WAMU: D.C. could put some unhoused families in communal shelters again, worrying advocates

Reporter Alex Koma of WAMU highlights growing concern among advocates as Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed 2026 budget would allow the use of communal or “congregate” shelters for unhoused families, a move they fear could reverse long-standing housing protections. He speaks with Children’s Law Center Policy Attorney Makenna Osborn:

Bowser’s 2026 budget proposal includes a provision allowing the District to temporarily house families in more communal, less private shelters, known as “congregate” facilities. This would partially roll back guarantees to unhoused families that have been enshrined in D.C. law for the last four decades. The city has long struggled to actually meet those commitments in providing privacy for unhoused families, however; It took closing D.C. General to make strides on that front.

Since then, most of the city’s shelter space for families are “non-congregate” settings, offering residents private rooms, after Bowser led a campaign to build such facilities across the city. She pushed to ensure these shelters would be spread across all eight wards, which prompted intense battles in some neighborhoods.

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“That lack of basic security and privacy is really unsettling and stressful for families,” said Makenna Osborn, a policy attorney at the Children’s Law Center. “We haven’t had [congregate shelter] in D.C. in years. And we would be really disappointed if we went backwards on that and it would do a disservice to and put a lot of families and children in harm.”

Photo Credit: Tyrone Turner / WAMU