Thanks to our collective advocacy, DC’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget included over 2,470 Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) vouchers: a historic investment that will help us reach our shared goal of ending chronic homelessness!
Now that the funding has been secured, we turn our focus towards ensuring those resources are implemented as intended and in a timely manner. We have an ambitious goal before us. Implementing these vouchers - the most ever allocated in one fiscal year- will require significant shifts in operations and a renewed commitment to meeting the unique needs of our unhoused neighbors.
PSH voucher matches are behind schedule, but can still all be used by September 30
As of January 2022, DC had ended homelessness for just 100 individuals with Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH). While it was never realistic for all 2,400 vouchers to be used within the first 4 months of the Fiscal Year, this number is behind the pace we had hoped to have achieved by now. This slower than anticipated rollout is a critical opportunity for the DC Council, the Department of Human Services, the DC Housing Authority, and housing providers to collectively address issues that may be delaying implementation and push for lasting solutions.
We must act with a sense of urgency
In December, the 2021 Annual Homeless Memorial Vigil, led by the People for Fairness Coalition, mourned 69 people who passed away in 2021 without housing, including 22 people who were matched to housing resources, but died before they moved into their homes. These deaths remind us that our collective work to end homelessness is urgent and that we must eliminate the red tape that stands between our unhoused neighbors and safe, stable housing.
The sooner this money is spent, the sooner our neighbors will exit homelessness.
Click here to read our full implementation recommendations
