, it is imperative that we continue to strategically make use of prevention and re-
housing resources to reduce the length of stay for families.

DHS and our community partners will re-house families experiencing homelessness by
connecting families with programs that are best suited to address their specific needs. DHS
has the capacity to enable 115 families to move to permanent housing during the course of
the winter through Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing, Scattered Site
Transitional Housing and Permanent Supportive Housing. The District is in the process of
securing suitable available apartments so that we can continue to increase the speed at
which we are able to move families to housing.

There has been much discussion among community members about how to ensure
adequate capacity for families this coming winter. There is strong agreement on the ICH
that resources are better invested in housing than shelter beds. This principle is not only
fiscally responsible, it is consistent with the District's Five Year Strategic Action Plan to
End Homelessness and most importantly diminishes episodes of homelessness among
families.

There is no exact science to predicting the need for shelter. Whatever the demand for
emergency shelter is this coming winter, the District is committed and prepared to meet
it.

Homeless Services Activities outside the winter plan that influence demand

While we implement the emergency activities articulated in the winter plan, we will maintain a
focus on solutions to homelessness through aggressive prevention and re-housing activities, as
well as permanent supportive housing.

a. Prevention

DHS will have multiple tools at its disposal to prevent new episodes of homelessness. We
will continue to prevent new episodes of homelessness through the Emergency Rental
Assistance Program (ERAP).

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b. Re-housing

Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)

Councilmember Wells, you and the Council have been partners with DHS in ending
homelessness with PSH. Over the last two (2) years, DHS has placed more than 1,100
chronically homeless individuals and families with long histories of homelessness in the
Housing First program. This program has been essential for enabling those experiencing the
highest levels of vulnerability to move beyond homelessness. At prior hearings, we have
been fortunate to hear the compelling stories of those who are finally taking their lives back
through this program. The success of this program has attracted national attention and the
District is being asked to share nationally our model of moving with urgency in addressing
homelessness.

Success with the Housing First program, has also lead to new initiatives. DHS has been able
to negotiate an unprecedented agreement with the Veterans Administration to house 105
homeless veterans using the Housing First approach, a second agreement to house an
additional 105 veterans is currently pending approval with the Office of Management and
Budget. In addition, we have collaborated with the District’s Office on Aging to move 25
seniors out of homeless shelters into supportive housing with services provided through the
Aging Disability Resource Center (ADRC). We have transformed lives while beginning to
transform the homeless services system through Housing First and related initiatives; and we
will use every available resource to continue this program over the coming year.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Human Services Committee, the
development of this year’s Winter Plan has been a collaboration between government and
non-governmental representatives with a shared goal of putting the mechanisms in place to
ensure our neighbors who experience homelessness are safe this coming winter. We are
grateful for the work of the ICH and for your support of this critical program. I am happy to
answer any questions you may have.