2024-25 Performance Oversight Testimony: District of Columbia Housing Authority

Policy Attorney Makenna Osborn testified before the District of Columbia Council at the performance oversight hearing for the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA).

Our testimony urges the Committee to continue working with DCHA on achieving further improvements to: 1) the timeliness and quality of public housing repairs and 2) the processes for reviewing voucher applications and helping voucher holders utilize existing resources to sign leases in stable housing.

We specifically discuss the role of DCHA with a particular group of Children’s Law Center’s clients who receive vouchers from DCHA— youth aging out of foster care. DCHA plays an important role in ensuring these youth have housing stability while they transition out of foster care through the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) and Family Unification Program (FUP) vouchers.

Children’s Law Center asks this Committee to convene a joint hearing on FUP vouchers with the Committee on Youth Affairs, with participation from DCHA and CFSA. We are committed to working with both agencies and Committees to bring clarity to this issue and ensure that District youth can reliably use FUP vouchers to secure housing before they age out of care.