Committee hears that rapid rehousing time limits and ERAP changes are pushing families back into homelessness

Advocates, legal aid lawyers and families told the D.C. Council’s Committee on Human Services that rapid rehousing’s time-limited model and recent changes to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) are combining to send families back into homelessness.

Speakers described three overlapping problems: (1) rapid rehousing operated with short maximum subsidy durations and weak case management, so families lose help before incomes stabilize; (2) ERAP funding and procedural changes this year made emergency assistance harder to obtain; and (3) permanent housing vouchers and lease-up processes are slow, leaving exited families with no durable housing option.

Makenna Osborne of Children’s Law Center summarized families’ experience with Rapid Rehousing: “Because DHS is focused on operating rapid rehousing as a strictly time limited program with only 12 to 18 months of assistance…rapid rehousing destabilizes families and functions as part of a cycle of housing insecurity instead of a bridge to stability.” She urged targeted reviews including inspection and post-exit reentry reports.

Legal Aid, community organizers and shelter providers echoed that ERAP’s recent emergency legislation raised documentation burdens, shrunk portal access, and removed broad self-certification options. “The new requirements for documentation have created an extraordinary documentation burden that threatens to exclude tenants entirely from their slim chance at rental assistance,” attorney Amanda Eisenhower said.

Multiple legal-services witnesses described a spike in fair hearings and emergency appeals. Joshua Drumming of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless urged council action, saying DHS had announced notices of exit to roughly 2,900 families and that many exits were occurring before placement into other permanent resources.

Advocates proposed immediate fixes and legislative remedies: stop large-scale terminations while voucher pipeline and lease-up capacity are increased; restore ERAP access (allow self-certification and keep the portal open more often); require DHS to publish data on exits and reentries; expand landlord accountability and incentives to accept ERAP awards; and pass reform legislation to prohibit terminations for families unable to sustain market rent after an exit.

Ending

The committee heard repeated calls to pause rapid rehousing exits tied to time limits until replacement housing resources and improved administrative procedures are in place, and several advocates asked the council to schedule rapid-rehousing reforms for immediate consideration.