Court Urgent Care Clinic's high volume and youth homelessness advocates seek sustained DBH support

Pathways to Housing DC, which operates the Court Urgent Care Clinic (CUCC), told the Committee on Health the clinic provides high‑volume same‑day behavioral health assessments at District Superior Court and that current DBH funding is at risk in the FY26 budget. CUCC staff reported they completed 697 unique intakes in FY24 (16% above contract benchmarks) and are on pace in FY25 to exceed those volumes further. Pathways asked the Council to ensure funding continuity so in‑court same‑day crisis capacity is preserved.

Youth homelessness advocates and pediatric clinicians testified that DBH’s current outreach to youth drop‑in centers is insufficiently frequent and that co‑located, on‑site therapeutic services would improve engagement for youth who do not travel to off‑site clinics. Rachel White (DC Action) and Dr. Rachel Hollander (pediatrician and policy fellow) said intermittent twice‑weekly visits are helpful but that a permanent, citywide model of co‑located services would increase immediate access, trauma‑informed care and linkage to ongoing therapy for unaccompanied and unstably housed youth.

Why it matters: Court‑based and co‑located services reduce barriers to care for people in crisis and for transient youth better served by in‑place services. Witnesses warned that cuts to CUCC or failure to scale co‑located youth services would worsen downstream reliance on emergency departments, foster care systems and law enforcement involvement.

What’s next: The Committee will press DBH on FY26 funding plans for CUCC and for operational proposals to expand co‑located youth behavioral health pilots across homelessness service sites.