Testimony: Special Committee on COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery Public Oversight Hearing
Children’s Law Center Senior Policy Attorney Elizabeth Oquendo testified before the DC Council’s Special Committee on COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery about the need to ensure an equitable end to safety net protections put in place during the pandemic. While we commend the Council and several DC agencies (particularly the Department of Human Services) for making important changes amidst the pandemic that have allowed many DC families to remain stably housed throughout the pandemic and able to more easily access public benefits online, we are very concerned that once the District’s eviction moratorium and other pandemic-related protections end post-public health emergency, even more children and families will be at risk of homelessness. We strongly urge the DC Council to focus on making improvements to the STAY DC website, issues with the Rapid Rehousing program, and the potential that the wave of evictions and program terminations will have on our family homelessness system.
Read her testimony here: